The shower took more than an hour because he insisted on scrubbing every part of her body first with the sponge and then with his hands and mouth. By the time he finished with her, she was weak and shaken.
"As soon as we get back, I promise I will let you sleep."
"Am I complaining?"
"No. But..." He took a deep breath and turned away, pulling the shirt over his head. He could not get enough of her, and it madehim feel guilty that he was going too hard. He felt like a randy schoolboy with his first crush. "We should get going."
*****
"Ice cream for breakfast? Very unusual, Mr. Collier," she told him teasingly.
"We did have coffee and a donut at Ingrid's," he reminded her.
"I liked her, this Ingrid. She's also very much in love with you."
He burst out laughing, causing several joggers to glance over at them. They were strolling in the beautiful park that happened to be a project of Collier's Trust and had been completely renovated just last year. "Ingrid is old enough to be my mother."
"As if that makes a difference," his wife scoffed.
They were walking hand in hand along the cobbled path surrounded on both sides by lush vegetation. "When you went to the men's room, she grilled me like a fish, warning me that if I hurt you, I would have to answer to her."
He shot her an amused glance as they made their way to the duck pond. In this section of the large park, the foot traffic was less, so they were guaranteed almost complete privacy. Sitting on the padded bench, he prevented her from sitting next to him by pulling her into his lap, his arm wrapped possessively around her waist.
"I've known her for years now. I used to hang out at the diner, creating mayhem with a group of friends." He took a bite from her mint chocolate. "She saw I was crying out for attention and sat me down one afternoon to give me a lecture."
"Did you need one?"
"Badly." He laughed softly. "I was sixteen and cocky. I would start arguments with my friends and one day, it turned into a fight. I broke a table and had to pay for it." He shook his head in remembrance. "She would not accept money, because she told me that would be too easy. I'll never forget what she said to me that day. 'You're rich and therefore entitled. Forking out the cash to pay for the damage is way too easy. You're going to go back around the kitchen and work off the damage by doing dishes or mopping the floor.'"
Catherine stared at him wide-eyed. "What did you say?"
"I told her to go screw herself."
"Oh. That was very..."
"Rude and uncalled for," he finished wryly.
"What did she do next?"
"She caught me by the ear and dragged me around the kitchen and warned me that if I resisted, she was going to sit on me until I did what needed to be done." His eyes twinkled as he looked at her. "You've seen her size."
"She looks like a linebacker."
He grinned. "Precisely. After I got over being hopping mad and wondering if I should call my parents, which wouldn't have done a hell of a lot of good, I washed dishes. She came around and talked to me when I was through and gave me a slice of peach pie topped with homemade peach ice cream. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven."
"We became friends at that moment. And I found myself going to her place twice a week. She's always looking out for me. I think she knew I was hurting. She never said a word to me, never asked me about my life story. She simply accepted me."
Catherine's eyes were luminous with emotion. She had finished her ice cream cone and used the napkin to wipe her fingers before cupping his face. "In that case, I think I love her for being there for you."
"She liked you."
"Yeah right."
"She did. You're the first woman she ever offered her peach cobbler to."
She stared at him with narrowed eyes. "Just how many women have you taken there?"
He grinned, completely charmed by her. "I plead the fifth."