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“You don’t think so?” He seemed to ponder that for several moments. “You might be right, but you’d be swapping the exciting and unique for the familiar.”
“Personally I think there’s something to be said for the intimacy that comes with familiarity,” Sunny said defensively.
“Maybe. That ease with each other is certainly missing in brief affairs. If you were married, the getting-naked step wouldn’t be so awkward. A married man could walk right up to his wife and start undressing her without either of them feeling self-conscious. In fact, if they were sexually harmonious, they’d probably get a helluva lot of pleasure just out of the undressing ritual.”
“I think so.”
“He could lift her hand, kiss the palm of it, then press it right against his ...” He glanced down at her. “You know what I mean.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Good. I thought you did,” he said, smiling. “He would show her how to caress him for maximum pleasure, because he would want her to feel how hard he could get, how badly he wanted her. He could bend down and kiss her breasts, caress them with his mouth and tongue, without having to wonder if she was going to like it. He would already know that that was one of her favorite forms of foreplay. Right?”
Sunny opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She merely nodded, then managed a hoarse “Right.”
A wayward strand of hair was lying on her cheek. He leaned forward and blew on it gently until it relocated and settled in front of her ear, the one with the two diamond studs in it. He seemed entranced with the way the diamonds sparkled through that wispy strand of hair.
“Yeah, I see what you mean, Sunny. Marriage has its benefits,” he said. “But after a while, the same old thing night after night would no doubt get tiresome.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Oh?” He tilted his head back to see her better.
Sunny wet her lips. “Not if they wanted to please each other.”
“Hmm, and not if both of them had a spirit of adventure.”
“Yes, and ... and if they cared enough to make each other happy in and out of bed.”
“That almost sounds like love, Sunny.” He took her earlobe between his thumb and index finger and toyed with the two diamond earrings. “Are you talking about love?”
“I ... I guess I am.”
“Then it really wouldn’t matter how they went about it, would it?” His gaze met hers. The heat rising out of them melded their gazes together. “Anything they did would be making love. When he put his body inside hers, it would be more than sex. Though, God knows, that would be great. But it would entail love and trust and commitment, things like that.” Visually, he feasted on her face. “And there wouldn’t be any reason for him to rush it. He could stay nestled inside her for a long, long time, as long as he liked. Even after they fell asleep lying face-to-face.” He pressed his forehead hard against hers and squeezed his eyes shut. “Damn, Sunny, talking about it has made me want it really bad.”
Sunny knew the feeling. She wanted nothing more at that moment than to be experiencing exactly the kind of intimacy Ty had painted in word pictures. She wanted to tilt her face up to his, touch his lips, take his tongue into her mouth. She even made a yearning sound and the initial movement to do so.
But he raised his head away from hers and with a rueful smile said, “But that’s not for us. You’re happy living independently in New Orleans. And, as you’ve said, I’m the town stud.” He stood up. “Well, here comes Steve. G’night, Sunny. See you at the wedding.”
No one could tell from Sunny’s appearance just how dark and gloomy her mood was. On the outside, wearing the dress that perfectly complemented her coloring, she looked like a sunbeam. Radiant. Glowing. But within, she felt as lifeless and dull as cold metal.
When she had walked down the aisle, she had held her head up proudly, but standing through the ceremony at the altar had been pure hell. She had felt just as many stares boring into her back as there had been watching the bride and groom exchanging their vows.
She had avoided looking directly at the best man, but, like moths to a flame, her eyes seemed determined to die in the fire of his steady, blue gaze.
Then she took Ty’s arm and left the church by the center aisle; she kept several inches between her body and his. Her attitude was unfriendly and stoic. They might have been strangers. Speculative stares followed them, some laced with resentment and envy. She wanted to stop and tell those
women she had laid no claim to their sheriff, and they could fight over him for all she cared. She wasn’t in the competition. As soon as this wedding was over she would never have to look at him again and that suited her just fine.
Only another half-hour, she thought to herself now as she surreptitously checked her wristwatch. Fran had told her the reception would last no more than an hour. She and Steve planned to make a quick getaway because they were taking an evening flight to St. Thomas out of New Orleans.
The whole ordeal couldn’t be over soon enough for Sunny, whose feet ached from the tight new pumps, almost as much as her cheeks ached from smiling insincerely. Lord, she couldn’t wait to leave this town. She planned never to cross the city limit signs of Latham Green again after she escaped them this time.
Maybe she would leave tonight instead of tomorrow as she’d originally planned. Why wait? There was nothing to keep her here. If she got back to the cabin by—
“Sunny?”
Her head snapped up at the familiar voice. “Hello, Don.”
