Before We Kiss (Fool's Gold #14)(45)

Dellina’s cheeks burned with heat. “Um, no. We’re working together. That’s all.”

She didn’t dare look at Sam. No doubt he was ready to mouth “I told you so” and she didn’t want to hear it. Or see it.

Lark shook her head. “Then you were sexually intimate at one time. I can sense the connection between you. What caused the problem? I doubt it was Sam’s ability in bed. Although he wouldn’t allow me to instruct him, I know he and his father had many conversations on technique. So many men are lost when it comes to pleasing a woman.”

Dellina sipped more water and decided she was going to let the others decide the best first course.

Lark looked across the table at her son. “Simone called me the other day. She admitted that while she doesn’t regret the marriage ending, she does miss you in bed.” Her expression brightened with pride. “She said it was more than the number of orgasms. It was the intensity of her satisfaction that she misses.”

Reggie nodded knowingly. “That would be difficult to get over. Self-stimulation only gets you so far. A skilled, caring partner adds that indefinable element.”

Dellina wondered if her makeup was enough to hide the intense blush on her cheeks. This wasn’t happening. These perfectly nice middle-aged people were not discussing sex or orgasms at the dinner table. They couldn’t be.

“I talked to her about self-stimulation,” Lark said as she pulled one of the tiny salads closer. “You know that squeezing pressure I like so much?”

“Mom,” Sam said sharply. “That’s enough.”

His mother paused. “Well, all right. My point is Simone misses you in bed.”

* * *

DELLINA COULDN’T REMEMBER a more exhausting dinner. It wasn’t that anything had happened, but that didn’t matter. Now that she’d seen the elder Ridges in action, she didn’t know when the next mind-bending statement was going to drop in the middle of the table. The matter-of-fact delivery almost made it worse, because for a second it seemed as if she must have misunderstood.

After the whole Simone debacle, conversation shifted to more conventional topics, but that didn’t mean Dellina could relax. Being braced for the next shocker required exactly the same energy as enduring it. By the time dessert was brought out, she felt as if she’d run a marathon—at least emotionally. Not that she’d ever done the other kind, either, but that wasn’t the point.

“I’m very interested in the history of the town,” Lark said after tasting the chocolate mousse. “The Máa-zib tribe especially.”

“I know the basics,” Dellina told her. “It’s required for all students to learn about how they traveled up from Central America and settled here.”

“The matriarchal aspect is intriguing,” Sam said. “You’d like that, Mom. Using men for sex, then casting their lovers aside.”

Lark shook her head. “I like having your father around. I would never cast him out.”

Reggie took her hand. “I appreciate that, my dear, and share the sentiment.”

“There’s a museum outside of town,” Dellina told them. “There was an amazing discovery about three years ago. A lot of gold jewelry and small statues.”

“We’ll have to go see it,” Reggie said.

Lark nodded. “And isn’t there supposed to be a statue in town? One by Caterina Stoicasescu? I feel as if I read that somewhere.”

Dellina remembered the scandal of the work when it was first unveiled.

“It’s on loan,” she said. “To a sculpture garden in San Francisco.”

Permanent loan, she thought with a grin. If Mayor Marsha had anything to say about it.

“I know her work,” Sam said. “She uses metal. What was the one she made for the town?”

Dellina winced. “It was a, um...”

“A giant vagina,” Lark told him. “I’ve seen pictures. It was beautiful. Caterina truly understands the importance of sexuality. I’m not saying it defines us, but it’s a significant part of our lives. For women, especially. We teach our children to drive, to cook, to balance a checkbook, but we don’t teach them about sex.”

Dellina glanced at Sam, who was staring at his mother with horror. As if he knew what she was going to say next and could neither stop her nor think of a way to escape.

“What they teach in school isn’t enough,” Reggie said. “Birth control is important but what about the rest of it?”

“The rest?” Dellina asked before she could stop herself. “You mean—”

“Pleasure.” Lark smiled at her husband. “Remember when I taught the girls to masturbate?”

He nodded. “It was a beautiful time.”

Sam flinched.

Lark sighed at the memories. “Reggie took Sam away for the weekend. After all, he was a boy and knowing what to do with himself was more easily understood. But the girls didn’t have the obvious cue of an erection. I told them about their clitoris and described some basic techniques.” Her smile trembled slightly as her eyes filled with tears. “They had the whole weekend to self-explore. I answered their questions.” She sighed. “It was a wonderful memory I’ll treasure always.”

* * *

THE REST OF the meal passed in a blur. Dellina was pretty sure there was coffee and tea and more conversation, but she couldn’t get past the rushing in her ears.