Читать книгу One Summer Night - Emily Bold - Страница 9

The Night at the Lake House

Lauren felt a little self-conscious as she walked hand in hand with Tim across the sandy beach and over to the lake house. She shivered in the absence of the torches that had spread a blanket of flickering warmth over the yard. Normally, she was never this bold, but she was determined to take charge of her own happiness.

‘Are you all right?’ Tim asked and stopped walking. He must have noticed Lauren shivering. ‘If you would rather I left, I’ll . . .’

‘No!’ Lauren almost startled herself with the sharpness of her objection. ‘No, I don’t want you to leave. I just don’t know if you’re going to like the lake house,’ she admitted, feeling uncertain. ‘It’s not in the greatest of shape, but . . . but I often spend the night in there. There’s a certain kind of magic to it . . . Plus, nobody’s going to disturb us there.’

She could tell Tim was smiling a sensual smile, even in the pale twilight, and heard him chuckle quietly.

He pulled her into his arms.

‘Nobody disturbing us? In that case I’m going to love it!’ he assured her, raising her up as if she weighed nothing, his hands firmly under her butt. She wrapped her legs around his hips and held onto his strong shoulders as he carried her the final few yards to the house.

Dark honeysuckle twined its way up the porch pillar and all the way up to the gable windows on the upper floor, inviting the two of them to spend time beneath its green canopy.

‘And here I was, hoping you were here for me,’ Lauren giggled, ducking her head under the twigs that were hanging down from above.

‘Don’t worry, Lauren, I am!’ He pinched her butt before he allowed her to slide down his body. Only reluctantly did he let go of her so that she could grab the key from under the entrance mat.

‘Secret hiding place,’ she whispered, then unlocked the door and entered. A band of moonlight was spilling in through the lattice windows, bathing the old furniture, the walls decorated with wide, flowery stencils, and the white-varnished floors in a soft, silvery shine. Stepping into the streak of light, she waited with a pounding heart and threw all caution to the wind. He would just have to take her as she was: not quite perfect. Boldly, she pulled her T-shirt over her head and let it slip to the floor. The move made her feel sexy and a little naughty, too. She hoped he wouldn’t be put off by her directness.

But her worries were unfounded. Tim entered the room slowly. He closed the door behind him, and drew her closer. Taking her face into his hands, he kissed her gently. Then he let his fingers slide down her neck and ran his hands over her shoulders and down her arms. His touch made her shiver. She leaned into him and pushed her hands under his T-shirt. His belly was taut, and his skin emitted an intense heat that passed over to her. ‘Come,’ she whispered, leading him up a narrow staircase to the upper floor. She could feel his eyes on her back, following her every move. Her heart was pounding against her chest. Never before had she brought a man up here. This was her kingdom – but now he was a part of it, even though she barely knew him. She held his hand, motioning toward the gallery bathed in moonlight. Proudly, she waited for him to appreciate the beauty of her lakeside escape.

The spacious room expanded all the way to the exposed rafters, and at the center of the gables a large skylight opened up onto the star-lit sky. Beneath, a large, inviting bed with white pillows and fluffy blankets waited, where Lauren would come every so often to hide from the world. She would snuggle into the soft bedding and dream the day away. Two thick, round area rugs muffled her footsteps as she lit the candles that were placed on various surfaces around the bed and sitting in glass plates in puddles of solidified wax. Large pillar candles in groups of three or four now provided a soft light, and the sulfuric smell of lit matches penetrated the cool air. Tim stood silent, but kept his eyes firmly on her. He followed her to the old turntable and wrapped his arms around her from behind as she put the needle to the vinyl with a soft rasping sound.

‘Records? No CDs?’

‘I’m a little old fashioned,’ she shrugged, wondering if he thought her a little weird. The house, the turntable, the classical music softly streaming from the loudspeakers . . .

‘Can you feel the magic?’ she whispered, hoping he wasn’t put off. She leaned her head against his chest.

