Free A Moment in Time by Judith Gould

sack with him
at a moment's notice. Not that he wanted her. God, no.
    "Do you think you could hold down the fort
for the next couple of hours?" he asked at last. "Just till after
lunch, say?"
    Lydia laughed good-naturedly, bending over
his desk, exposing a couple of inches of cleavage. "Sure," she
said. "It's done." She eyed him fondly—and conspiratorially. "You
never could keep that thing in your pants, could you, Teddy?"
    He shrugged. "Why should I?"
    "Never was a truer word spoken," she
countered with a cackle.
    He got to his feet, leaned down, and planted
a noisy kiss on Lydia's cheek. "You're an angel from heaven," he
said, tapping her on her ample butt.
    "And you're the devil from hell," she
retorted. "But I love you anyway."
    "See you in a bit," he said, already heading
out to his car.
    "Yeah," she said. "See you." She watched
through the window as he hopped into his silver Jaguar convertible
and fired it up. The top was down, and as he drove off, his blond
hair was tossed about in the wind.
    Jeez , she thought, he is a vision.
I wouldn't mind a little of that myself . But she knew better
than to pursue it because she and Teddy had a good thing going as
it was. Strictly business. And sometimes, Lydia had decided wisely,
that was the best way to keep things. Besides , she thought,
a smile of wicked pleasure on her purple lips, I've got Randy,
and he's more than enough for one woman to handle. Twenty-three
years old and just full of energy!
     
     
    Teddy's Jaguar spewed gravel as he pulled out
of the drive and onto the highway. It was only five or six miles
down the road to the little clapboard cottage that Tiffani Grant
leased from him—at a greatly reduced rent—but he was in a hurry to
get there. Monday was her day off work, and he didn't spend many
Mondays in the country.
    When he'd called her after his horseback
ride, she'd picked up after several rings, sleep still in her
voice. He could just see her, still in bed, bleached blond hair
disheveled, a sexy nightie or, better yet, nothing at all on, a
sheet draped over those big breasts, curled up in a big warm bed
waiting for him. Teddy could feel a rise in his pants just thinking
about it, and stepped on the gas.
    When he neared the dirt road that led to the
old cottage, he began to brake, then made the right turn off the
highway and sped the hundred feet or so to the house, the car
leaving a dust cloud in its wake. Circling around in the back to
park, he drove across the lawn and pulled in close to the house
where his car wouldn't be visible from the highway. Even though he
owned the property, he didn't want anybody to see his car parked
there for too long a time.
    No need to give any of the old biddies
around here an excuse to talk, he thought. They all think I'm a
perfect gentleman with real class. One of the few city people who
treats the locals with the respect they deserve . He laughed
aloud. If they only knew! He loved fooling them, and he loved the
sneaking around. That was part of the fun for him, because he had a
real taste for the illicit. In fact, he had never really enjoyed
sex much unless it involved some kind of subterfuge.
    He hopped out of the car and bounded up the
wooden steps to the back door, knocking on it a couple of times
with his knuckles. When she didn't respond immediately, he tried
the knob. Damn! he thought. It's locked . But before
he could dash around to the front, he could hear Tiffani hurrying
through the kitchen, headed to the door.
    After fumbling with locks, she opened the
door a crack and looked up at him. "Teddy," she said, smiling
lasciviously.
    He pushed his way in, then turned around and
pulled her to him. She had a big pink towel wrapped around her
voluptuous body, and her long, bleach- streaked hair was still wet
from the shower.
    "Hey, Tiff," he said, his hands already on
her buttocks, pushing her hard against him. His mouth was on her
neck then, kissing and licking and nibbling.
    "Wait, Teddy," she said, trying to