Heaven, Texas (Chicago Stars #2)(80)

She broke off as the bed began to shake with his laughter. “The male organ!”

She regarded him huffily. “I don’t see what’s so amusing. I’m too old to be this ignorant, and I have a lot of years to make up for.”

His forehead wrinkled in mock alarm. “Not in one night, I hope.”

“Somehow I don’t think you’d have the slightest bit of trouble keeping up with me.” She hadn’t failed to notice that, despite his words, he’d been regarding the exposed parts of her with unmistakable signs of interest.

The telephone intruded. Although the ringer on the phone at the side of the bed had been turned off, she’d been able to hear the one in his office ringing intermittently ever since they’d entered the house. She was accustomed to the way he let his answering machine take the majority of his calls and had paid no attention. This time he sighed and rolled over to pick it up.

“Maybe if I take this one, whoever it is will leave us alone for the rest of the night. Hello…No, Luther, it’s okay, I wasn’t asleep…Uh-huh. Yeah, I should have that list firmed up in another day or so…. You want George Strait, too?” He rolled his eyes. “I can’t talk any longer, Luther. I’ve got a call coming in on the other line, and I’m pretty sure it’s Troy Aikman. Yeah, I’ll tell her.”

He slammed down the phone and thrust himself up against the pillows. “He told me to remind you about the birthplace committee meeting. You’re not going. Damn fools.”

“I think I will go, as a matter of fact. One of us needs to know what they’re up to.”

“Insanity, that’s what they’re up to, and you’d better stay away because it might be contagious.” His eyes wandered to her breasts. “Are you ready for round two, or do you want to sit here jabbering all night?”

She smiled at him. “I’m definitely ready for round two.”

“But…” She gathered her courage, determined not to let him get his way in everything, even if he did have a few decades more experience than she, and even if she wasn’t all that confident of her new abilities as a sex siren. “I’m ready for round two, but this time I would very much like to be the person calling the shots.”

He regarded her warily. “What exactly do you mean by that?”

“There’s no reason for you to feign ignorance, Bobby Tom. I believe our communication channels are completely open.”

He chuckled.

She reached out for the rumpled sheet covering his hips and pushed it away. “I was thinking that the best place to satisfy my curiosity might be in the shower.”

“The shower?”

“If you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind one bit. But are you positive you’re ready? Taking a shower with me means for sure you’ll be going from beginner to intermediate in just one night.”

She gazed at him and her lips curved in a smile as old as Eve. “I can’t wait.”





16




They went up in his plane the next day, and she was thrilled with the sensations of flying in a small aircraft. Bobby Tom had announced that morning he was taking her to Austin so he could show her some of the city, including his old college haunts. The day was clear, and as he identified the rivers and canyons they flew over, she stole sideways glances at him.

Last night he’d been everything she’d dreamed he’d be: tender and demanding, praising her passion and refusing to let her hold anything back. She had given herself to him out of the fullness of her heart, and she didn’t regret anything. Years from now when she was holding a paper-thin hand through its last hours of life, she would find her own comfort in the memories of the night she had been loved so well by Bobby Tom Denton.

“It sure is nice to get away from that telephone,” he said, as he banked the plane. “Luther must call me six times a day, not to mention everybody else who wants a piece of me.”

“You can’t really blame Mayor Baines for being nervous about the golf tournament,” she pointed out. “Heavenfest is two months away and you haven’t given him a list of names. Don’t you think you should start calling your friends to invite them?”

“I suppose,” he said, without enthusiasm.

“I know why you’re stalling. You’ll do favors for everybody in the world, but you don’t want to ask for any in return.”

“You don’t understand, Gracie. Athletes have people hounding them all the time. If it isn’t one thing, it’s another.”

“Are you telling me that none of these men has ever asked you for a favor?”

“A few.”

“More than a few, I’ll bet.” She gave him a sympathetic smile. “Why don’t you give me a list of your friends? I’ll make the phone calls first thing tomorrow on your behalf.”

“You just want to have Troy Aikman’s home phone number. Sorry, honey, but I don’t think he’s your type.”

“Bobby Tom…”

“Hmmm?”

“I hate to lower your opinion of me, but I don’t have the slightest idea who Troy Aikman is.”

He rolled his eyes. “He’s a pretty well-known quarterback, sweetheart. He’s taken the Cowboys to a couple of Super Bowls.”