Strawberry Wine (7 page)

“I’d love to come by and see the gallery some time.” She hinted, fishing for an invite.

“You’re welcome any time.” Jason assured her. “I’ll be pretty busy the next few weeks getting ready for the show, but not too busy to play docent. It’s always a pleasure showing off the gallery. There is an abundance of local talent here.”

“I look forward to it.” She said. She watched his throat move as he swallowed another sip of wine. She imagined how his neck would taste, and itched to run her hands across his broad chest. Her fantasy was interrupted by the arrival of their main course. She noted the fact that he had ordered the garlic chicken. She guessed he wasn’t a first date kind of guy and decided right then to drop in on him the following day. The faster they reached the proverbial third date, the better.

Jason slammed down on the post pounder one last time, satisfied at the depth of the thin fence post. Pounding t-posts was almost meditative work. Pulling the hollow tool from the top of the post, he dropped it to the ground with a dull thud, and wiped the sweat from his brow. Stretching his tiring muscles, he surveyed his progress. He was four posts away from completing this stretch of fencing. Not bad. It was amazing how productive he could be when he actually applied himself. Or when he wasn’t busy flirting shamelessly with the girl next door, he admitted to himself.

In the two days that had passed since he had brewed Alli the wild peach tea, he had kept himself busy with non stop ranch work. Alli had given him the distinct impression that she wanted some space from him, so he was endeavoring to give her that space.

Thinking of Alli got his pulse pounding again even harder than the physical exertion of building a fence. He remembered dabbing the wild peach tea on her neck and shoulder. The way she shivered at his breath on her skin. Jason groaned uncomfortably at the tightening in his jeans. His body responded so readily to Alli. What was it about that girl that made him lose his manners and act so forward?

Bending, he picked up the post pounder, grabbed another t-post, and walked the few feet to where the next post needed to be set. He made short work of the remaining posts, and then headed back toward the barn area to collect the roll of wire fencing. He estimated he’d be able to stretch the wire and complete the fence before lunch.

He stopped in the barn to pick up his wire cutters, he told himself, and not to see if Alli had decided to stop by. He denied the disappointment that welled within him at finding the barn empty once again. He was surprised at how much he noticed her absence. It was almost as if he missed her. He shook off the thought. What the hell was he doing? Alli was only nineteen, and she would be leaving at the end of the summer. It was the height of stupidity to get involved with her. Maybe he should leave her alone. Maybe her absence the past two days meant she had made that decision for him. He let out a slow, deep breath and dropped his wire cutters on top of the roll of fencing. He needed a break. He needed to cool off.

* * * * *

Alli marveled at her skin in the mirror. The tea had worked wonders. She still had a faint rash, but the itching had greatly subsided.

She glanced out the window. Today promised to be another hot one. Maybe she would invite Jason down to the creek. She was impatient to see him, having been house bound for the past two days at the insistence of her gran. She had originally been worried that he would show up at her door when her grandparents were at home, but he hadn’t materialized.

After the second full day went by with no Jason, Alli had started to dwell on the reasons behind his failure to investigate her absence from his barn. Had he lost interest? Had he discovered her real age? Had he come to his senses and realized what a complete geek she was? All very likely scenarios.

“Well,” She said to her reflection. “Only one way to find out.”

Alli slowed her steps as she approached the barn in an effort to appear composed, when what she really wanted to do was go sprinting in. Every second spent not drinking in the beautiful sight of Jason was a second wasted, in her opinion.

As she rounded the door into the barn, she realized her efforts had been unnecessary. The barn was empty.

Her heart sank.

He must be down clearing more brush
, she thought.

Jason’s work ethic was really getting in the way of Alli’s fantasy love life.

Or he knows about your little truth problem, and is smartly avoiding you in order to stay out of perv jail.
Alli sighed. She hated her conscience when it was in opposition to her desires.

She decided to head to the creek solo.

The path to the creek was a well packed deer trail of soft, silty dirt. It widened as it came closer to the creek, eventually spreading out on either side to form a small clearing. This clearing was referred to as “the beach”. There was a bend in the creek here, which resulted in a good sized pool, complete with a tattered rope swing hanging dutifully from a strong tree branch. It was next to this tree that Alli found Jason’s clothes.

Alli smiled mischievously. Where was Jason? As if in answer to her thought, she heard a splashing from upstream. Quickly grabbing his clothes, she hid them in some bushes behind the rope swing tree. Then she settled herself in the spot his clothes had been, and waited.

He didn’t keep her waiting long. Within a minute her breath caught in her throat as she watched him wade back into the pool from upstream. The two days without seeing him had had her questioning whether he could possibly be as physically amazing as she remembered. Seeing him now confirmed that her memory hadn’t embellished his appeal. If anything, her memory was a little lacking, because he was in fact even more beautiful than she had remembered.

The water came up to his waist, leaving his glorious torso on display for her viewing pleasure. He was chiseled, but lean, like a living version of Michelangelo’s David. The sun glinted off his golden skin where it filtered through the branches overhead.

The water was deepening as he reached the pool, and he leaned into the water and started swimming a graceful stroke to Alli’s side of the creek. He was about to pull himself up the bank when he saw Alli. He took note of his missing clothes, and her wicked grin. Walking back into the pool where the water was a little deeper, he flipped his hair out of his eyes and made a courtly bow towards Alli.

“It would seem you have me at a disadvantage, m’lady.”

Alli smiled impishly. “Why, whatever do you mean, sir?”

“It’s no use playing innocent with me. It’s obvious the shirt thief in you has struck again. Sadly, this time it seems the problem has grown now to encompass pants and,” he craned his neck to see if his boots were visible, “boots as well.” Jason shook his head in mock pity.

