She pulled back and looked into his face. 'You're welcome, but you did all the work.'
'Yeah.' A crooked smile twisted his lips. 'But it's the kind of work I don't mind doing.' He pulled out of her and reached for his briefs. He zipped up his pants, then helped her off the counter. Her underwear was twisted to one side, and she moved quickly to the bathroom at the rear of the store and slipped inside.
She took care of business, then turned on the water to wash her hands. She looked into the mirror above the sink and at the reflection staring back at her. Her hair was messed up, her cheeks were flushed, and her bottom lips looked chapped from Rob's soul patch. She looked like a woman who'd just had sex.
The water ran over her hands as she stared at herself. She'd just had sex on the front counter and anyone in town could have walked in. 'Oh my God,' she whispered. Her face got hot and her ears started to buzz. She couldn't believe she'd just done that.
'Kate.' Rob rapped on the door. 'If you're finished, I need to get in there.'
She turned off the water and dried her hands. She opened the door but couldn't quite look into his face. She slid past him, and he grabbed her arm.
'Stay right here.' He let go of her and unzipped his pants. He pushed down his briefs, and she turned her back to him.
'Geez, close the door. Isn't that kind of personal?'
'Honey, we just moved beyond personal.' He dropped the condom in the toilet and flushed. She heard him zip his pants, then turn on the faucets. 'It doesn't get much more personal than me going down on you on my checkout counter,' he said as he dried his hands with paper towels.
'I can't believe I just did that.' She put her palms on her cheeks. 'Someone could have walked in the door and seen… you… your face…'
He turned her around and threw the paper towel away. 'The door was locked.'
'What?'
He grasped her wrists and looked into her face.
'No one could get in. I locked the door when I let out the guy looking at mountain bikes.' He gave her a quick kiss, then took her hand in his and led her from the back room. 'Two fantasies down. Nine hundred and ninety-eight to go.'
'You locked the door?'
'Yep. Couldn't have anyone walking in on us.'
Her feet slowed. 'You were that sure I'd have sex with you?'
'Hell no.' He turned and looked at her. 'Where you're concerned, I never know what to expect. I just like to be prepared. I'm like a Boy Scout.'
She laughed, and they continued toward the door.
'Come home with me.'
'I have to work until six.'
'I'll pick you up afterward. We can have some dinner and then you can show me your tattoo.' He raised her hand and kissed the back of her knuckles. 'I'll just drive across the parking lot at six.'
'No, I'll drive out to your house.' She wanted her car, just in case there was a problem. Not that she was going to look for one. She was going to be optimistic if it killed her.
He slid his lips to the inside of her wrist, then dropped her hand. 'If you're not at my house by six-thirty,' he said as he unlocked the big double doors, 'I'm going to come looking for you.'
'Are you afraid I won't show?'
'I told you I never know what to expect out of you.'
'I'll be there,' she said as she walked away. She moved to the curb and glanced back to see if he was watching her.
He was.
He stood with his arms folded across his chest, his weight resting on one leg, and his head tilted to one side.
Rob Sutter was a heartbreak just waiting to happen, but not unless a girl was foolish enough to fall in love with him. His past proved he was bad at relationships, but if a girl didn't want that from him, it wasn't an issue.
Kate moved between two parked cars next to a light pole. If all a girl wanted or expected was a real good time, remorseless lust, then Rob Sutter was definitely her guy.
Seventeen
Nine hundred and ninety-seven to go.
Kate lay in a tangle of sheets and legs, Rob's moist mouth in the small of her back and his hands on her behind.
'Your tattoo turns me on.'
A lot of things turned him on. Her walking in his front door had had him jumping on her like a duck on a bug. At least they'd made it to his bed this time.
She turned, and his mouth found her navel. Her stomach growled, although at the moment she wasn't sure if she was more hungry for him or for food.
He rose and sat back on his heels. 'Want something to eat?'
Golden sunlight from the window spread across Rob's bed, filtering through dark, fine hair covering the thick definition of his chest muscles and flat ridges of his stomach. A dark, happy trail circled his navel, leading straight down his lower belly to his pubic hair and his erection. A long, angry scar ran from his sternum to his navel, marring the perfection of his body.
'What did you have in mind?'
'Ham sandwiches.' He got up from the bed and moved to his dresser. He pulled on a pair of gym shorts and tossed her a big T-shirt with a hockey logo on the front. As they made their way to the kitchen they stepped over her panties and his briefs in the middle of the bedroom, her bra and his shirt on the stairs, and her dress by the front door.
The kitchen light shone off the pots and pans and the stainless steel appliances. Rob opened the refrigerator and looked inside. 'Did your grandfather mention that he asked my mother to marry him?'
'Yes.' Her gaze took in the gold scales etched in black on his shoulder and down the left side of his smooth back. The tattoo dipped beneath the waistband of his shorts and appeared again wrapping around his right thigh. Earlier, she'd run her fingertips across the tattoo. Rob had shivered and the snake had seemed to come alive and move across his skin. Two small scars marked his back about a hand's width apart. 'My grandfather told me when he got home last night. When did you hear the news?'
'This morning.' He set a jar of mayonnaise, a head of lettuce, a package of ham, and two wheat beers on the work island. 'That's what I wanted to talk to you about earlier when you brought over the granola bars.' He moved to the pantry and grabbed a loaf of bread. 'But I got sidetracked. Remember?'
Yes, she remembered. 'What do you think of their plans?' Kate asked and grabbed a bottle opener that was stuck on the refrigerator. She popped the tops and handed him a bottle.
'I told her she didn't have to get married just because she slept with Stanley.' He raised the beer. 'And she reminded me that the most serious problems in my life were caused by sex outside of marriage.' He took a long drink, then sucked a drop from the corner of his lips. 'I think if I'd been nine, she would have smacked me.'
Kate laughed. 'I said about the same thing to my grandfather, and his reaction was pretty much like your mother's. He actually used the word
Rob's laughter joined Kate's, and he set down the bottle and took eight slices of bread from the bag. As Rob spread mayonnaise on the bread, Kate tore lettuce and watched him out of the corners of her eyes. She liked the way his tattoo moved when he flexed his arms. In fact, there was a lot to like about him. His broad, hairy chest and flat abs were high on her list.
