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“I thought you just did.”
She shook her tousled head. At some point her ponytail had come down. “You made love to me.”
“What’s the difference?”
Smiling a feline smile, her eyes full of promise, she stretched out alongside him and began nibbling his neck. “Wait and see.”
In the peaceful aftermath, they lay together, their arms and legs entangled. “I thought only hookers knew how to do that right.” His voice was still scratchy from crying out her name, and he barely had the energy to strum her spine with his fingertips.
“Did I do it right?”
He tilted his head back and gazed down at the woman who lay sprawled across his chest. “Don’t you know?”
Her eyes were glazed with love as she looked up at him and shook her head with shy uncertainty.
“That’s the first time you ever...?” She nodded yes. He hissed a soft curse and drew her up for a gentle, loving kiss. “Yeah. You did it just fine,” he said with a trace of humor when he finally released her lips. “Just fine.”
After a long silence, Rusty asked him, “What kind of family life did you have?”
“Family life?” As he collected his thoughts, he absently rubbed his leg against her left one, ever careful not to bump the sore one. “It’s been so long ago I barely remember. Practically all I remember of my dad was that he went to work every day. He was a salesman. His job finally caused a massive heart attack that killed him instantly. I was still in elementary school.
“Mother never got over being mad at him for dying prematurely and leaving her a widow. She never got over being mad at me for...existing, I guess. Anyway, all I meant to her was a liability. She had to work to support us.”
“She never remarried?”
“No.”
His mother had probably blamed her blameless son for that, too. Rusty could paint in the numbered spaces and get the complete picture. Cooper had grown up unloved. It was little wonder that now, when a hand was extended to him in kindness, he bit it instead of accepting it. He didn’t believe in human kindness and love. He’d never experienced them. His personal relationships had been fouled with pain, disillusionment, and betrayal.
“I joined the Marines as soon as I graduated from high school. Mother died during my first year in Nam. Breast cancer. She was the kind of woman who was too stubborn to have that lump checked before it was too late.” Rusty stroked his chin with her thumbnail, occasionally dipping it into the vertical cleft. She was filled with remorse for the lonely, unloved child he’d been. Such unhappiness. By comparison she’d had it so easy.
“My mother died, too.”
“And then you lost your brother.”
“Yes. Jeff.”
“Tell me about him.”
“He was terrific,” she said with an affectionate smile. “Everybody liked him. He was friendly—the kind of person who never met a stranger. People were automatically drawn to him. He had outstanding leadership qualities. He could make people laugh. He could do everything.”
“You’ve been reminded of that often enough.”
Quickly her head popped up. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Cooper seemed to weigh the advisability of pursuing this conversation, but apparently decided in favor of it. “Doesn’t your father continually hold your brother up as an example for you to follow?”
“Jeff had a promising future in real estate. My father wants that for me, too.”
“But is it your future he wants for you, or your brother’s future?”
She disengaged herself and swung her legs over the side of the bed. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Cooper caught a handful of her hair to keep her from leaving the bed. He came up on his knees behind her where she sat on the edge of it. “Like hell you don’t, Rusty. Everything you’ve said about your father and brother leads me to believe that you’re expected to fill Jeff’s shoes.”
“My father only wants me to do well.”
“What he considers well. You’re a beautiful, intelligent woman. A loving daughter. You have a career, and you’re successful. Isn’t that enough for him?”
