Free Carved in Stone by Donna McDonald

booth, she knocked her still full glass of iced tea over on the table. She made an honest grab to stop it from tipping completely over, but the glass and ice cubes all rolled away from her. Liquid caught the edges of his book, but mostly swept across the surface to the other side dripping onto Will and the seat.
    Laughing, Will slid out of the booth before the tea completely drowned his lap. There was some tea on the front of his jeans, but he didn’t mind because Jessica’s face was completely red as she fearfully stared at his crotch. Which was fine by him, Will thought, since everything going on there was her fault anyway. It just made his wicked smile more genuine.
    “If you think that’s a substitute for a cold shower, it’s going to take a whole lot more than just one glass of iced tea to negate the effect you have on me,” Will informed her.
    He was thoroughly enjoying the fact that his wicked pronouncement brought on more blushing from Jessica and several giggles from the table of older ladies hanging on his every word.
    “I—it was an accident,” Jessica said, backing away from the table another step.
    Will stepped closer and erased the distance she was obviously trying to put between them. “What are you so afraid of finding out, Jessica? You already know more of my secrets than any other woman.”
    “Not true,” Jessica denied. “I’m not interested in your secrets, anyway.”
    “That’s another lie,” Will said quietly, his eyes darkening. “You want to know what I did to my sons when they lied to me? I let them suffer the consequences of their actions.”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jessica said, all but yelling in panic at the determined look on Will’s face. She did not know his secrets. She knew nothing except how angry he could get and that he could kiss nicely when he wanted.
    “Yes—you do. You looked into my creative soul and put your hand right over the core of it,” he said. “Your very large, very nice hand has inspired many fantasies for me ever since.”
    Will picked up Jessica’s hand, brought it to his mouth and kissed her wrist, then he moved up her arm to the crease of her elbow. While there he ran his tongue lightly from elbow to wrist, and when Jessica drew in a surprised breath, Will backed her against the edge of the booth and kissed her the way he’d been dying to do.
    He moved his lips smoothly across hers until he felt them open to him, and then he plunged a hard, excited tongue into her mouth. Will felt her acceptance of it and him in every cell.
    Gone was her resistance, but to make absolutely sure Jessica understood how it was, Will ground his pelvis against hers for a moment. Then he backed off before he got too physical with her again, which was now a distinct possibility.
    If he hadn’t embarrassed her the other day, Will concluded, he for sure had just now in a restaurant full of people, and he saw she had the pink face to prove it. He was a little bit embarrassed himself, but desperation for kissing Jessica senseless covered a lot of his discomfort. One of the joys of being a man, Will mused, grinning at her dazed expression.
    “Too bad you’re not interested in me, Jessica,” he said, stepping away. “I’m sure interested in you.”
    He pulled a twenty and the condom he’d been carrying since he met her from his pocket. He threw the twenty on the table in one of the few dry places left, and then reached out and tucked the condom into Jessica’s apron pocket. “Here’s your tip. Maybe it will fit the math teacher, though I doubt it.”
    Will walked down the café with it’s now silent patrons and past its shocked owners. “Melanie. Brent. Great food as always. See you next week.”
    When the door was closed behind Will, Brent rubbed his face in shock.
    “Well— damn ,” he whispered, laughing. He heard the motorcycle roaring away and laughed harder.
    Melanie laughed at her husband’s side and looked down the café to see