Alli stood and grabbed ahold of the thick rope swing. The rope was just long enough for the end to dangle in the water about three inches. Leaning on the rope, she looked pointedly at the murky water at his waist.

“Tis a foolish man that goes skinny dipping while trespassing on private property in broad daylight.”

Jason slowly started making his way toward the rope. “Who says I’m skinny dipping? Did you notice any boxers in your contraband pile of clothes?”

This made Alli pause, and take a mental inventory of the clothes she had hidden. He was right, she hadn’t noticed any boxers.

“Ah, so the age old question of boxers or briefs is answered. You’re a boxers man.” Alli leaned out farther to taunt him more effectively.

“Nope.” Was all he answered as he whipped out a hand and yanked on the rope, pulling Alli into the pool with a graceless splash.

She came up spluttering to the surface to the sound of his ringing laughter. She lost her footing and splashed back under, and then his arms were around her, holding her head and shoulders above the water.

“You okay?” He asked, though he could see she was more annoyed than upset.

“I shouldn’t have assumed you knew how to swim.”

Alli replied in her best school marm voice. “I’ll have you know, I am an excellent swimmer.” Then, because God obviously had a sense of humor, and very much enjoyed a good laugh at her expense, she promptly slipped again.

This time when he pulled her up he eased them toward the bank. “You were saying?” He teased.

Alli was about to come back with a snippy retort when it dawned on her that she was being held against a mostly naked man, and she could think of better things to do during this time than trade jabs.

“Now that I think about it,” she stared intently at him, watching his face for reaction. “I do feel a very serious cramp coming on.”

Fire flashed in his eyes, and his voice was deeper when he answered, “That can be very dangerous. You really shouldn’t swim within thirty minutes of...” He didn’t finish the sentence, because his lips had reached hers.

His lips were warm despite the cool temperature of the water. Alli shivered, and wrapped her arms around his neck. That was all the encouragement he needed. He coaxed her mouth open with his gentle, insistent lips. He tasted faintly of cinnamon. Alli timidly ran her tongue against his in a serpentine dance.

They had reached the sharply sloping bank. A small shelf jutted out at waist height, and Jason balanced her against this as he kissed his way down her throat. Alli’s white tank top had been rendered transparent by the water. He could easily make out the darkness of her areola straining against the thin lace of her bra. He couldn’t resist taking it into his mouth, fabric and all. Alli gasped at the heat of him. A jolt of electricity sang through her nerve endings, emanating from her breast and echoing between her legs.

His lips found their way back to hers as he gripped her hips and pressed his hardness against her.

Suddenly, Jason broke the kiss and rested his forehead in the crook of her neck and shoulder, gasping for breath. What the hell was he doing? This was moving way too fast.

Alli squirmed against him, instinctively trying to ease the powerful yearning she felt. Her hands landed on his hips with the intention of pulling him closer, when her eyes popped open at the feeling of bare flesh.

Jason smiled at her surprise.

“You’re naked!”

He chuckled, the frenzied desire calming between them. “And you’re going to have to walk home in soggy clothes.”

Alli suddenly felt very naked herself. Her heart rate was regulating, and her common sense was slowly returning.

“So I guess you’re not a boxer man.”

“Not today I’m not.” He smiled, suddenly shy. “I don’t suppose you’d be so kind as to tell me what you did with my pants?”

Alli told him where to find his clothes, then politely turned her back as he climbed out of the creek. Jason quickly struggled into his jeans, fighting his wet legs into the uncooperative denim. He couldn’t resist teasing Alli just a bit more.

“Too shy to let your eyes wander where your hands left off?” He asked, as he offered her a hand up the bank.

Alli crossed her arms over the see-through material on her chest. “I was being gracious and polite.” Alli’s embarrassment at her wanton reaction to this man was causing her to be a bit snippy.

Jason sobered.

“That you were. I thank you, Miss Alli, for the use of your swimming hole, and your impressive show of restraint in not smacking me for such ungentlemanly behavior.”

With that, he dropped his shirt around her shoulders and gave her a wink. “You can add this one to your collection.”

He gave her a quick, friendly peck on the lips and pushed her in the direction of her grandparent’s house.

* * * * *

“Besotted. Adjective. To muddle or stupefy, as with alcoholic liquor or infatuation.” Jason drained the last of his beer and set the glass back on the bar with a thump.

Doug motioned the bar tender to serve another round. “Since this will only be your second beer, can I assume you are besotted with infatuation?”

Jason cracked a peanut shell from a bowl on the bar, but didn’t eat the peanut. Instead he just crumbled the shell into a crunchy mass of shell pulp.

“What’s her name?” Doug had known Jason for most of his life, and he had never known him to be shy about women.

“Allison.”

Doug glanced around the quiet bar. “Have I seen her around?”

Jason shook his head. “Nah. She’s only nineteen.”

Doug nodded in appreciation. “Nice. Young and firm, huh?”

Jason glared at Doug. Doug was one of his oldest friends, but they had little in

common when it came to their views on women.

“The fact that she’s only nineteen is what’s giving me grief. Nineteen is really young.”

Doug shrugged, not seeing any problem with the situation. “She’s either legal or she’s not. Nineteen’s legal. If the law says she’s grown enough to make her own decisions, who are you to argue?” Doug didn’t expect Jason to actually answer him. “Though I guess I’m not surprised that you’d be picky considering you can have your choice of women... What’s the matter, she not experienced enough? Is she lacking skills?”

Jason silenced his friend with a look. “Her level of experience has nothing to do with it. I really like this girl. It’s just difficult for me to figure out - I mean, she’s only here for the summer, then she’s off to college again in the fall.”