Page 10 of The Reward of You

Sam snorts with laughter. “Maybe. We can talk about that later, kid.”

I don’t miss how both girls take it as a given that Sam is going to get what he wants. Nor did they question how he went from a virtual stranger next door to talking about marriage in the space of twenty-four hours.

Sam and Bea head inside to order. Then I turn to Miranda. “You aren’t going to tell me to be careful? That there’s no good people in the world?”

She shakes her head slowly. “Sam’s good for you. And us. He really listens to Bea, and he took care of you.Andhe knew what he was doing. He’s not like Dad.”

I wince at that one. It’s sad that a teenager views her own father as basically useless. The worst part is she’s not wrong.

So I guess the only person with the brakes on is me. And it’s not even all of me, just the part that freezes up at taking a chance of looking like an idiot. I sigh, wondering again what plan Sam has up his sleeve to alleviate that.

Pizza night at Noelle’s is hilarious. Bea teases Miranda about the boy she may or may not have a crush on. Miranda teases Bea by saying she’ll always be short. And Noelle simply looks relieved that there are only words and not fists being flung about. The bemused look on Noelle’s face when Miranda hauls her little sister out of the dining room promptly at seven is priceless. “We had a long week at school. We’re going to bed early,” Miranda announced, pushing back her chair. Bea just looks confused. “But we always watch movies on Friday night,” she argues.

“You’re tired,” Miranda tells her, dragging her little sister protesting out of the room. Then there’s a flurried whispered conversation in the hallway, followed by Bea shrieking with excitement. Then silence.

“I don’t feel self-conscious at all now,” Noelle comments dryly.

I grin as I set the pizza box on the counter. “We should probably give them half an hour to make sure it sticks,” I muse.

Noelle just gives me the side eye.

“Come here for a minute, beautiful. And I’ll give you a small preview of what the evening holds.”

She approaches with caution, like she’s about to shoo a bear off the highway which has my lips twitching. I slide both hands to her waist, keeping about a foot of air between us. “Now, telling you to turn off your brain clearly doesn’t work, so we’re going to give it some rules to work with so it can be happily distracted.”

Noelle responds with a short, jerky nod.

“Tonight, I’m in charge of everything. Every. Last. Thing. You can always say no, but basically you’re limited to two words. You can saymoreorless. Nothing else. No thinking about what you’re supposed to do or not do. Your body can figure that out all on its own. Now… let’s do a trial run.”

I already figured out she has a sensitive spot on the underside of her chin, so I head straight there with my lips, making her neck arch back to give me access. “More or less, Noelle?”

“M-m-more,” she utters with a sigh. I suck lightly on the spot in reward.

Then I go for the irritating trick my uncle loved to play by pretending to steal her nose.

Noelle frowns and immediately responds, “Definitely less.”

Kissing her forehead, I pull her close for just a moment. “There. You already know everything you need to for this evening’s entertainment. Questions?”

“What’s in the bag?”

“You’ll find out later. Now be a good girl and make sure your kids are safely tucked up. Then I want you to run a bubble bath just exactly as you did last night, but without the glass. Including putting up that ridiculous calendar. I need to run next door for a few things and then I’ll be back.”

Noelle turns this over in her mind. “You’ll lock up when you come back?” she finally asks — practical and beautiful as always.

I nod and push her gently out of the kitchen. “Exactly like last night, beautiful, minus anything breakable.”

It’s quite possible all the shit in my life was leading to this one glorious reward of unwinding Noelle. Hell, her name evenmeansChristmas. I saunter next door to pick up a bottle of wine and retrieve my purchases from the trunk of my car. I scan my empty house before leaving. It already feels a little desolate, and I have a feeling I’ll be renting it out in the very near future if all goes well. I’ll have to put the word out at the next IPDIESAC meeting to see if any of the newer guys need a place to stay. Assuming I don’t completely fuck things up with Noelle, that is. But, if I did that, out of good conscience I’d have to move, anyway. Not going to happen, though. We’re good as long as my plan works.

Carrying my armful of loot into Noelle’s house, I set everything down long enough to check and lock the doors. Then I set up in her bedroom. The last thing I do before going to find her in the bathroom is strip off my shirt and lock the door. Then I finally grab one of my purchases and the bottle of wine.

7

I hate that my bubble bath isn’t as relaxing as it used to be. Maybe it’s too soon, but I’m having to force myself to stay in the water until Sam comes back. I don’t want to upset his plans this early in the evening. He’s obviously put a lot of thought into whatever it is.

Still, my eyes widen when I see him push open the door with his elbow. He’s changed into worn jeans, the kind that leave lighter creases in really interesting places. And his chest is bare. I knew from my apparently not very skilled yard surveillance that he had well-defined abs, but seeing them up close is something else. I lick my lips and then see what he’s carrying. “Sam?”

“Plastic, beautiful.”

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