His lips wandered down her neck, and his hands cupped her breasts.

‘Yes, this is magic – you’re magic.’

He ran his fingers over the shiny lace of her bra, and Lauren closed her eyes, fully surrendering to his tender caresses and shivering under his touch.

He turned her around in his arms and kissed her while skillfully opening her bra. When he took her full breasts into his hands, Lauren pushed up his T-shirt so she could get more of him in turn. His chest was smooth, and she could feel his heartbeat beneath the tips of her fingers. Tim’s heart was beating at a slow, steady pace – not like her own frantic pulse.

His eyes in the silver moonlight were glistening. He helped her along by pulling his T-shirt over his head, and his skin on this late summer night was like polished marble. Like marble coming alive. She needed more of him. She wanted to feel him.

Later, Lauren snuggled into the crook of Tim’s arm and enjoyed feeling his body so close to hers. He was holding her from behind, his breath tickling the back of her neck and sending pleasant shivers down her spine. The comforter rustled as she nestled her back against his body and turned around for a kiss.

It was almost completely dark. Most of the candles had burned down, and a thick cloud cover had obscured the stars and darkened the sky.

Still, she was able to make out the pale scar above his lip. Tenderly, she ran the tips of her fingers over it, and Tim opened his eyes.

‘How did you get this?’ she asked, shyly, because she suddenly realized that she knew nothing about this man she had just shared such intimate moments with.

Tim reached for his lip, took her hand, and breathed a kiss on her fingers.

‘I used to have a bit of a big mouth when I was younger,’ he confessed, although he didn’t seem sorry at all about it as his smile was suddenly so broad that dimples appeared in his cheeks.

‘I was a boisterous child – and a loose-lipped one at that.’

‘You don’t look it.’

He laughed quietly, and his hand wandered down to her hip.

He caressed her as he continued.

‘I wasn’t always this tall, and I only had a major growth spurt after all the other kids. Even today I’m not particularly strong. So all I was left with as a boy was my big mouth. Which got me into trouble all the time.’

Lauren silently objected to his words. He was, in fact, quite strong. Just not as beefy as some or packed with muscles that looked as if they were about to burst out from under his skin. His was an inner strength that made Lauren believe someone like him could keep her safe from any harm.

She breathed in his warm, manly scent, and dreamily closed her eyes. Yes, he’d be able to save the woman he loved from any difficult situation.

‘And so one day you were at the wrong place at the wrong time?’ she asked, almost purring with the pleasure of his physical presence.

‘No, not the wrong place. The exact right place!’

Lauren gave him a puzzled look, and he smiled.

‘Joey McKimmey – he was a year older than me. We all played hockey together on the street, and I was getting excited about a foul that wasn’t even one. Little did I realize that I was setting the entire opposing team against me. Starting with Joey.’

Tim rubbed the stubble on his chin, and the memory conjured up a grin.

‘I called him names – all the bad ones I knew. Insulted him. I could see him narrowing his eyes in rage, but I was too sure of myself to stop.’

Lauren feared the worst. She pressed her lips together to stop herself from laughing, because the way he was telling the story it really seemed as if he deserved a good slap on the wrist.

‘Joey grabbed me by the scruff of my neck – which wasn’t hard for him since he was easily two feet taller than me and twice as wide. He pushed me across the street, all the way to the Wilson’s garden wall.

‘And then he beat the living daylights out of you?’

Tim grinned, but shook his head.

‘No, he was holding me so tight around the neck that I was scared he would choke me. But he didn’t squeeze. He came real close and looked me square in the eye. I almost peed myself I was that scared.’

Lauren, in the crook of his arm, suppressed her giggles.

‘Go ahead and laugh. I was seriously shitting myself. His breath smelled of cola, I still remember that.’

‘Jesus, this Joey guy has left quite an impression.’

