Page 15 of Trophy

“Oh no. You have a much better TV. Just clear some stuff off the couch so we can sit down. Can I get us something to drink?”

“Sure. There’s beer. Or water. Those are your choices.”

Allison snorted with amusement again as she braved the kitchen to get two beers out of his large refrigerator. There wasn’t much else, just some bottled water, some butter, and an ancient jar of pickles. No wonder he ate out all the time.

He’d moved the piles of newspapers, books, and file folders off the couch and was brushing off what was likely crumbs when she returned to join him.

“What do you want to watch?” he asked, picking up the remote and clicking on the TV.

“Oh, I don’t know. Anything but sports.”

“Great. Those are the only channels I know.”

She laughed again, feeling giddy for absolutely no reason. She had no idea why seeing his messy house would endear him to her, but it did. It made him feel more accessible. More like her. “Well, flip until we find something good.”

They eventually found reruns of a sitcom that both of them liked well enough, so Rob left the TV on that channel. “You were going to tell me what classes you were taking.”

“Oh. Right.”

So she told him about the classes she was looking at and the classes she’d already taken, and what majors she was considering and how she really wanted there to be a degree in jewelry making.

“You like to make jewelry?”

“Yeah.” She flicked her earrings, which were loops of pretty silver and pink beads. “All the jewelry I wear I made.”

“Really?” He learned forward, peering at her ears. “Those look really good. You wear all kinds of fancy stuff, don’t you?”

She understood this question to be a compliment.

“I’ve been doing it for years now. When I first got married, I was really bored, so I took this workshop on jewelry making.

I enjoyed it so much I kept doing it, and then I would give what I made to my friends, and they’d all love it, so that’s when I decided I wanted to do it as a business. ”

“Why don’t you?” His eyes still looked kind of heavy, like he wasn’t quite recovered from earlier, but he also appeared genuinely interested in what she was saying.

“It takes a lot more money than I have.” She sighed. “I used to hope Arthur would fund me. I even made up a business plan and everything to prove that I knew what I was getting into. But he refused. He said it was throwing money away and that he didn’t want his wife in a ‘service industry’ anyway.”

“Asshole,” Rob muttered.

Allison reached over to pat his thigh. “A lot of people have dreams like that. Usually those dreams don’t come true. There’s no reason to assume mine would.”

“Well, there’s no reason to assume it wouldn’t. How much money do you need?”

“Way too much.”

Rob’s brow furrowed the way it did when he was thinking hard. “Maybe you could start small, then. We have a lot of craft fairs and little knickknack stores around here. Maybe you could sell some of your stuff there. It would be something, anyway. Maybe a piece of the dream is better than nothing.”

She stared at him, suddenly hit with a revelation that should have been obvious but was only now coming to her. College wasn’t the only first step she could take. She could do something with her jewelry too. Right now. There was no reason she had to wait..

He blinked. “What? Did I say something wrong?”

“No.” She felt a little choked up. “No, you didn’t.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m just not used to someone being supportive and giving such good advice.”

His face relaxed, and his eyes grew warm and soft. “That’s what I’m here for. But what about your friends?”

“I only really have one good one. The rest were pretty superficial. Vicki, my good friend, has actually told me something similar more than once. She wants me back in Charlotte, though, so she’d love for the jewelry-shop idea to happen.” She sighed.

“Well, you’re here now. You’re not in Charlotte. So you might as well do something else with your jewelry.”

“How do I find out about those craft fairs?”

“I don’t actually know, but I know a few folks who do them, so I’ll ask.”

“Thanks.” She smiled at him, suddenly realizing her hand was still on his thigh. She’d been rubbing it idly as they talked. Very quickly she pulled her hand away.

“I wasn’t complaining,” Rob murmured rather thickly, obviously noticing her quick move.

“I know. I just didn’t realize…” She cleared her throat.

“I know you didn’t.”

They fell into silence, both of them staring at the television for a few minutes. Then she finally couldn’t resist the urge any longer, and she turned to look at him again. “What happened with Dee? Earlier, I mean.”

Rob had looked relaxed and comfortable, slouched down in the corner of the couch. But at this he straightened up slightly. “Just…” He wasn’t meeting her eyes. “Just her normal stuff.”

“Which is what? Does she normally come over to your house drunk to scream at you?”

“More often than you’d expect.” His voice was dust dry. “She doesn’t do it all the time. She goes through phases where she drinks too much, and this is one of them.”

“What does she want?”

He shook his head slowly, staring at the television screen with eyes that obviously didn’t see it. “Attention? I really don’t know. I never did.”

“Why did you get divorced?” She’d always wanted to know more details about his marriages, and it felt like the right time to ask.

“I was too… tired. It was one thing after another, and I couldn’t make her happy. We did nothing but fight. I tried to hold out. I really did. I thought if I could just help her, she might change. But it was beyond my power to do.”

Allison thought a minute before she replied. “If people don’t want to be fixed, there’s not really anything you can do.”

He rubbed his head with his fingertips, like he was trying to shake off dust. “All I ever wanted…” His voice was no more than a breath, and he just trailed off, staring at that same spot in the air.

“All you wanted was what?”

He blinked and turned back to her, as if he had just realized what he was saying. “Nothing. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to whine.”

“You weren’t whining.” When he turned away again, she used her hand to make him look at her. “I told you what I want. Now tell me what you always wanted.”

He released a breath that looked like surrender. “My parents got married when they were teenagers, and they’re still together—more than fifty years now.”

“Really? That’s amazing. Do they live in town?”

“About a half hour away—on their dairy farm. Anyway, all I ever wanted was a marriage like theirs. One that’s solid.

One that lasts. I never wanted to go through a bunch of women.

I only wanted one. Who would stick with me.

” He’d been holding her gaze, but now he lowered his eyes.

“I always pick the ones who’ll never stay. ”

The words touched Allison more than they should have. Opened up his heart in a way she hadn’t seen in him before. She was filled with appreciation and understanding and affection and an attraction so powerful there was no way she could resist it.

She leaned forward and stroked his cheek with her hand. When he looked up again, she leaned in to kiss him.

He responded immediately, making a hoarse sound in his throat and taking her face in both of his hands. His touch was hot and hungry—almost needy—and it fired up the softer feelings in Allison.

Filled with pleasure and excitement, she leaned into him even more, pushing him back against the arm of the couch. He slid his hands down to her thighs and pulled them apart so she was straddling his lap, and his tongue made insistent advances until her mouth opened all the way for him.

She was rubbing against him eagerly with the whole length of her body.

She couldn’t remember feeling this way before, like she couldn’t get enough of him, like the heat and hardness of his body were all for her.

He was stroking her thighs and bottom, and she loved how possessive it felt.

Her whole being was now throbbing with a need that was coming from somewhere deeper than her body.

“Allison,” Rob murmured, pressing little kisses against her mouth. He was hard now. She could feel him against her middle.

“Hmm.”

“Do you really want to do this?”

“Oh yeah,” she panted, sliding her hands up and down his sides, wishing he didn’t have clothes on. “Oh yeah.”

“Just kiss or…”

She knew what he was asking, and she thought it was really sweet that he was checking to be sure. But there was no way she could be stopped now. She’d never wanted anything as powerfully as this before.

“Or more,” she finished for him. “I want more.”