Carla Krae - [My Once and Future Love Revisited 02] Page 7

  “I’ll see you both Friday night,” she said.

  He gave her a stiff hug. “Anyone bothers you, you call. Day or night.”

  “Yes, Dad. I know. I’ll be fine.”

  He nodded once and led her mother to the car.

  Once they were out of sight, Jacob wrapped around her from behind. “You okay?”

  “It’s weird. Like going to camp, except a whole lot longer. I’m glad I didn’t go out of state… I’d be a mess right now.”

  He kissed her neck. “Show me what you liked about this place so much.”

  She turned and took his hand. “Okay.”

  After the tour, they made love in her new room, careful not to roll off the bed, and he stayed the night. It wasn’t a spoken agreement, but they both wanted to spend the last hours of his stay together.

  The next day, they shipped the last of his stuff in the house he wasn’t flying with and spent the night there with Chinese takeout and a last romp in his bed. Since his mother lived in England and already had a fully-furnished house, the big pieces were being sold with the place and that included his bed frame.

  “Unless you want to take it,” he suggested.

  “Where would I put it?”

  “At your parents’, duh. You keep complaining your bed is too small for you.”

  “True… I suppose my father can’t complain about a free bed…”

  He trailed his fingers down the center of her naked torso. “And it has so many memories for you.” He followed his fingers with open-mouth kisses.

  “Uh-huh.” She arched off the bed when his tongue flicked her clit. “Don’t think the new people would want this mattress if they knew what’d been done on it, either.”

  “Undoubtedly. They’d be jealous.”

  “Unh…” Don’t stop. “It’s amazing your ego fits through doors, Jacob.”

  “Takes two, baby…takes two.”

  Yeah, the bed was definitely mine.

  ****

  Walking away from her at the airport was one of the hardest things he’d ever done, and he almost missed his flight from stealing one last kiss after kiss. They made a pact to talk on the phone every Sunday, with one week being his turn and hers being the other to split the costs.

  Leaving his keys with the realtor for the new owners was a more emotional thing than he expected. The house held a lot of good family memories, but it had taken on more meaning of late. Without a place to stay when he visited, without a home…it didn’t seem right for strangers to hear the Lawsons in the backyard or some kid to have his room. They could even all become friends and he and Mum would be replaced. It was the Lindsey’s house for fifteen years—what if the new people wanted to change everything?

  “Jacob. Welcome home.” His mother met him outside the terminal with their driver.

  He hugged her. “Think I left that behind, Mum.”

  “We’re not talking about the house, are we?”

  He let her slide in the backseat first. “What do you mean?”

  “Darling, the day I miss you having feelings for a young lady is the day I’ve been struck blind and dumb.” The car moved onto the street.

  “I will miss the house.”

  “Of course. So, fill me in on your two months with Elizabeth.”

  “Mother…”

  While he didn’t want to give her details, it was good for it not to be a secret. But he still didn’t say he was in love. When he was ready for those words to be spoken aloud, they would be for Beth first.

  Coming back held a couple surprises—his mother paid his rent so he wouldn’t lose the apartment, and the band hadn’t replaced him with another singer. School had to come first, but he’d try to make weekend gigs when he could. His L.A. money went in an envelope hidden under his mattress at the manor where he could lock his room and not be tempted to touch it. Mum had a full supper of his favorites prepared for his return.

  “You didn’t have to go to all this trouble. I got a meal on the flight.”

  “Jacob, I haven’t seen you in months. Let me indulge.”

  He grinned. “Fair enough. I may not say it enough, but I’m glad to have you, Mum, especially over here.”

  “Am I guessing correctly to think this year will be harder on you than the last?” She rarely missed reading between the lines.

  “Could be.” He stuffed a large forkful in his mouth so he didn’t have to say more.

  “The third year class work, of course.”

  “Right.” If she was going to bring up Beth again, he was going to keep shoveling in food. They didn’t keep much from each other, so when he was sparse with information she didn’t give up until he spilled his guts

  “Was Elizabeth nervous about starting university for the first time?”

