Page 315 of Under Her Skin

Running my hand over hers on the steering wheel, I come up with a plan. “Can I drive your snazzy new car home,baby?”

Her eyebrows raise up high, and I get a little afraid, then she says, “Of course! It’s a dream to drive. Didn’t you drive it home from the dealership,though?”

“No, I ordered it and they delivered it. I’m itching to see how it drives. This is my first Mercedes purchase.” The light changes and she has to drive slowly behind the big, slow-moving truck. I can see her frustration as she looks on both sides to find herself fenced in by othercars.

I’m thankful,though!

“I suppose that’s how the rich do a lot of things. Just buy before you try,” she says, then looks at me as she’s stopped at another light. “Blaine, what about my parents? How in the world should I tell them about us? I don’t know how they’ll take the news. You’re kind of the devil in theireyes.”

“I was that in your eyes, too, and I fixed that, didn’t I?” I ask as she finds a tiny opening and takes off to get into it. “Damn!” I grab the dashboard and think I must be about three shades paler than I was when I got in this car withher.

“I know. I caught that break just in time!” she says as she guns it right up until we hit another redlight.

I’m overjoyed when I see the restaurant on the right, just ahead. I point and shout, “Look! There itis!”

“You sound pretty excited about that, Blaine,” she says as she laughs and gives me a crazylook.

“Hell, yes, I am!” I say to mask the real reason I’m so damn excited to be at ourdestination.

“Blaine, you look a little tense. Does my driving scare you?” she asks. Her eyes tell me she’s afraid my answer will be a negativeone.

“Hell, no! I think you’re an excellent driver. My problem is, I like driving. I’m just a little dominating when it comes to some things, like driving, sex, work, you know …things likethat.”

It’s not a completelie!

She pulls into the parking lot, and I find myself thanking God we’ve arrived unscathed. Then I realize, I just thanked God.I never dothat.

“I get it. I do. So, from now on, when we go somewhere together, I’ll let you drive. I don’t want to emasculate you. I was reading about dealing with dominant males so I could better understand you. The article said it was important to let them be who they are meant to be. You are all man. That’s for sure.” She gets out of the car, and I find myself thanking God again that I may never have to ride with her drivingagain.

That’s twice in a matter of aminute!

I take her hand as we meet in front of the car. “Thank you for understanding. It’s hard to have a relationship nowadays, with so many women not understanding what it means to be with a dominant male like myself.” I laugh as I put my arm around her. “Glad to see you’re onboard.”

“Yeah, well, you will have to chill on some of the things. I can give you the small victories.” Her hand moves down my back and she pats myass.

“Does that mean no more ass smacking?” I ask her, as she seems to really like when I dothat.

“No, that doesn’t mean anything like that. It means I like the dominate way you handle me in the bedroom. I don’t want any of that to change,ever!”

Good, then we are on the same page and that makes me veryhappy!

Chapter8

DELANEY

December15th:

With a couple of weeks behind us and many small conversations about how Blaine might be able to get past his problems with handling sad situations, I have come up with an idea that has him coming back to visit the children, who ask about himoften.

They all made him Christmas cards, and I brought them home to him the other day. Every single one of them thanked him for his visits and said they’d love to see him again if he ever could findtime.

As he read the cards, I saw the mist in his eyes, and when he finished, he asked me how in the hell I dealt with it all. When I explained how I had cried when I first started this career, which is a tough one, he gained a betterunderstanding.

Since he had jumped in head first before, I’ve slowed him down a little. We’ll be putting small, artificial trees that are pre-lit into the rooms of the kids whom he made friends with. Then we’ll decorate them so he can spend some time with each one ofthem.

It should be light and easy, and we’ll stay the hell away from Meagan’s room, since her father demanded it. Meagan is getting worse, anyway. I would hate for Blaine to see her. He’s coming along pretty well. Seeing her and how her father is might send him back a few paces.That’s the last thing Iwant.

Mr. Green pulls to a stop in front of the hospital entrance, and I hop out and go to find a couple of orderlies to come grab the supplies. Out of the kids who were here for Thanksgiving, four are still here. So those are the ones he’ll visit today. I don’t think he can handle meeting the new ones. Four is more than enough fornow.