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plywood?”
    “Yep. They’re cutting it to size now.”
    The two sauntered over to the counter and
picked up the makeshift floor. As they left the store, John glanced back and
grinned. “You try telling women hardware stores are sexy places to shop.”
    “They’re the best! Come on, let’s get this
in.”
    Together they slid the precut plywood into
place on the floor. John sat on the seat and tried it out, stomping on it to
test it.
    “Okay, don’t stomp too hard or I’ll need a
bigger piece of wood. There’s rust falling every time you stomp,” Will told
him.
    “I think you need a new truck, Will.”
    “Yeah, I suppose.”
    * * * * *
    Will dropped him back at his place. “Don’t
forget, two weekends from now—huge reenactment coming up.”
    John made a face. “It’s on my calendar.
Wouldn’t miss the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of Antietam.”
    “Next few years are going to be packed with
reenactments. You got in at just the right time, newbie.” Will grinned and
shook his head. “They’re expecting a couple thousand of us. Gonna be one hell
of a weekend, I’ll tell you that.”
    “Jill coming?”
    “You betcha. She’s got a dress and
everything. Hey! Bring Lauren!”
    John laughed and got out of the truck. “One
step at a time, bud. One step at a time.”
    “Have fun tying up Lauren!”
    John shut the door and Will’s truck wheezed
and sputtered down the drive. Shaking his head, he went inside to examine his
bag of bondage toys and make some decisions about how to craft the best scene
for a newbie of a different sort.

Chapter Five
     
    Lauren dressed casually, looking as if
she’d just thrown on a few things suitable for dinner at a local pub. She wore
a full, flowered skirt that swished when she walked, a matching solid T-shirt
in soft rose and a celery-green scarf that picked up the colors of her skirt.
She wore flat sandals of dark brown, her hair gently pulled back from her face
with the artful use of combs and a pair of cloisonné earrings dangled at her
ears. Of course, it had taken three outfit changes, several hairstyles and no
fewer than six different pairs of earrings to achieve this thrown-together
look.
    The knock on her door came promptly at
seven. With a final smoothing touch to her hair, she picked up her clutch purse
and opened the door.
    Damn, but why did men have it so easy? He
wore an open-necked blue oxford with the sleeves rolled up. A simple brown belt
held up jeans just tight enough to show off his ass, even if she couldn’t see
it from here. Tonight he wore a Stetson, which he now pushed back on his head
as he gave a low whistle.
    “You clean up mighty fine, Miss Lauren.
Mighty fine.”
    She laughed. “And good evening to you too,
Mr. McAllen.”
    He held out his arm and she took it,
pulling her door firmly shut behind her. With a quick twist of the doorknob to
be sure it had locked, she set herself proudly, gave Mrs. Boorman a swish of
skirt and disappeared down the hall with her young man.
    “Hope you’ve had a good day,” he remarked
as they walked to the curb where his SUV sat waiting.
    “I did. And you?”
    “Quite fine. Thought up all sorts of
activities for us.”
    The way he said the words gave her shivers.
Activities? For them? Immediately her thoughts flew back to his threat to tie
her up and make love to her. But they were at the car and he’d opened the door
for her. Instead of taking his bait, she simply smiled coyly and accepted his
hand up.
    Parker’s, a mid-sized pub with lots of live
music and friendly banter, lived up to John’s promise of excellent chicken
wings. Hot for him, mild for her. “No thanks,” she told him when they ordered.
“I like the lining of my throat, thank you very much.”
    The band’s equipment sat ready for them in
the corner, but as yet, no one had come forward to play. The waitress delivered
their wings and a beer for each of them. Lauren gestured to the array. “What
time do they start?”
    The waitress