put it on with clumsy, eager hands. Daphne watches me with a flushed face and bright eyes. And when I return to the bed, she pulls me down and lifts her face for a kiss.
“You make me crazy,” I murmur against her lips.
“Bullshit,” she whispers, tracing one of my tattoos with a fingernail. “You were already crazy.”
I laugh into the next kiss, and I take both her hands in mine, stretching them over her head.
And then a deafening crash slams through the room, and I jolt off of Daphne’s body like a man who’s been electrocuted.
Twenty-Three
Daphne
Yikes.
It was just the wind—a sudden gust blew through the house, slamming the bedroom door.
It was loud. I definitely startled.
But Rickie is even more rattled. “Whoa,” he gasps, kneeling on the bed beside me. “S-sorry. I just…need a minute."
“Sure,” I practically slur, because the man just gave me a spectacular orgasm. I can barely feel my face, let alone speak. It's fair to say that I haven’t felt this relaxed in years.
And if Rickie says, “I told you so,” after this, I don’t think I’ll even be irritated. He’s been telling me all summer to just give in and let go. And then I finally did. He made it easy for me. The happy look on his face as he kissed me in the shower? I’m never going to forget it. For thirty minutes, I forgot all my troubles.
It's a revelation.
The breeze moves the curtains again, and somewhere in the house another door slams. The sound is muted by the closed bedroom door.
Rickie leans down and rests his head against the mattress. His back rises and falls with rapid breaths.
I’m just about to ask him if he’s all right when I hear another unwelcome sound—tires on the gravel driveway outside.
Oh boy. This is really going to kill our buzz, isn’t it?
Rickie groans. The poor man. He’s about to be left hanging again. I rise to my knees and peek out the window at the driveway below.
The car is unfamiliar to me, with New York plates. The driver pulls to the side and kills the engine. And when the door opens, I'm startled to see my friend Violet Trevi get out.
“Omigod!” I shriek. Then I lunge for the wet towel on the floor. “Violet!” I call out the window.
She turns around to find me. “Surprise! Get down here and give me the tour, quick! I want to see apple trees, but I think it’s going to rain!”
“Give me two minutes! I’m—” Naked, with horror movie hair. “Just out of the shower!”
I expect a snarky comment, or a complaint, from Rickie. But he's facedown and oddly silent.
Parking my hip on the bed, I put a hand on his damp hair. “I’m so sorry about this. I had no idea she was coming.”
In answer, he reaches a hand up and slides it on top of mine. Tonight I’ll probably be seeing those long, talented fingers in my dreams.
But he doesn’t say a word.
“How long do you expect to lord this interruption over me, exactly? I’m just trying to plan my week.”
Finally he lets out a snort. But he still doesn’t speak. He just massages my hand with his own.
I lean down and kiss his messy head. “Come and meet Violet when you can. She’s a lot of fun. Much more fun than I am.”
“Not possible,” he croaks. “Go on.” He removes my hand from his hair and gives me a playful shove toward the door.
Reluctantly, I go. And the moment I open the bedroom door, the oven timer dings. Because of course it does.
I close Rickie’s door on the way out.
After pulling myself together in exactly three minutes, I race downstairs.
Violet has shut off the oven timer, and she’s leaning against the work table, sipping a glass of water. “The pies are just starting to brown,” she says. “I thought you should make the call about whether or not they’re done.”
“Thank you!” I grab her for a big hug. “I can’t believe you surprised me like this. Wait—does my mother know?”
Violet beams. “Yup! I called on the house phone and asked her which would be a good day to show up. She invited me to Thursday dinner. I’ve always wanted to come to a Shipley Thursday dinner!”
“I hope I didn’t oversell it,” I say with a laugh. “I mean, the food is always terrific, but you also have to put up with all my crazy family members.”
“Sign me up.” She claps her hands. “When do I get to