Kiss the Girl

Yes, you want her
Look at her, you know you do
It's possible she wants you too
There is one way to ask her
It don't take a word, not a single word
Go on and kiss the girl.

 

“It’s a beautiful night.”

Trixie nodded as she leaned back into Jim. The two were enjoying some time alone on the Manor House porch.

“I can’t believe how clear it is. Just look at that moon.” Jim’s chin rubbed the top of Trixie’s head. “You sure are quiet tonight,” he finally remarked. “Did Mother wear you out with her tea?”

“Oh, no,” Trixie protested. “I enjoyed it. Your mother is an amazing woman. She knows so much more than I ever imagined.”

Jim smiled. “Dad thinks so. That’s why he likes her on business trips with him. He said she has a way of picking up on subtle signals and letting him know.”

“I can imagine,” Trixie murmured.

“So if you’re not too tired …” Jim started.

Trixie turned around in surprise. “I’m not tired. What did you have in mind?”

“It’s clear and there’s a full moon. What would you say to a moonlight ride? I’ll bet it’s bright enough that we can convince Regan to let us do it.”

Trixie looked up at the sky and then across at the stable. The yard lights were out, but the stable and fencing were clearly visible. She glanced at her slacks and boots and nodded. “Let’s do it. I mean, if you think Regan will agree.”

“Come on, let’s go ask him.” Jim grabbed her hand and began pulling her toward the stable.

Matthew looked out the window and saw the couple heading eagerly towards the stable. “There they go toward the stable. What do you suppose is up with that?”

Grace crossed the room and peered out the window next to him. “I have a pretty good idea, but it’s not the roll in the hay you’re imagining.”

“Gracie Wheeler!” Matthew slipped an arm around his wife’s waist. “What makes you think that I would think something like that?”

“Well to start with, you’re a man,” she teased. “Seriously, I’ll bet you they’re going to see if Regan will let them take the horses out for a ride.”

“So they’ll have a roll in the woods instead of the hay, that’s what you’re betting.” He grinned at her.

She smacked his shoulder lovingly. “You are too much. But now that they’re out there and we’re in here, I will make a confession.”

“Confession? Did you make some six figure donation to the foundation today?” he asked.

“No, I’ve done much worse than that!” She giggled. “I’ve been meddling, Matthew. Meddling in Jim and Trixie’s business and gossiping as well. I told Trixie all about Tammy and Harold’s marriage woes.”

“Well, you know that Tammy won’t give a fig about that!” Matthew laughed. “I wouldn’t have minded listening to some of her scathing comments myself. The woman can really get on a roll.”

Grace laughed. “She can. But there’s more. I gossiped something terrible at the tea today. You’d be ashamed of me.”

“You’re right.” He nipped at her lips with a kiss. “You’ll have to be suitably punished dear. Come upstairs and I’ll tell you what I have in mind.”

“Matthew!” She swatted playfully at his hands. “First, let me tell you the gossip Trixie thought I was going to repeat at dinner.”

“Oh? Was that the reason she choked on her shrimp?” He asked, momentarily diverted from the attempted seduction of his wife.

“You better believe it. At least a dozen of our friends and acquaintances wanted to know if our son was betrothed to, and I quote, ‘that delightful girl, Beatrix.’” She laughed again at the memory. “It’s fairly obvious who reads the gossip columns.”

“How did you answer New York’s top cats?” he asked, after dropping a string kisses down her neck.

“Oooo, is that my punishment?” she murmured. “If so, let me tell you that I was the cattiest of cats. I just smiled brilliantly and told them that only Jim could answer that question.”

“Gracie, you didn’t!” He pulled back and gave her a look. “You know they’ll think it’s true. Every gossip column in the city will be saying our son’s engaged.”

She laughed. “Okay, I didn’t answer it quite like that. But I did find myself wishing I could tell them yes.”

“It’s going to happen,” he assured her, pulling her completely into his arms.

“Yes, I know. She’s going to have to finish the case she’s working first. Somehow it involves you, Matthew.”

“I know,” he acknowledged. “I’m not too worried. Wheeler International has nothing to hide, and neither do we.” He kissed his wife thoroughly. “About that punishment …” he murmured between kisses.

“I’m forgiven?” she asked softly. Her well-manicured nails had found bare skin and were now nipping sexily up and down his back.

“Yes, of course,” he growled. “Now let’s go upstairs.”

“Okay, but I win!” she said triumphantly.

“I was hoping we were both going to win tonight,” he teased.

“No silly! Trixie and Jim.” She nodded towards the stable. “There they go with Jupiter and Susie.”

 

 

“I think you could almost read out here, it’s so bright. This was a great idea!” Trixie took a deep breath. It feels good to be riding, she thought. No, she corrected to herself. It feels good to be riding with Jim!

“I know. Did you get the feeling that Regan was tempted to join us?” Jim laughed.

