Chapter 15

Kurt

 

Would you believe I had to wait until nearly one o’clock in the morning before I could get my girl all to myself? There should be a law. It took almost an hour just to say goodbyes and help with cleanup. The ranch was just about back to normal when I took Lisa’s hand in mind and bid my brother and my new sister-in-law adieu for the night. Laura and Grayson are saving a honeymoon for a little while, just because Grayson only just started at the clinic. They’ll do a little getaway next weekend together, but neither of them knows how to sit back and relax and take time off. The two of them were already planning a list of things that need to be done before the baby comes before we left.

“My place or yours?” I joke as we get near the truck.

“How about we go with mine for tonight?” she smiles.

“Sounds good.” I agree, helping her into the truck.

It’s dark and quiet outside. I can hear the crickets as I fish my keys out of my pocket. “You look mighty handsome tonight, Mister Thompson.”

“You’re a vision of loveliness, sweetheart.” I say back, leaning in to kiss her. Surprising me, she plants a deep, loving, searing kiss on my lips. The type that is usually reserved for the bedroom. “My, my, my, Miss Warner. I do believe I’ll be making sweet love to you in about ten minutes.” My voice is low and sultry.

“If we make it there in time.” she says, wiggling her eyebrows.

As we drive back to Lisa’s place, her hand is exploring my body, and I have to chuckle and tell her to keep it PG, so I don’t lose concentration on the road. The minute we get inside her house, our shoes are off, and her lips are on mine. I tear off my suit jacket and tie, as our lips and teeth nip and suck the other’s as though it’s the last time we’re ever going to make love again.

It’s a tug-of-war of ripping each other’s clothes off as we make our way up the stairs to the bedroom. A trail of garments lies in our wake as we reach the bed. Lisa’s body bounces on the bed with the gentle force of our simultaneous land. My body covers hers as we lie naked in bed, our hands all over the other, as we do what we do best together. Hands interlaced overhead, I bury myself in her, feeling all of her, but most of all, feeling her eyes on me.

The look on her face is different. It’s deep and longing, and her gaze is more penetrating than ever. “Everything okay, baby?” I ask breathlessly, concern registering in my eyes, as I slow my pace, thinking that maybe I’m being a little too aggressive, even though she encouraged it with her grip.

“I love you, Kurt.” She blurts, and then I see a tear fall down her cheek. I’m still making love to her, but I slow right down to an easy pace.

“I love you, too, Lisa. More than anything.” The conviction my eyes is palpable, because her gasp turns into a cry, and I absorb it with a deep kiss, as I stroke her tears away from the sides of her face with my hand, while hitting a sweet spot inside, showing her just how much I want her to feel my love for her. Her heartfelt cries turn into passionate ones quickly, as I pick up the pace, and bring her home once, twice, three times over, before her fingers are tangled in my curls, and her legs are wound so tightly around me, it’s a miracle I can move. When we finally collapse, after coming down from the throes of ecstasy, Lisa falls asleep on my chest, and remains there until the sun rises.

She lifts her head, looking at me. “Good morning.” I say, kissing her.

“Good morning.” She says and rises.

“Hey. Where are you going?” I ask, reaching for her.

“I have to get those pictures from last night ready for Laura.”

“That doesn’t have to be done today, baby. Laura won’t mind if you take a day off.”

“I also have a client coming this afternoon. I’ve got a million things to do, Kurt.” Her tone is clipped. I’ve never heard her like that before.

I rise and follow her into the bathroom. “You okay? You’re acting odd.”

She hops into the shower and closes the door. “No, I’m fine. I just…forgot how tight my schedule is this week. With the wedding crammed in there, I have to work double-duty.”

That’s fair. “You need help with anything?”

“No, baby. But thanks. I just…I have to get a move on.”

“Okay.” I scratch my head. “How about I make us some breakfast?”

She laughs out loud. “You? Cook? I thought you said you can’t even make coffee for yourself.”

“I was exaggerating, darlin’. I can make eggs and breakfast. I used to help my mama all the time when I was a kid.”

“Alright. Go on then while I get a shower. But I have to eat quickly so I can hop to, okay?”