  “Sure.”

  “Did you give her some tips?”

  “Didn’t ask.”

  “Well, you’re allowed to use the house phone to call California, as long as it’s not every time.”

  “Thanks.”

  She sighed. “For heavens sake, Jacob, supper isn’t going to run away. Slow down and swallow. Did you eat on vacation?”

  “’Course.”

  She frowned at another one-word answer and he grinned. Riling up mothers was fun, too.

  ****

  Beth sent e-mails during the week every time she thought of something to tell him, but it wasn’t the same as hearing his voice.

  Meanwhile, she made a new friend.

  “Damn…hey, Beth, do you have an extra pencil?” Michelle stood at the easel next to hers in drawing class.

  “Sure. Keep it, I have spares.”

  “Thanks.”

  Beth watched her go back to sketching the statue they were copying. “You’re pressing too hard. That’s why the pencil snapped.”

  “Yeah. I can’t get the feel for the right pressure standing like this. I usually have a pad on my lap.”

  The teacher stopped to glare at them. They lowered their voices.

  “It is awkward. Yours is coming out better than mine, though.”

  “Thanks.” Michelle was a sculptor and fabulous with clay. Beth…managed to make a turtle once in grade school.

  She had the most perfect blonde hair Beth had ever seen—straight, thick, always shiny, and never tangled. Princess hair. Since this was L.A., she kept trying to convince Michelle to try out for hair product commercials to help pay the bills. She had a bubbly, musical laugh and a passion for Cary Grant movies. When Beth’s room got too lonely, she’d head over to Michelle’s apartment she shared with her boyfriend. They weren’t big on public displays of affection, so she rarely felt like the third wheel. It helped her not miss Jacob so much all the time.

  “Movie night Friday?” she asked.

  “Sure. Think it’s my turn to bring the popcorn.”

  The teacher shushed them, making them hide giggles behind their hands and turn eyes to their work. Don’t know why, but this friend thing seemed easier in college.

  There was a lot of homework, but freshman year wasn’t hard so far, except, ironically, the art stuff. Memorizing theory and history was easy, but Beth had little talent outside of a camera in her hands. The longer she spent at UCLA, the more she started to feel she chose the wrong school.

  Don’t get her wrong—it was a great university, just not best serving her needs.

  Oh, well…every general education class she passed would transfer anywhere else, so it wasn’t a total loss, and she had a friendly community in which to learn being on her own. She went home every Saturday and Sunday, though, which pleased her parents, Mom especially. She had a bit of empty nest syndrome going.

  December

  Jacob saw his angel standing by the Baggage Claim conveyor for his plane and ran. He dropped his carry-on at her feet, gathered her into his arms, and kissed her senseless. Four long months of phone calls and being all too intimate with his right hand were over.

  A nearby cough reminded them where they were.

&
nbsp; “Tell me I get you alone tonight.”

  Beth’s cheeks were pink and her eyes bright. “I haven’t gone home for the holiday, yet.”

  He grinned and kissed her again. “Well, what are we waiting for?”

  They collected his rental car and sped to her dorm room. The expected roommate had never come that semester and they hadn’t assigned anyone else to her room. He tossed his luggage on the empty bed and grabbed an armful of giggling brunette.

  “I can’t believe your mother let you come for Christmas.”

  He stripped her sweater off. “It’s her gift this year. Ooo, nice.” She wore a red push-up bra with white snowflakes printed on it. “This for me?”

  “No one else sees me naked,” she quipped.

  “Better not. Do the knickers match?”

  “Find out.” She held her arms out and stood waiting.

  He unbuttoned her jeans and slid the zipper down. A peek of red fabric was revealed. He pulled her jeans down her slender legs and smiled. A string bikini printed with snowflakes. He helped her out of her shoes and pants.

  “Turn for me, love.”

  She made a three-sixty, showing off the cheeky cut of her panties in the back. “Do I pass inspection, Mr. Lindsey?”

