Free Body Work by Bonnie Edwards Page A

strength she didn ’t know he possessed, he turned her so they were face-to-face.
    “ I have to come inside. Let me in.”
    He rolled a condom on. But before she could form permission, he was pressing into her, filling her, spreading her hips so she could take him in one strong slide.
    “I have to . . .” his voice trailed away into a groan.
    Everything fit, everything swelled , and the moment she reached to tunnel her fingers through his head to bring him down for a kiss, he obliged. She felt low deep shudders building, the roar in her head deafening as he gathered her storm into himself.
    They came that way; hips locked, mouths melded, and moans covering moans.
    He raised his head and she watched warily as his eyes came back into focus.
    “You finally kissed me,” she said, on a note of wonder.
    He rolled and gathered her close to his chest. She felt his lips brush her hair.
    “Aren’t you getting up?”
    “ Give me a minute, I’ve got a fast recovery but that’s asking a lot.”
    Too weak and languid to laugh, she said, “No, I mean yesterday . . .”
    He tilted her face up with a single finger to her chin. “Yesterday was before.”
    “ Before?”
    “ Yesterday was sex, Lisa. Just sex. And I’m sorry for yesterday. You deserve better.”
    He looked at her steadily, his brown eyes gentle for the first time and she knew she ’d been right. Things between them were different now. She wasn’t sure how or why, but she accepted the difference and decided not to question him further for fear of ruining the tenuous peace they’d found.
    They showered together then wandered downstairs to the darkened kitchen. Tyce wore his jeans and Lisa snuggled into her terry robe.
    He pulled out a leftover roast beef from the fridge and sliced it thinly, while Lisa peeled fresh potatoes. Finding a container of gravy, she laughed when she saw his expression of relief.
    “ Let me guess. A meat and potatoes guy?”
    “ Through and through.”
    “ You eat in my kitchen,” she wagged a carrot at him; “you eat your vegetables.”
    He cocked his eyebrow at her. “That’s not all I’ll eat in here.” With that, he advanced on her and ignored her delighted squeals as he nibbled his way across her bared shoulder to her neck and up to her ear. She giggled at the tickling sensations of tongue and nipping teeth.
    “ Tyce, I’m–” but she couldn’t finish because he was relentless in his desire to make her laugh.
    “ I love the sound of you laughing. We didn’t do much of that when we were kids.”
    “ There wasn’t much to laugh about.” She put the potatoes on to boil and poured the congealed gravy into a pan to warm it. She turned to him. “How’s your mom?”
    “ She’s good. Still works at the hair salon except she owns it now. She calls herself queen of the blue-rinse set. Some of those ladies have been going to the shop since beehives were in style.”
    Lisa grinned at that. “I always liked your mom. She had a great sense of humor.” Unlike her own, but Tyce never knew Lisa’s mother was a hard drinking, bitter woman.
    “ Yeah, she needed it with me in the house. The neighbors hated living next to us.” He swung open the fridge door and bent in for a look. He started digging around. “Mom had to keep promising them I’d stop working on my car. Then I’d sell it and buy another one and start work all over again.”
    “ At least you didn’t keep spare cars around for parts.”
    He laughed. “I wanted to, but didn’t want to be disowned.”
    “ And Jenny? What’s she doing now?”
    “ Working too hard. She’s the bookkeeper for me and for my Mom’s shop. She has a large client list of small businesses.”
    “ Jason’s her only child?”
    “ Yeah. After he was born, she put her nose to the grindstone. Jenn’s too busy to have a life. I keep telling her to live a little, but, she pushes herself so hard I doubt she ever will.”
    “ Maybe someday.”
    “ She’s in New York right now for our