He didn’t thrust right away but laid his forehead on mine. “The weather’s awful. I might get snowed in.”
He withdrew and pushed back in.
I moaned at the ecstasy of him stroking me. “I might make you shovel.”
“I’ll earn my keep.”
The tightness of his body matched mine. We both tried not to rush, to savor each other.
It was no use. I arched back and exploded over him. He roared my name and shook in my embrace.
In the warmth of the aftermath, Wes held me in a grip that a tornado couldn’t loosen. Mine was just as fierce.
Wes
One year later…
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.” I eyed my reflection in the mirror.
“You look amazing.” Mara stood next to me and my eyes narrowed.
“I wasn’t talking about me.” But I rocked the Superman tights and cape, thank you very much. “It’s letting people see you in that Wonder Woman costume.”
She grinned and ran her hand over her purple-streaked hair. “I’m not the Amazon she was, but if it’ll draw people to the booth…” She stepped back to examine me. “I think you’ll definitely attract a crowd.”
“I do what I can for Arcadia.”
Including making Arcadia’s new location the home of my Back to the Future pinball machine. Mara’s delight when I’d showed it to her made me wish I had ten more.
“Are you sure Chris doesn’t need help setting up the booth?” If I wanted to be selfish, and when it came to Mara I was, I’d admit to being grateful she’d partnered with Chris. It took some of the pressure off her, and that meant more time with me.
She had passed on my offer to help get Arcadia up and running. Her own venture, she’d said in the same breath used to refuse my dismissal of a prenup.
So fine, my team drew up a standard one to make her happy and I never planned on using it anyway.
It’d also mollified my mother, who was under strict orders to never call Mara a greedy whore again. Easy to do, since she lived in the Bahamas half the year.
“He said he’d take care of it if we tore it down at the end of the convention.” Mara slipped on the yellow tiara. “He also said he’d tear it down if we could use the jet to fly to Chicago and look at a location for a second store.”
“You know you don’t need to ask me.” I was glad to see it get use, not utilizing it much since I’d dropped my business in New York and donated the property I’d owned to the city’s housing authority. Then donated the money they’d need to build affordable housing. Not completely altruistic—I no longer had the desire to travel constantly.
“It makes him feel better to offer. Were you able to recruit Flynn for Captain America?”
“Yes, after I told him that there’d be plenty of women offering to be his Betsy Ross. And then I had to tell him who Betsy Ross was.”
We walked to the garage together in our new place. I’d sold the Bruce Wayne mansion, and Mara and I had settled in a place that was a quarter of the size, with no lake. But I’d kept my team of people, especially Chef.
The trip to Golden Meadows went by quickly—we’d made sure to find a place close to Wendy.
Breezing through the nursing home, we found Wendy with a smile on her face, breaking tradition and already dressed as Rey from the newest Star Wars movie. Every time we visited, I marveled at how much her color and tremors had improved. She’d never get fully better, but with the doctors Helen had found and the new treatment regimen, she wasn’t deteriorating as quickly and her quality of life was vastly improved.
“Look at you two. You look amazing.” Wendy used her new motorized wheelchair to start for the exit.
She called it a splurge, but to me, it was a necessity. I’d even offered to move her in, but when Mara had asked, she’d passed. Too isolating. So I spoiled the woman in any other way I could. I loved my mom in my own way, but Wendy was on a different level.
Kinda like Mara.
I grabbed Wonder Woman’s hand and walked with my family outside. A family I might’ve never had if Sam hadn’t tried to keep his memories with me alive in Mara’s store. I thanked the old man every time I visited the cemetery.
As if in tune with my thoughts, and she probably was, Mara smiled up at me.
I leaned in to whisper in her ear, “I’m so going to rip that costume off with my teeth tonight.”
A sultry smile curved her lips. “Funny. I was thinking the same thing.”
______
Flynn meets a woman who makes him use his handy skills like never before in First to Bid.
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About the Author
Marie Johnston writes paranormal and contemporary romance and has collected several awards in both genres. Before she was a writer, she was a microbiologist. Depending on the situation, she can be oddly unconcerned about germs or weirdly phobic. She’s also a licensed medical technician and has worked as a public health microbiologist and as a lab tech in hospital and clinic labs. Marie’s been a volunteer EMT, a college instructor, a security guard, a phlebotomist, a hotel clerk, and a coffee pourer in a bingo hall. All fodder for a writer!! She has four kids and even more cats.
mariejohnstonwriter.com
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Also by Marie Johnston
First To Lie
First to Bid
First to Fail