  “Thought about you the whole way here.” He was so hard, they’d have to start slow, or he’d pop like a virgin. He kissed her belly.

  “I missed you.” Her hair was longer, and free, almost falling to her waist. It framed her lovely face like curtains.

  He rose to his feet. “Missed you more.” He slid the straps of her bra off her shoulders.

  She trembled. Her head fell back when he pulled one bra cup down and kissed her breast. “Not possible.”

  He’d played their reunion in his mind a thousand different ways, always ending with them sweaty and sated, but nothing compared to having Real Live Beth available to his fingertips and mouth. She tasted like sweetness and home, and the feel of her hands in his hair…god, he’d missed that, too.

  “Your hair is so long.”

  “Busy term.” Two inches of growth had him looking shaggier than he preferred. “I’ll visit a barber while I’m here.”

  “I like the front.” She raked her fingers through his locks again. He felt like purring.

  He unclasped the bra and tossed it away. She was so pretty, her perky little tits saluting him in the artificially heated room. He cupped them in his hands and rubbed his face against their softness.

  “Thought you were in a hurry,” she said, though it didn’t sound like a complaint.

  He looked up. “Was. Then I realized there’s no rush.” He flicked her nipples with his thumbs, making her gasp. “I’ve got four months of catching up to do and I’m gonna do it right.”

  “By teasing me?”

  A sly grin formed on his lips. “If that’s what it takes.” A few minutes of foreplay and she was already clenching her thighs together. God, he loved this girl. Loved her even more when she took matters into her own hands and started stripping his clothes off. “Eager little bunny, aren’t you?”

  “You aren’t the only one that’s been frustrated for months.” She gripped his prick. He hissed. “Slow can come later.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  He’d never tell her, but he wrote lyrics about this, naughty poems praising the feel of her and the way she squeezed him when she came. They made music every time, never clashing rhythms. And every time he stared into her eyes at her most vulnerable, he wanted to tell her how he felt.

  It was too soon, though…

  Morning light shone on his face.

  He stretched. She wasn’t in sight. He heard water run in the bathroom, then the door opened. She wore a fuzzy blue robe.

  “Good morning.” She kissed him. Minty. “You haven’t said where you’re staying in L.A.”

  “Can I pitch a tent in your backyard?”

  “You’re pitching one now.”

  Ha, ha, cute. “Wanna help me with that?”

  “Condoms have to be bought in bulk with you, don’t they?”

  He grinned. “You’ve had no complaints.”

  She pulled the sheet back, exposing him. “True…” She traced the veins on his cock with her finger. It jumped at contact. “Then again, breakfast would be good.”

  He grabbed her and rolled her under him. “You are so evil.” He opened her robe and chewed on her side until she begged for mercy.

  They didn’t make it out of the dorm until noon.

  ****

  It was a relief when Jacob said his mother arranged a hotel room for him.

  Mom probably would’ve let him bunk in the darkroom with a sleeping bag, but Dad would’ve had a cow. A quiet cow behind closed doors, but a cow nonetheless. They got some cheap decorations for his room since he was staying through Christmas.

  “The Art major classes are drier than I expected, especially my Art History teacher. Oh my god, he just drones and drones… I don’t mind the practical classes, creating stuff, though I’m terrible at drawing or painting. I know I have A’s in all my gen ed., though,” she said, filling him in on first semester.

  “I’d be shocked if you didn’t. You like it here? In general?”

  “Yeah… It’s fine for general ed., if nothing else. I’m going to try to get into some classes at a local photography school for summer session. If I like it, I can transfer my credits.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” He finished wrapping garland around the plastic table-top tree.

  “Hope so. What about you? Did that advance studying help?”

  “Some. Further I get, the more memorization is required, and I’m a bloody performance major. It’s frustrating that only my individual lessons focus on that at all. Wonder if I’m wastin’ my time, sometimes.”

  “Why? Education enriches who you are.”