‘Sure – and he’d warned me, too. He said the only reason he wasn’t going to break my legs right now was because I was a great hockey player. But that he would forget himself should we ever cross paths again. He was ramming me into the garden wall so hard that I was starting to feel nauseous. Then he smiled that wicked smile of his, and explained in a super calm voice that I shouldn’t expect to go scot-free, because otherwise everyone else would start disrespecting him. He let go of me, and I slumped to the floor. Then he clipped me a good one with his hockey stick.’

‘With the stick?’ Lauren could see it in her mind’s eye: a wooden stick bearing down on Tim’s face.

‘Yep. I was bleeding all over the place, and I almost didn’t dare to go home because my dad had always warned me that something like this would happen to me and my big mouth one day.’

‘My dad would have totally reported Joey to the police!’

Tim leaned over and kissed her. She could feel the scar on her lips.

‘My dad was very grateful to Joey, and so was I when it came down to it. Who knows what would have happened if me and my big mouth had run into someone else. Joey is now my best friend.’

‘No way! How can you be friends with him after what he did to you?’

Tim laughed, and rolled on top of Lauren. His chest brushed hers, and her nipples reacted instantly.

‘He’s a good hockey player – and so am I. We agreed that this was a good enough reason.’

Lauren let her hands wander over his back, enjoying the warmth of his skin beneath her fingers. She enjoyed the way he flexed his muscles, and how this small act was giving her goose bumps.

‘So what’s our reason then?’ she asked. He kissed her. Then he smiled.

‘I think that everything is possible, so long as you’re not beating me up with a hockey stick.’

* * *

‘I almost forgot about that hockey stick,’ Tim laughed, giving Lauren another kiss before getting up. The lake house’s old-fashioned porch swing held a handful of blankets, and he grabbed a few of them. He handed one to Rachel, pressed one into Mia’s arms, who subsequently got up and cozied up next to Lauren, and spread one out over Alyssa who was still sleeping in her mother’s arms. His three girls all curled up together – not something that happened often – and he tried to commit this image of the whole family united, bathed in the golden light of the flames, to his memory.

‘I think you were distracted, Tim,’ Lauren joked on the subject of the hockey stick. She tucked the blanket around her and was glad when Tim took his seat behind her again.

‘So I was. You were a distraction of the special kind. I wasn’t ready for you at all.’

‘Maybe that’s why we made so many mistakes,’ Lauren pondered.

Her friends fell silent while everyone was dwelling on old memories. Memories of their time together.

The fire had burned down to glowing embers, and by now the waves thrashing against the shore of Lake Champlain were drowning out the sound of the crackling flames.

‘Lorelei, do you want me to put more wood on the fire?’ Chris asked, bending down to the remaining pile of logs.

Lauren’s head was aching terribly, but she wasn’t yet ready to leave. She knew in her heart that the time had not yet come.

‘Yes, please, put another log on the fire. And maybe some of you want more wine?’

‘Wait, let me top up everyone’s glasses,’ Peter offered, reaching for a bottle. For tonight, he had brought out only the good stuff from his private wine cellar.

Lauren, too, allowed him to refill her glass. She noticed how her dad’s hands were shaking, saw the pain in his eyes, and gratefully met him half-way when he bent down to her and pressed a kiss against her forehead. The entire world knew him as a well-respected, fearsome lawyer, but tonight none of that fierceness showed. He stood before her, a sorrowful man, grieving. Grieving for everything that would never be.

‘Here you go, honey,’ he muttered, and handed her the wine.

‘What are we drinking to?’ Lauren asked and raised her glass.

‘To our time together!’ Tim suggested. ‘We had such a wonderful time. I really have no idea why we were so blind when we first started out. So foolish and so afraid, even though we had nothing to lose.’

Everyone’s eyes met as they sat around the fire. They knew what Tim meant. In the light of the rekindled fire it was almost impossible to believe how hard their beginnings had been.

‘It’s not the mistakes I regret, Tim. It’s the time we lost – the time we can never get back now,’ Lauren said, thoughtfully.