Northern Rebel Daring in the Dark - By Jennifer Labrecque Page 0,53

And maybe, just maybe, he really wasn’t stupid. There must be some hope.

Lars thought there was and now if Merrilee said it, it must be so.

* * *

DELPHI PULLED ON a T-shirt and bike shorts, feeling pretty dumb. She’d finished her leisurely bath, spritzed on some perfume and scoped out the sexiest thing she’d brought with her. It had been slim pickings, considering she’d come here to work and hadn’t been in a sexy frame of mind when she was packing.

She’d donned black lace panties and a matching push-up bra. She’d put on makeup, tidied the bed and turned back the covers invitingly.

Her heart had started beating double-time when she’d heard the plane take off. She’d waited. And waited. And waited.

She hadn’t asked Lars to come back. She’d thanked him and sort of left the offer open, figuring they’d see one another when they saw one another. He was the one who’d said something about coming back. She couldn’t recall his exact words but he’d clearly intimated he’d be back shortly. At least that’s the way she’d taken it when he said he just had to see his mother off.

But that had been half an hour ago. Under normal circumstances, that wasn’t such a long time, but this was Good Riddance. There were no traffic jams. For goodness sake, Jane Reinhardt had taken off just out the door.

Delphi would be damned if she was going to waste another minute sitting around waiting.

Her instincts had been wrong again. At least there were no disastrous consequences like before. Now she just had a little wounded feminine pride. She’d also be damned if she’d let him know she’d sat up here waiting—and wanting. She tied her shoes and stood.

And while she was on her little inner rant, obviously the sex hadn’t been as mind-blowing, hot, incredible for him as it had been for her or he’d want more of it, the same way she did. Uh, make that had, as she had wanted. Past tense. She didn’t anymore.

Nope. Lars had done an adequate job scratching her itch. So, thank you, Marine. Now she’d simply go about her business. Much the way she’d been going about her business before he had bowled her over with that smile and charm and wound up sending her into orgasmic oblivion. So, there you go. It was a win-win situation. He’d gotten laid. She’d gotten laid. She’d had a good time yesterday, last night and this morning. Nothing more, nothing less.

It was all about expectations and managing those expectations. And moving forward, she wouldn’t expect anything.

So, now to get on with her day. She’d shipped her mountain bike out ahead of her. Merrilee had shown Delphi where it was but there’d been absolutely no time to pull it out. Now she had time in spades and it was a gorgeous day for a bike ride.

Putting on her happy face, she left her room. Jefferson and Alberta’s husband, Dwight, turned to her as she came downstairs.

She flashed them a friendly smile. “Good morning, gentlemen.”

“Morning,” Jefferson said with a gentlemanly nod.

“If you’re looking for him, your boyfriend’s out there,” Dwight said. Actually, it was more of a shout.

Despite herself, she glanced in the direction he’d pointed. The window afforded a view of the landing strip. Merrilee, Dirk and Lars were hanging out at a picnic table on the other side of the runway.

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Delphi felt obligated to correct what was obviously a wrong impression.

Dwight winked at her and chortled. “Alberta calls me that, too—a boy toy.”

Jefferson shook his head at his chess partner. “She didn’t call him her boy toy.”

Dwight crossed his arms over his bony chest, a belligerent frown beetling his unruly eyebrows. “She does too call me that,” he said to Jefferson, and then he looked back at Delphi with a toothless smile. “Calls me her studmuffin, too. He’s just jealous ’cause he’s sexually frustrated. He ain’t found a girlfriend yet.” He ended that bit of too-much-information with a sage nod.

Jefferson rolled his eyes. “Don’t pay him any attention,” Jefferson said in a normal tone. “He’s deaf as a post,” he said much louder. Then louder still, “And he hears better than he plays chess.”

“No worries.” Delphi laughed at the deliberate baiting. Laughing eased some of her tension. It made her feel a little stupid that she’d been waiting upstairs in an admittedly aroused state while he was out, going on with his day. He hadn’t even had to be present. Simply thinking about Lars