Chapter 18

Charles and Diana were very hungry again ... for food! They'd just spent over an hour in bed having some of the most incredibly hot sex they'd ever experienced. They dragged themselves out of bed, showered, dressed in their casual clothes and went down to the lobby. They returned the diamond jewelry to the concierge and had brunch in one of the restaurants.

While they ate, they talked about what they needed to do before leaving. They had nothing to pack their clothes in for their return trip, so after brunch, they went to one of the shops in the lobby and bought one large suitcase to hold everything. They also bought themselves bathing suits as they decided to lounge out by the pool after they checked out since their flight back to L.A. didn't leave until six o'clock.

They packed everything, leaving their casual clothes on top to change back into when they were ready to leave. They went back down to the lobby to check out and paid for their extra room charges and they asked the clerk to set their suitcase behind the desk for them to pick up later. They stopped by the cashier's office and Charles asked them to draw up a check for the remainder of his winnings and he would pick it up later.

Before they went out to the pool area, Diana stopped into the general merchandise store in the lobby to buy a bottle of suntan lotion since she had a tendency to burn easily. She also grabbed them a couple pairs of sunglasses. They stopped by the bar and bought drinks and then found a couple lounge chairs by the pool.

Diana's eyes widened when she saw two younger, very attractive women on the other side of the pool smile and wave coyly at Charles. "Who are those women and why are they waving at you?" she asked with her eyebrows raised.

Charles looked at her and grinned. "Oh ... I came out here yesterday afternoon for about a half hour or so to kill a little time when you went to your salon appointment. They came over and propositioned me, but I politely turned them down. I told them my lovely new bride was giving me all the sex I needed!" He sat down on a lounge chair and ran his hand all the way up the back of her left leg to just below her ass.

Diana grinned sexily at him as she sat in front of him between his legs on the lounge chair. She handed him the suntan lotion and asked him to put some on her back. While he did that, she asked him what he did to make those women proposition him. He grinned sexily but his cheeks reddened slightly as he haltingly told her the whole story.

Diana chuckled to hear him sound so embarrassed and yet look somewhat flattered at the same time. So, that's where this awareness of your own sexiness came from yesterday! Diana turned sideways on the chair and leaned over to kiss Charles for a long moment. Then she stared at him as she stood up. "I told you how sexy you were, my love. Now do you believe me?"

He grinned crookedly as he stood up in front of her and slowly removed his shirt. The flames came up in her eyes and she took a couple deep breaths as she watched him. He looked to his left at the young women on the other side of the pool; they were staring at him lustfully. He wrapped his arms around Diana's waist, bent his head down and said quietly in his deep, sexy voice, "Yes, my love, I believe you now."

He crushed his mouth to hers and kissed her deeply. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and neck and dug her hands into his hair. He dragged his mouth from hers and was kissing down her neck to her left shoulder when they heard the sound of someone clearing their throat.

Then they heard Ward's voice. "Excuse us, but are we interrupting something here?"

Yes ... but it needs to be interrupted before we get into trouble! Charles lifted his head after he felt Diana shiver when as he kissed her neck. He straightened up and turned around to say hello to Ward and Mary Lou while Diana recovered her senses.

Ward and Mary Lou had also come out to lounge in the pool area. They invited them to drag a couple chairs closer and join them, which Charles and Ward did when they accepted. They all lounged for a little while, sipping drinks and chatting about the previous night's activities.

After about a half hour, Charles stood up and said he was going to swim a few laps to cool off. He asked Diana if she wanted to join him, but she declined. He bent down and kissed her quickly and headed to the deep end of the pool. He dove in and started swimming an effortless crawl. She watched him, admiring his strong back and shoulders, smiling to herself at how gracefully sexy his movements were.

"I called Duke this morning and told him you were married," Ward informed her.

Her face snapped toward him. "How did he take the news?"

"He was shocked and he immediately started asking all kinds of questions about who it was and what type of man he was. I told Duke what a good choice you had made with Charles and that I knew you were in love. Duke said he was really happy for you." Diana smiled softly and sadly. Yes, little girl, you and Duke share something very special...

Even more special than you know... The Duke was more than just shocked! He'd nearly gone ballistic when Ward mentioned that she'd run off to Vegas and that they had just met Friday night. Ward had to tell Duke the story of how they had seen and searched for each other years ago only to find each other now by sheer happenstance.