Trixie giggled. “Yeah, he did look a bit wistful. By the way, who’s the woman in the picture on his desk?”

“You noticed that, huh?” Jim smiled. “Lianne Rodgers, she’s Regan’s girlfriend. As far as I know, it’s the only woman I’ve ever known him to go out with more than twice.”

“How did he meet her?” Trixie asked.

“She’s the new vet. She’s taking over from Dr. Samet. You’re behind on your Sleepyside gossip, Trix,” Jim teased.

“After this afternoon, I can assure you that I’m behind on gossip in every town!” Trixie replied, a tad ruefully.

“Some people are destined to repeat gossip, and some are destined to create it. I guess we’ll just have to live with the fact that we’re in the latter category these days.”

“How did you know we were being gossiped about?” Trixie gasped.

“Your face at dinner,” he admitted. “I don’t know what you thought mother was going to tell us, but it wasn’t about Mitsy’s new job.”

Trixie blushed.

“You’re not going to tell me, are you?” he asked.

“No,” she admitted.

“Hmmm… ” Jim said nothing. A comfortable silence settled between the two of them and the only noise was the sound of horse hooves on the riding trails of the preserve.

“Jim,” Trixie ventured. “I didn’t realize your friend Mike was Margaret Gaitley’s son. Why doesn’t he work with her in the business? From the things you’ve told me about Mike, and from meeting him, he seems to like working on puzzles.”

“I’ll make a deal with you, Trix,” Jim offered.

“What’s the deal?” she asked.

“I’ll tell you Mike’s history with his family’s business if you’ll tell me the gossip.”

“No, thanks,” Trixie replied in an instant. “I can ask your mother. I’m sure that she’ll tell me what the deal is.”

“Yeah, and I can ask my mother what the deal is as well,” Jim pointed out. “Come on, Trix. It’s a fair exchange.”

Trixie chewed her bottom lip for a moment as she pondered Jim’s offer. Finally she nodded. “Okay, it’s a deal. But for now, let’s ride. We’ll trade information when we get back.”

Jim leaned over and pulled Susie’s reins, forcing Trixie to stop. He leaned across the gap between them, ignoring Jupiter’s impatience at being stopped, to give Trixie a thorough kiss.

“Deal,” he whispered as the two of them pulled apart.

An hour later, Trixie was regretting her arrangement. Jim hung up the last piece of cleaned tack and looked over at Trixie. He patted a convenient bale of hay, indicating she should sit.

“What do you want to know about Mike’s family business?” he asked slipping an arm around her shoulder.

Trixie snuggled, taking a moment to enjoy the physical sensation of being with Jim. “Why isn’t he involved in it?”

“That’s easy. He was and he probably will be again. But until his stalker ex-girlfriend gets married, his butt is staying in Washington.”

“Mike has a crazy ex-girlfriend?” Trixie was surprised. “I never heard about that.”

Jim frowned. “I’m not sure where you were when it went down, but it’s been about five years. It was bad. Really bad. They were engaged right after we finished grad school. They decided to wait a couple of years to get married. She was working and he was going after his PhD as well. He was going for math, though. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to go into the family business or teach at the college level. Either way, he wanted his doctorate. I think he had something to prove to his family.”

Trixie nodded, shifting so she could lean her head on Jim’s shoulder as he talked.

“Well, the worst thing happened: Mike’s dad died unexpectedly. That was when he found out his fiancée only cared about his net worth.” Jim paused, as he stroked Trixie’s hair. “That had happened to both of us more than once,” Jim reflected. “It doesn’t do much for a guy’s ego to find out a woman only cares about the size of his trust fund.”

Trixie patted Jim’s hand. “I can imagine,” she said softly. “I appreciate you for all your assets.”

“Right!” he teased, leaning to give her a kiss. “Where was I? Oh, Mike found out, and of course, Eliza denied everything. But he had the goods on her, and broke it off. He even told her to keep the ring, and that dude spent some major bucks on that ring!”

“What happened next?”

“Eliza was working with Mike’s parents at Kingston when his dad died. They had brought her in and given her a job, in marketing or sales, I think. It was a nice job, you know, with an eye that she’d be their future daughter-in-law. After Mike broke up with her, the company was in a lot of turmoil and they asked Eliza to find something else. That’s when she went nuts and started stalking Mike.”

“Did Mike work there, too?”

“No,” Jim shook his head. “He was doing the PhD thing. Fortunately, he was at that stage where he could do research anywhere and he finally took off to Albany. That was a little too close, and he moved a couple more times before he ended up in Washington. He had met another lady doing her PhD work, and they became good friends, nothing more. She helped him get over things with his dad and Eliza.

“I take it the crazy ex still lives here?”

“Yeah, we keep telling Mike it’s safe to come home. She has a new fiancée now and hasn’t tried to contact him in quite some time. Now we’re not sure if it’s Eliza keeping him away, or his job keeping him there. Either way, I’m pretty confident he’ll make it back to the family business at some point.”

