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“Dan, you don’t want to get serious with me. You wanted Laura not long ago, if I remember correctly.”
“Well, she’s history. She’s with that old man now,” he said, scowling. “What can I do to prove to you that I want more than just sex?”
“For one thing, you can love me. I’m not interested in a loveless relationship. And you can sign a contract that says that if you cheat on me, I own you.”
“What’s love? Define it for me right now without thinking about it for another minute.”
“Ha! Thanks. Love is wanting to be with someone above all others. It’s wanting to build something with that person.”
“I want those two things.”
“It’s being faithful to them. I don’t see you being faithful.”
“I haven’t had sex with another woman, well, with any woman, for a while. I should get a reward for the length of time I’ve gone without sex. If you’ll do it to me tonight, it might be the most memorable one I’ve ever had.”
She couldn’t help herself, laughing out loud. “Aw, I don’t mean to make light of it. But I haven’t had sex either, and I’m not looking for a medal. I guess that’s the difference between men and women.”
“What do you think?” he asked, tired of psychoanalyzing. “Do you want to dance around the living room for a bit, get the juices going?”
“I’ll do that,” she said, standing. “You’re romantic, too? Yikes, I guess that’s something you kept hidden from me.”
He walked over to the bookcase and switched the music on. Holding out his hand for her, he watched Lily rise from the sofa, how graceful she was, the thing he’d liked about her when they were first together a long time ago.
“I remember you now,” he whispered, embracing her. “I remember how soft your skin is, how you swallowed me up. I want that again. I want it if you’ll give it to me.”
Beyond words, she wondered if this was the charming Dan the other women saw, and it scared her because she was ready to love him. She’d held it back, held herself down, and now here he was offering what she always wanted. But she thought it was probably beer talking. She’d play along.
“Don’t hurt me again, Dan. Don’t make a fool out of me.”
Rocking with her, he nuzzled her neck, kissing her face and reaching her lips. “I promise not to hurt you again. I think this time I might be the one who’s hurt.”
Slipping his hands under her robe, he felt her soft body, that silky skin awakening memories of her when they’d first slept together a long time ago. He took her hand and led her back to the bedroom.
“Why do I have the feeling I’m going to regret this,” Lily said, full of desire for him so that there was no turning back. “Before I love you, hurt me now. I don’t want it to happen later, after I’m committed.”
“Just be in the moment right now,” he said. “I love your bodyright now, Lily. If you’re going to regret that, well, there’s nothing I can do about it.”
In bed, Lily became the aggressor at first, doing things to secret places on Dan’s body that no woman had ever touched before, driving him wild. And then it was his turn to please Lily. Being with him was exactly what she hoped it would be, taking her over the edge again and again, and by the end of their time together that night, she was his.
***
The morning of the party dawned with the pinkest, purple sky. Pam looked out of the bedroom window at dawn, shaking her head.
“How’s it look?” Jake said, lying in bed, naked, the sheet pulled up to his waist.
“Sketchy,” Pam said, turning back to him. “How do you feel?”
“Like I want you,” he said. “Are you up to it?”
She knelt on the bed and crawled over to him, wrapping her arms around him. “Right now, it’s the only thing that I want.”
They kissed, fighting with the memory of the news yesterday, wishing it didn’t exist. She wasn’t going to fall in love with Jake, and she didn’t want to need him, but she didn’t want to have to say goodbye to him, either.
“I love you, Pam,” he said, melting her. “Right this second, with you in my arms, I’m not thinking of anything else, no cancer or radiation or death. It’s all about love with you.”
“Jake, I really like you. I want to get away from you, and now I’m stuck.”
“Ha! Me too, Pam. Let’s just take it one day at a time.”