That was when Duke calmed down. He'd told Ward that he knew if Charles Richards had found Diana then, she would never have loved him and he would never have gotten to love her. Duke had joked, "Hell, Ward. Maybe you should tell Richards I said 'thank you' for not finding her then!"

After Charles swam several laps, he went to a corner in the shallow end to sit on some steps and relax in the water. The two young women who'd propositioned him got up and went to sit on the edge of the pool near him and start talking to him. It seemed like a friendly conversation, so Diana wasn't paying that much attention ... until she saw one of the women sit down on the steps next to him as close to him as she could. Oh, no you don't, honey...

Diana looked at Ward and Mary Lou as she stood up. "Excuse me, please. But I have to go take care of something."

She walked to the side of the pool at the deep end directly down from Charles, took several deep breaths and dove into the water. She opened her eyes as she swam underwater up to where her husband was waiting for her. She slowly emerged out of the water, crawling up between his legs and stopped with her face right in front of his.

He wrapped his arms around her as she said provocatively, "Hello, my sexy man. Have you missed me? Because I've sure missed you!" She dragged her hands up his shoulders to his neck as she kissed him deeply until they both moaned softly as they slowly broke the kiss. The two young women were staring at them.

Diana said, "I want to thank you, ladies, for the boost you gave to my husband's ego yesterday. I had told him how sexy he was, but he didn't believe me until you two propositioned him! And, yes, I know what a lucky woman I am."

They bid the two young women good afternoon and went back to their lounge chairs next to Ward and Mary Lou. As they dried off, Ward asked them who the women were and Diana told him while Charles looked embarrassed.

Ward looked impressed, and then said jokingly, "They both wanted you ... at the same time? And you said NO?!!! Boy ... you must really love this little girl!" They all chuckled together at that.

Charles said, "Of course I really love her! What man couldn't love a woman who can beat out nine men in a game of Texas Hold 'Em and could make John Wayne fall in love with her!"

Diana, Ward and Mary Lou stopped laughing and stared at Charles as he continued to chuckle. Then Ward thought about what Charles said and exclaimed, "Hey! That wasn't funny!" They all laughed again.

They sat in the sun for a little longer until Charles and Diana were mostly dry. Then they all moved to the shade so they wouldn't get sun burned. As they relaxed and continued to sip on drinks, Diana asked Ward if he and the big man were currently working on any movies together.

He told her they were currently in pre-production on a film called "The Wings of Eagles" about the life of Naval aviation pioneer Frank "Spig" Wead, and that Duke was playing the lead. Ward said his role was going to be that of a Hollywood director based on John Ford, who was going to direct the movie and who had been a friend of Wead.

Then Ward said, "I had a meeting with Duke and Pappy recently and Pappy asked Duke if the lovely little girl he'd introduced him to at the premiere of 'The Searchers' had said anything about taking him up on his offer to get into directing or writing."

Diana was surprised and shocked that Ford remembered her.

Charles looked confused for a moment. "Wait a minute. You met John Ford at the premiere and he offered to get you into directing or writing? How did that happen?"

Diana told him about her discussion with Ford on the subtleties of the movie and Wayne's character and that Ford had been impressed with how much she had picked up on. But she hadn't really thought that Ford had been serious about his offer. Ward told her that Ford never made offers like that unless he was serious. He was a very hard man to impress ... usually ... but Diana had impressed him in less than five minutes!

Charles looked at Ward. "I think she impresses most men in less than five minutes. Hell ... she impressed me the second I laid eyes on her!"

Ward didn't realize what he was saying when he muttered, "Yeah, that's just what Duke said, too."

"Just how impressed with her was he, Ward?" Charles asked curiously.

Ward looked nervously at Diana and he spoke slowly as he figured out how to phrase his explanation properly. He didn't want to give away Diana's story to Charles that no one was supposed to know about her and the Duke. "When he ... met you at the studio, he ... noticed right away that you were ... a very smart, efficient young woman ... who didn't fall at his feet like most young female studio employees usually do!"

Charles noted Ward's discomfort. OK, Ward ... that's a plausible answer. But you were nervous and you hesitated like you were thinking about it. You do know that Diana had a fling with The Duke! So, why had he played dumb and denied knowing anything about it? Wayne had probably turned to his good friend Ward after it was over because, as Diana had said, he'd wanted more.

But since The Duke had promised Diana never to tell anyone, he had made Ward promise not to let on that he'd told him. That was why Ward looked nervously at Diana and she looked just as nervous—wondering why he'd said that.