“Mike came home with you a couple of times. It seems strange that I didn’t know all this,” Trixie complained.

“Mike didn’t want people to know,” Jim explained. “I know he wouldn’t care that I told you all that. He knows you don’t gossip and that I trust you implicitly. But he really is a very private person.”

Trixie nodded. She would get the King-Kingston story out of Jim eventually. “You tell a good story,” she commented, playing with Jim’s fingers. Looking up, she blinked. Jim’s mouth was hovering over hers. She rose up slightly and pressed her lips against his.

The kiss was gentle and tender, but stimulating at the same time.

Jim pulled back and quirked a brow. “More?” he asked softly.

“More,” she insisted, pulling his head back towards hers.

There was nothing gentle or tender about the second kiss. It was hot enough that Trixie felt the heat searing through her bloodstream before Jim abandoned her lips and moved to her throat.

Trixie was more than satisfied to postpone her own disclosure about the gossip. Her hands moved around his neck and she began to nibble on his ear.

“We have two choices,” Jim mumbled into her ear.

“Mmmmm,” she answered. “What two choices?”

“You can quit distracting me and tell me the gossip you heard today that embarrasses you, or …” He paused to continue kissing her neck.

“Or what?” she prompted after a moment.

“Or we can forget about it and move this show up to my room?” He pulled back and searched her eyes.

“Great dilemma there, Frayne,” Trixie countered. “Which is the lesser of two evils?”

Jim frowned and caught her face between his hands. “Was the gossip really that bad? Or is it just the thought of being with me?” he asked seriously.

“No,” she answered honestly. “It’s not bad at all. It’s just … complicated.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re good friends. We have mutual friends. My brother is engaged to your sister …” she paused. “Do I need to keep going?”

“Yes, because that doesn’t seem complicated to me. What goes on between us isn’t any of their business.”

“So, it’s none of your business if Brian and Honey live together,” Trixie reasoned.

“That’s different!” he protested. Honey is my sister and –” He stopped and smiled ruefully. “Okay, it’s complicated. But you’re forgetting that I have a doctorate in psychology and that you have a degree. Between the two of us, we can handle complicated.” He leaned towards her. “There’s nothing complicated about this,” he murmured, kissing her again.

The stable grew quiet with only the soft sounds of horses moving in their stalls, as the two of them focused completely on each other. Their intentions seemed to be similar as the passion intensified. The path forward seemed clear for a few moments as both of them were of one mind. A sudden thump from Regan’s apartment startled them both and brought with it the awareness of exactly where they were.

“Jim?” the familiar voice called out. “Are you still here?”

“Just finishing up,” he called back, after clearing his throat. He shot Trixie an apologetic look and moved to help her button her shirt.

“You two crazy kids! You should have told me you needed some help.” Trixie flushed as she heard Regan start towards the stable. She pushed Jim’s hands away and stood, walking towards Susie’s stall to pull herself together.

Jim stood up as well and moved towards the side door, meeting Regan just inside. “We, uh, we don’t need any help. In fact, we’re finished. I’m sure everything will pass your inspection.”

Regan took one look at Jim’s disheveled appearance and shook his head. “Sorry, man,” he whispered so that only Jim could hear him. He cleared his throat and spoke again in normal tones. “I’m sure it will. You two get out of here. I’ll lock up behind you in a few minutes. I need to get something out of my office anyway.”

Regan discreetly headed away from them in a roundabout way toward his office.

Jim turned in the opposite direction and met Trixie in front of the tack room. “You ready?” he asked.

She nodded, and called out. “Good night, Regan!”

“Night, Trixie. Jim. Have a good evening.”

The two of them quietly left the stables. Jim clasped her hand as he shut the stable door behind him, giving it a squeeze. “I’m sorry about that, Trix. “

“There’s no need for an apology, Jim,” she reassured him, squeezing his hand back. “I guess you could say we were both fully invested in that moment.”

Jim nodded, and the two of them said nothing until they arrived at the hallway outside Jim’s room. Earlier in the day, when she had learned the Belden parents were away visiting Bobby, Mrs. Wheeler had invited Trixie to stay in Honey’s room.

Jim looked at his door and then across at Honey’s before quirking a questioning brow at Trixie.

“You can stay with me tonight,” he offered.

The desire was consuming and Trixie swallowed hard. What she wanted to do and what she needed to do were two entirely different things at that moment. “Not tonight, Jim.”

“Okay,” he replied, unable to keep the disappointment from flashing across his face.

Trixie looked away and started walking the few steps towards Honey’s door. Her hand reached to turn the knob when she stopped and looked back at Jim, who was watching her.

“Do you want to know what the hot gossip was Di told me today?” Trixie said, as she turned the knob and pushed the door open.

Jim nodded.

“She said the buzz was that you and I were engaged. She wanted to know why I hadn’t told her.”