“Aye, aye, sir.” I play along. All I have is my dress pants, so I throw them on, choosing to go sans underwear, hoping for a replay of the last time she caught me going Commando.

Twenty minutes later, fine, I made one hell of a mess, but breakfast is on the table. I did a bang-up job of it, too. I must say. Lisa gobbles it up, kissing me quickly, before excusing herself to get to work.

“I’ll just get a shower and head on over to the ranch.” I say to her.

“Okay, baby. I’ll talk to you later.” She says before kissing me quickly.

 

***

Laura

Grayson is downstairs with the Thomas clan, having breakfast, while I’m upstairs unloading my cookies into the toilet. The Diclectin doesn’t seem to be working fast enough, but the good news is that I’ve only thrown up once, not like ten times, which is the norm these past few days. As I clean myself up, I hear my new husband coming up the stairs. He takes one look at me and the pity is washed all over his face.

“Dear sweet Jesus, baby. I had a feeling all the smells from downstairs might have been too much. I’m sorry, baby. I should have closed the partition door of downstairs.”

“It’s okay, Grayson. If I’m going to throw up, I’m going to throw up. Nothing you can do about it. At least it was only the one time so far.”

He takes a step towards me, grabbing the washcloth off the sink, wiping my forehead with it. “We better get one of them good kids, you know…not one of them bratty ones, after all this.”

I giggle.

“Well that’s promising.” He comments, kissing my head.

“Yeah, after I threw up this time, I actually feel better. I think that medicine is finally doing its job.”

“It can take a couple of days to do the trick, baby.”

“I suppose so.”

“You feel like coming downstairs? Mama and the gang are getting ready to head out. It’s a long drive, as you know.”

“Sure. I can come down.”

As we come downstairs, Kurt walks in the front door. “Hey,” I say, confusion all over my face. “What are you doing here? Lisa with you?”

“No, she’s got loads of work to do. Besides, I figured I should come over and give a proper goodbye to Mama.”

“Okay.”

Mama, having heard, says. “Well, you already said goodbye to me last night, darlin’. There was no need to make a special trip, especially if it means taking you away from your sweetheart.”

Mitch and Luke snort a laugh. Rachel smacks them both up the side of the head. “Shut up, you two. Lisa’s his sweetheart. Nothing wrong with that.”

Ignoring the exchange, mama says. “She’s a lovely girl, Kurt. You two getting along well?”

“Yes. She’s great.” He takes a seat as Grayson gets me a piece of toast. “You should see her house. She’s an interior designer.”

“I thought she was a photographer. Wasn’t she taking pictures last night?”

“She’s both, mama. Freelance.” Kurt explains.

Mitch barks. “You’re not going to knock her up and marry her in a week, are you?”

Grayson strides over and smacks him on the other side of his head. Chip growls at Mitch and grabs the bottom of his pantleg between his teeth. “Tact…ever heard of it?” Grayson says, using a warning tone. “Learn it. Use it, jerkwad.”

“I was just kidding, man.” Mitch laughs, holding his head defensively.

“Yeah, well, you don’t speak like that in front of a lady, especially when said lady is my wife.” Grayson wraps his arms around me, holding me close.

“Oh, barf.” Mitch says. “You ready to go, mama?”

“Yes.” She answers with a huff. “I suppose one of these days we’ll all learn to travel in more than one vehicle. That way I don’t have to listen to this for the next nine hours. I’ll be lucky if I live to tell at this rate.”

“Bye, mama.” Grayson chuckles, good-naturedly.

“Bye, son. You take care of your little woman, now, hear?” she warns sweetly.

“He will, mama.” Laura says. “Do you prefer it if I call you mama?”

“Why not? That’s what everyone calls me.” she smiles.

We kiss and say our goodbyes, and when the house is quiet again, save for me, Kurt and Grayson, we sit down at the table, as though breathing for the first time in days. “Is it just the baby, or am I exhausted?” I ask.

“We just got married, after having planned a wedding in a week, baby.” Grayson reasons. “I think we’re all tuckered out.”

“Here here.” Kurt agrees. “I should go get changed out of these formal clothes. Laura, you got any work for me today?”

