To say that Lou Hamlin is like nothing I’ve ever encountered before would be an understatement. In my whole life, I’ve never met anyone like her. Nor do I think I’ll ever meet another one like her again.
* * *
“You’re back.”The door opens wide, and Lou walks back into the house, leaving it open. Stepping through the door, I smile at the sight of her backside. “What’d you bring me today?”
I’ve been stopping by the house every day this week. I’m on day four in a row. Each time I stop, I bring her something. Lunch was Monday. I brought breakfast from the bakery on Tuesday morning. On Wednesday, I paid Norma an exorbitant sum to make Lou a meatloaf sandwich from scratch since she only makes it one day a week. I ordered it with fries. And today, Thursday, I’ve brought ice cream from Allen’s Frozen Treats.
When she sees the insulated bag with the logo on the front, she frowns. “Allen’s?” She looks me in the eye. “Please don’t tell me you brought me Rocky Road.”
“The clerk suggested it when I asked which ice cream you might like, but I went with vanilla with some toppings on the side.” I knew something was up when the guy behind the counter had a weird gleam in his eye as he suggested Rocky Road for Lou.
“Smart man.” She sits on the same stack of wood we’ve been sitting on all week. It’s the same stack of wood that’s blocking the entrance to the soon-to-be dining room.
I hand her a dish of vanilla while placing a container with hot fudge and one with caramel between us. “This has nuts in it.” I watch her build a sundae and smile. “You don’t like Rocky Road?”
“No to marshmallows.” She takes a bite and I watch her lick the spoon of any residue and my dick takes notice. Ice cream was a bad idea.
“Have dinner with me.”
Setting her dessert down, she turns to face me. “Let me ask you a few questions before I answer you this time.”
“Okay.”
“How long are you going to be in town?”
“I don’t know yet.” Forever if I had the option. I don’t.
“Would you say a month?”
“I can’t be here for a month.” Hell, I should be gone already. “Another week, perhaps. My vacation isn’t indefinite.”
She looks at me for several minutes while eating her frozen treat. Pointing the spoon at me, she finally speaks. “I’ll do it. On one condition.”
“Okay.”
All this for a dinner date?
“We do it at a hotel in Excelsior. Once. And we never speak of it again. If you tell anyone here in town that you and I….” She points at herself then at me. “Did it. I’ll—I’ll unman you.”
My dick is no longer engaged in this discussion.
“You want to skip dinner?”
“Dinner’s code for sex and you know it.”
“Dinner was code for dinner. Sex, well, that was dessert.”
She looks down at her ice cream and blushes. “Fine. We can eat dinner first but nothing too filling. I don’t want to feel puffy.” She taps her chin. “And nothing too healthy either.” She looks to her right, and back at me. “On second thought, let’s not have dinner. Too many possible intestinal issues related to food.”
God, I want to laugh but I’m afraid if I do, she’ll say no to any of it. “Those are your terms?”
“Yes.” She nods and licks her spoon again. One long, delicious lick.
My dick is back in the game. “Tonight?”
“Sure. Might as well get it over with.”
And that’s the last straw. I laugh. Hard. So hard, in fact, I’ve got to bend in half to catch my breath.
