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She stepped aside, and as he walked past her she said, “Are you hungry? I can fix something.”
They were whispering, like two conspirators. “Thanks. I’m afraid I didn’t eat much tonight.”
That makes two of us, Je
“‘First star on the right, and straight on ‘til morning,’” she said softly.
Lee turned to look back at her. “What?”
Je
He smiled down at her. “Is that where you want to go?”
Je
“I think I’m already there.”
Chapter 6
It was hours before Je
“If I had gone to medical school,” he said thoughtfully, “I’d be just starting now. In this business, I’m on my way out. You can’t stand being beaten up every Sunday for an unlimited amount of time. I think I’m approaching the limit.”
“Why didn’t you go to medical school?” Je
“Because I love to play football,” he answered simply. “And I thought if I could be paid, and paid well, to do what I love to do, then that would be the best life anyone could want.”
Je
He sighed. “But that was a decision I made a long while ago, when all I could see was money and a good time. Now I wonder if I did the right thing. Any career in sports is a short one. What will I do in a few more seasons when all this is over? My life has been devoted to, as you correctly pointed out to me once, a children’s game. If I’d been a doctor, I could have done some good, gone back to Montana, worked on the reservation, in the schools. I could have done some good,” he repeated. He shook his head. “It’s fu
Je
“You should feel a sense of accomplishment,” she said. “You’ve risen to the top in a difficult field, in which the competition is fierce. And I don’t agree that you could have done more for your people as a doctor. Then you might have healed them, true, but now you are a symbol of success to American Indians everywhere. Think of the little boys all over the country looking up to you for what they might become. I’m sure you’re an inspiration to them all.”
He swallowed hard, looking down. “I...thank you. I needed to hear that today,” he said huskily.
She reached for his hand, and he gripped her fingers convulsively.
“That dream has never left you, has it?” she said.
He shrugged. “I guess it never has.”
“Then do something about it.”
He looked up at her, astonished. “Like what? I’m thirty-two years old, for Christ’s sake.”
“A great age, to be sure,” Je
He waved his hand, dismissing the notion. “That was another life. I could never live like a student again. I would have to take entrance exams, compete against kids fresh out of college.”
“I didn’t say it would be easy,” Je
That comment produced the desired result. “That’s not the issue!” Lee said fiercely. “And I wouldn’t want any special privileges, either.”
She blinked at him.
“If I were going to attempt it, which I’m not,” he said pointedly. “And I don’t want to discuss it any further.”
“Certainly, your majesty.”
“Don’t get sarcastic, Je
“That’s nice.”
“Not very. The place depresses me. It lacks the ambiance one sees in the perfume commercials. It always seems to be filled with heroin addicts with permanent head colds, and coke freaks with permanent nosebleeds.”
“Oh, come on. It isn’t that bad.”
“No? You ever walked through the Bowery on a Saturday night in summer?”
“I can’t say that I have.”
“Looks like the last act of Hamlet. Bodies everywhere.”
Je
“You’d be wrong,” he said shortly, in a voice which did not encourage her to ask questions.
He glanced at his watch. “It’s late, or very early. I should go.”
Je
He got up and reached for his jacket. She followed him to the door.
“Thanks for listening,” he said.
“Thanks for talking,” she whispered.
Lee stood looking down at her. He reached out to smooth her hair back from her face. His fingers trailed across her brow to her cheek. Unable to stop herself, Je
He froze.
“Don’t go,” she murmured. “Don’t go.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said firmly. He dropped his jacket on a chair and picked her up as if she were weightless, walking to the sofa in front of the fire. He sat upon it with her still in his arms.
Je
His kiss was forceful, demanding, right from the start. He was sure, this time, that she would not stop him.
She could not have done so if she’d tried. Je
The feel of his hands on her body was the strongest erotic stimulant she had ever known. Je
Je
His skin was smooth, perfect, golden bronze. He half lay against the cushions, head thrown back, eyes closed, as she kissed and caressed him, stroking the hard, muscular arms and shoulders, rasping his flat dark nipples with her tongue.
It was not enough. Her hands strayed below his waist, and his breath hissed through his teeth. He moved to get up, to undress. Besotted, she hung on him, unable to bear the loss of contact.
He gently put her hands away, and quickly shed the rest of his clothes. Je
When she was naked, he scooped her up in his arms again and carried her to the hearth rug before the fire. He dropped beside her.
“Please,” she whimpered. “Please.”
“Anything,” he murmured, ru