“Nothing except for a bit of cleanup from last night. Simon and Lloyd have already exercised the horses.” I answer, chewing my toast slowly. “Why don’t you get cleaned up and go back to Lisa’s? Bring her lunch or something?”

He waves. “Na, she’s pretty busy.”

“What’s she doing?” Grayson asks.

“Putting together the stuff from last night, and she says she’s got a client this afternoon.”

“On a Sunday? That’s odd.” I say. “And I already told her that those pictures are no rush.”

He shrugs. “I’m going to go get showered.”

“Okay, little brother. See you later.” Grayson says. When we hear the door close, Grayson looks at me. “Lord, he’s got it bad for her.”

“He does. And it sounds to me like she’s going to pull her old tricks again.”

“What do you mean?”

“Pushing him away. She doesn’t have a client this afternoon.” I state. “She told me that she’s in between jobs, and she never has clients over on Sundays, that’s a fact. She’ll have them over all hours of the day and night, but Sundays she made a rule against that. Once she did it, and it ended up turning sour. So she vowed never to do business on Sunday again.”

“It’s just one day, Laura. Don’t you think you’re jumping to conclusions?” Grayson suggests.

“I know her, Grayson. She did this to Clint, too.”

“That was years ago, darlin’.”

“A leopard doesn’t change its spots, Grayson. Especially a leopard like Lisa. God, I should have warned Kurt.”

“Now, don’t you go getting involved, love. It’s up to them.” He chides. “They’re adults, and if they’re meant to be then so be it. You go meddling in their love life and no good can come of it.” he pauses for emphasis. “Besides, we’ve got bigger fish to fry with a baby coming and all. Don’t complicate things for us or for them. Let them deal with their own problems. We’ve got enough of our own.”

I sigh, crossing my arms over my chest. “I suppose you’re right.”

“I know I’m right.” Grayson states. “Besides, Kurt won’t tolerate that kind of nonsense if she pushes him away. He’s no fool. He also won’t tolerate you interfering, either. He’s not the type to kiss and tell, so you’re wasting your time, darlin’.”

“Okay, fine.” I raise my hands in the air. Lifting, I go to the sink. Grayson grabs my middle.

“Hey, now, you come on over here.”

I guffaw, chuckling. “What? First you chide me, and now you want to give me some love?”

“Correction, baby.” He says, rising, pulling me to him. “I always want to give you love. That’s why I married you.”

“Well, that I’ll give you.”

 

***

 

I hear Lisa come in the door as I close the books for the day. “Laura?”

“In here.” I call from the study.

Her head peeks inside. “Come on in. You didn’t come by for breakfast this morning.” I coment.

She waves. “I slept in. Stayed up late doing all kinds of things to your wedding pictures. Want to see?”

Admittedly, and not surprisingly, the pictures are beautiful. From the horses coming down the aisle carrying us, to the goodbyes at the end, and everything in between. “You and Luellen did a great job.”

“I’ll do everything up and give it to you on one of those USB sticks, so you can do whatever you want with them.”

“Sounds good.” I sigh as she puts her camera away. “Kurt was here all night last night.”

“Yeah, I know. I told you I spent all night going through the pictures.”

“He said you had a client yesterday, too.”

“I thought I did.” She frowns. “Must have had the days mixed up. Came by earlier this morning.”

Tilting my head, I give her my, ‘level with me’ expression. “Lisa, what are you doing.” I say as more of a disappointed statement.

She’s going for playing dumb. I’m not buying it. “Working. What are you doing?”

I hear Grayson’s voice, the sound of reason, in the back of my head. But I choose to ignore it. “Why are you avoiding Kurt?”

She chuckles mirthlessly. “I’m not avoiding him, Laura. I’m busy.”

“Fine.” I sigh. “If you want to do this, I can’t stop you.”

“I’m not doing anything, Laura. Seriously. It’s wedding season, remember? I’ve got clients piling up outside. Why, you should have seen the queue to get into my house last night.”

“Hardy har. Fine. If you’re busy you’re busy. But no lying to me, okay?”

She lifts a hand. “Scout’s Honor.”