  “I can see the argument in that, but a degree won’t get me one bit closer to a recording contract…not when new acts are taking my place while I sit over there in a classroom day after day. It’s youth oriented, right? The freshest and most beautiful get the chance. If I don’t fall behind, I’ll be twenty-three when I’m just starting to knock on doors. Don’t know if that’ll be good enough.”

  She went to him where he sat on the bed. “Jacob, unless they find someone who looks and sounds exactly like you first, two years are not going to kill your chances. And there’s no one who looks and sounds and writes like you. Have you heard what’s on pop radio? They’re not real. They can’t stay on tune live and everything’s written for them. Think of these last two years as honing your skills, okay? You’ll have an edge because you know what you’re friggin’ doing.”

  “Why have you never thought my dream was crazy?”

  Oh, so many answers to that… “You’ll only get a big head. To sum it up: I believe, okay?”

  “But why? Even my own mum would rather I teach or be a classical pianist.”

  “That’s just her generation talking. You know she’ll be happy for you.”

  “Still didn’t answer my question.”

  She sighed. “Because you’re gorgeous and your work moves people. Happy?”

  He beamed. “Gorgeous, eh?”

  “See, that’s why I didn’t want to say it.” She pulled away to set up more decorations, but he caught her hand.

  “Beth. Thank you.” His face was dead serious and the words sincere.

  Melting, she moved closer for a hug. “You’re welcome.”

  She went home after dinner for her temporary move-back-in. With nearly a month off school, she had time to relax and a reason to be in her old bedroom for a while.

  It startled her to see the bigger bed when she opened the door, though she didn’t know why…she’d come home several times over the term. His sheets weren’t on it anymore, of course. That was too weird to try to get away with even in front of her oblivious parents. The first weekend she visited, she bought a set in sky blue to match her décor.

  “Hope you’re
ready to shop ‘til you drop tomorrow!” Her mother went a little nuts at Christmastime.

  “Mommm… Every year you drag me to the mall and every year you say I’m a drag during it. Can’t we just get Dad and Andrew’s presents and leave?” Never mind that her shopping was already done thanks to tutoring money.

  “But—”

  “Please? Just this once?”

  She sighed. “Alright…you’re an adult, I can’t force you. You can leave early.”

  “Thanks, Mom. Really, you’ll thank me later when you have more fun.”

  She smiled and there was a touch of sadness to it. “Honey, I have fun spending time with you. Are you going to do laundry tonight?”

  “No.”

  “Good, I’ll take my shower, then. ‘Night, Beth.”

  “Goodnight, Mom.”

  Good job—stomped all over her bonding thing. Sometimes, Beth really didn’t think. It was hard giving equal time to her parents and her boyfriend. Especially around the holidays, she worried about short-changing somebody.

  At least no one expected her to keep them entertained…in truth, she was the only one with nothing to do. Jacob was seeing old friends and stuff, Dad worked, and Mom had a social schedule she’d always done. But with everyone being free in the evening, the timing was a constant potential for conflict.

  Still, the month was a high. She read books, went to seasonal exhibits with Mom, spent a day at Disneyland with Jacob and their special holiday decorations, watched classic movies with Dad, and talked on the phone with her brother. It was the happiest she could remember being.

  On Christmas Eve, she went to a candlelight service with her parents (they were twice-a-year church people), then exchanged gifts with Jacob at his hotel.

  “Happy Christmas, love,” he said upon opening the door.

  “I’m saying now that I can’t stay overnight so don’t ask me. Family obligations.” She handed him her coat.

  “Too bad,” he sighed. He put her coat in the closet. “Want your pressie now?”

  “Whenever.” It really was a nice room, with a big bed and big TV and chairs that weren’t torture to sit in.

  She was nervous about his gift. It was technically jewelry, which she’d heard made guys wig unless you were already married to them, but not a scary piece. There was a guy selling leather bracelets at a fair, and he’d engrave anything you wanted on the silver bar in the center. She had perseverance written on the front and his graduation year on the back. Encouragement wasn’t scary, was it?