Stef Ann Holm by Lucy Back (books to read in your 30s TXT) 📗

she could know right now that we worked things out. I think she does know from Heaven.

I left Drew a note saying I’d like to take Tolman as my last name.

I think my dad will say it’s okay. In fact, I know he’ll be happy about it. Me, too.

He’s going be fine and so am I.

Twenty-Six

The last week in September, the annual Little League dinner at Woolly Burgers wasn’t as lively as it had been in past years, since the team hadn’t gone to the play-offs. But the boys still got achievement awards from their parents and coaches. It was just an off season this year and Drew looked forward to the next one. Before this summer, he would have been bummed out about it, taken on some pressure over not producing a better outcome. But he realized it didn’t matter.

There were so many more things to life than baseball.

“Are you heading out?” Drew asked Lucy as she left her boys with Nutter’s parents.

“Yep. Jason and Matt are spending the night with Nutter and I have the house all to myself tonight. I may just have to stand in the middle of the living room and stare at the ceiling.” She laughed.

He smiled at her, liking the way her teeth contrasted with the darker lipstick she wore. She had on a sleeveless, form-fitting white dress with a scoop neck. It looked nice on her. Some of her tan had faded, but she was a strikingly beautiful woman no matter what her skin tone.

She’d pulled half her hair up into a claw; the rest spilled over her shoulders. The rich brown color had brightened from the sun and strands were highlighted a reddish-bronze.

“You just don’t know how noisy your house is until the kids leave. I never get a day off.” She fitted her purse on her shoulder. “I’m always on duty.”

She didn’t say it with bitterness, but rather fondness. And with a hint of anticipation about not being a parent tonight, but a woman who was going to go home and enjoy her surroundings without parental responsibilities.

“Bye, boys,” she called, waving to them.

“See ya, Mom!” Matt was trying to juggle three baseballs at a time. They fell to the floor and then Jason tried.

Lucy went toward the door and Drew followed. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

The outside air was warm and lazy.

“Actually, I came with Sue and Dave. I told her I was going to walk home.” Lucy gazed at the horizon. “It’s so nice out.”

An Indian summer had crept into September, the day filled with a warm breeze. The sunset was heavy with fall colors, the sky aflame with an orange-and-red wash.

The muted golds reflected on Lucy’s face. He remembered what her body felt like next to his, the way her breasts looked in her bikini top. The scent of her perfume hung in the air.

His heart raced as he thought about how she’d feel up tight to him, flesh to flesh. How it would feel to run his hands across her body right now, the smooth cotton of that dress. Her back and waist, then her butt.

She glanced at him, her eyes darkening as if she was having a thought she struggled with. “How’d you get here?”

“I drove. I can drive you home if you want.”

“Okay.”

The drive to Lucy’s house was short, and neither of them said a word. They didn’t have to. He cut the engine, went around to open the SUV door for her. She hopped down and didn’t look at him.

Lucy could feel the soft cotton of her dress move over her skin as she walked to the porch. A delicious sense of anticipation surged through her body. She stopped at the door, turned to say something—then cut herself off.

Drew leaned toward her, brought his face over hers. She felt her backside pressing into the screen door, and that was the last conscious thought she had as Drew’s mouth covered hers.

They kissed, quick yet lingering.

After a minute, she managed to get the lock open and let him inside. She kicked the door closed with her foot, stood a distance away from him and tried to figure out what exactly was going on.

She knew exactly what was going to happen. And she wanted it to. But she just hadn’t known when or where.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” she offered, the words lame even to her own ears.

He made no reply. He just looked at her as if she were the best boat on the dock—something he wanted. Quite badly.

Her face was flushed and she pushed aside a stray lock that had come loose from her hair claw. She threw her shoulders back and forced herself into a calm she didn’t feel.

Anxiousness churned in the pit of her stomach. Her smile wavered a little. She had a hard time concentrating when he looked at her. She hadn’t been with anyone other than her husband for nineteen years. Nobody since her divorce. This was new.

It must have showed.

He pulled her to him and murmured, with his face in her hair. “I can leave.”

“No,” she said, clinging to his shoulders, not wanting to let him go. Her hand slipped into his jeans and she found him straining against the fabric. “Stay….”

He reached under her dress and began to stroke her thighs and then in between her thighs. A moan rose from her throat when his fingertips reached into her panties. It had been a long time since a man touched her intimately, and she arched her back as the feeling rose and rose. She shut her eyes tight and grabbed on to the front of Drew’s shirt.

“Don’t stop,” she whispered.

Her head started to spin; her mind reached places she’d long since forgotten about. She let herself go, riding the feelings that rose. Suddenly, she let out a cry as a burst of pulsing heat pleasured her body.

Her breathing grew jagged; her legs went numb.

Drew scooped her into his arms, carried her down the hall.