Julia Watts - Wedding Bell Blues

“Mmm,” Jack purred. “Let me help you with that dress.” Slowly, methodically, Jack undid each button from calf to waist, then from neckline to waist. When Lily’s underwear had been cast aside, Jack said “beautiful” and leaned over her.

“Wait.” Lily had become suddenly aware that Jack was still wearing her coveralls, looking more like she was about to deliver a calf than make love. “Aren’t you gonna undress?”

“Oh, I forgot.” Jack stood up and unceremoniously shucked off her coveralls. She looked self-conscious for a moment, standing there in a white tank undershirt and a pair of plain white briefs. “The shirt, too?” she asked.

“Uh-huh.”

Jack pulled off the undershirt and stood before Lily, all rippling biceps and strong thighs. Her breasts were small and high, and her stomach was tautly muscled — not from the machines at a gym, but from hard work. “Wow,” Lily sighed.

“Ah, nothin’ special.” Jack’s freckled cheeks reddened— adorably, Lily thought.

“Are you kidding, woman? If you lived in Atlanta, you’d have to beat the dykes off with a softball bat. Come here.”

Lily shuddered as Jack’s skin met her own. Jack was a strong lover, skillful yet passionate. Her hands were everywhere, on Lily’s breasts, belly, thighs, stroking so many surfaces that Lily wondered if Jack had a couple of extra pairs of hands she kept hidden from view.

When Jack entered Lily, she took her quickly to orgasm, then waited inside her a few moments, and took her again. Lily clutched the headboard and bit the pillow to stop the scream that she felt building up in her throat. After her third climax, she gasped, “We’re gonna have to take it easy a minute. I think I’m losing brain cells here.”

Jack slowly withdrew her hand. “Well, why don’t we try this instead?” Jack threw the quilt over Lily’s naked body and burrowed under it until her head was between Lily’s thighs. Lily closed her eyes and sighed. For the first time since Charlotte’s death, her mind was clear and empty, and she gave herself over to pleasure. Her orgasm was beautiful and shattering, and tension drained from her eyes in the form of tears.

As Lily lay exhausted in Jack’s arms, she said, “Your turn.”

“Huh?”

“Your turn. You did me; now I do you.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. A lotta girls, I wear ’em out so bad, they pass right out.”

Lily smiled at Jack’s cockiness and slid on top of her. “Not this girl.” She pressed her lips to Jack’s and let her hands trail down her lean, muscular body.

As they lay holding each other, Jack said, “I wish you could stay the night. I’d make you breakfast again.”

“Peaches and coffee?”

“Mm-hm.”

“I’d love to stay, but you know I can’t.”

Jack grinned. “Gosh, you don’t think your husband suspects you’re a dyke, do you?”

Lily laughed. “I’d better get dressed.” She rose and walked across the room to retrieve her underwear. “How did my panties end up all the way over here?”

“Beats me.” Jack watched her dress. “Any chance we could maybe do this again?”

Lily buttoned her dress. “Well, I’m not in a position right now to make any promises, but yeah, I think maybe we could.”

Jack pulled on her underwear. “You know, don’t you, that I don’t just do this with any girl. I used to, but I don’t do it anymore unless it means something.”

“I know.” Lily looked at Jack, vulnerable in her underwear. She felt like she should say something else, but she couldn’t find the words.

Jack zipped up her coveralls. “I’ll walk you to the door.”

Downstairs, they kissed good night in the same place where earlier kisses had begun their evening.

“Wait. Don’t go yet.” Jack disappeared into the kitchen for a moment. When she came back, she pressed something soft and round into Lily’s hand. “Eat it when you wake up in the morning, and think about me.”

In her car, in the dark, Lily stroked the soft skin of the peach and smiled.

CHAPTER 18

The hearing was tomorrow. Lily couldn’t sit still for a second. She paced around the house like a caged panther, rehearsing the lines she and Buzz Dobson had gone over, making sure her outfit for the next day wasn’t wrinkled. She felt like an actress preparing for opening night of a play, except that if the play bombed, her life and her daughter’s life would be permanently damaged.

Even Ben, who had been discounting all of Lily’s fears about the hearing, was showing signs of nervousness. He kept riffling through the suits and ties in his closet. If he was going to try to pass himself off as heterosexual, he couldn’t be too well dressed.

Granny McGilly had taken Mimi out for a few hours this afternoon, on the theory that Ben and Lily needed some grown-up time to collect themselves. Granny McGilly also wanted Mimi to get used to spending time with her, since she was serving as babysitter during the hearing.

For their grown-up time, Lily and Ben had invited Jack and Ken to come over—to comfort them in their time of hysteria. At first Lily had been wary about inviting the two of them over so much, but Ben assured her she had nothing to fear: In Faulkner County, the rumor was that Lily and Ben were playing matchmaker for the bachelor professor and old-maid veterinarian. Once again, Lily found herself marveling at the obliviousness of straight people.

As they waited for Ken and Jack to arrive, Ben sat on the couch and Lily paced the length of the living room. “Could you just light for a minute?” Ben asked. “I feel like I’m living with a giant hummingbird.”

Lily forced herself to sit in the armchair. Her knees bent, but her body didn’t relax. “We were insane to think we could pull this off. We should’ve stayed in Atlanta and fought this honestly.”

“I still like our chances here. And besides, if we hadn’t come back to Versailles, I never would’ve run into Ken, and you never would’ve met Jack. Who’d have thought a sham marriage would put us in a situation where we’d both fall in love?”

“Hey, you fell in love, buddy. I’ve never said anything about being in love.”

Ben rolled his eyes. “Well, no, you’ve never said anything, but I have a sneaking suspicion that you and Dr. Jack have been doing more than trotting off to farms and giving pigs enemas.” He leaned forward. “I saw your face when you came home the other night, Mrs. McGilly. I know the face of an adulterous wife when I see one.”

Lily smiled and shook her head. Jack had been a comfort to her since the moment she met her — a remarkable friend and, as of the other night, a remarkable bedmate. But she couldn’t just pretend the years she had with Charlotte didn’t exist, couldn’t just climb up the ladder and dive into another relationship ...

not so soon. “I still love Charlotte, Ben.”

“Of course you do. And I never stopped loving Dez. Even after we weren’t lovers anymore, I still loved him. And now that he’s dead, I still love him. I don’t have to stop loving Dez just because I love Ken. And you don’t have to stop loving Charlotte just because you love Jack.”