Chapter 35

As the rest of the group got ready to head back to their respective abodes, Jan pulled Bryant aside.

"I want home-field advantage tonight," she told him. "Why don't you go upstairs and pack an overnight bag."

"Shouldn't we stay close until the girls are home?" he wondered.

"They're fine," Jan assured him. "They all know you'll have their asses in a sling if they go looking for trouble."

"I was more worried about the trouble that might find them without looking," Bryant admitted. He hated to admit that the Mayfield case had made him even more suspicious than his years in Chicago but it had. He now viewed almost every male from 12 to 70 as a potential predator.

Jan shook her head slowly.

"These aren't small-town kids, Bryant," she told him. "Mira lived her whole life in Philadelphia and the others are from Chicago. They can all spot trouble a mile away. Cassidy and Michelle know the safest places in town because Holly and Stan have made sure they know where they can go and where they can't. It'll be fine but we can stay here if you want."

"No, you're right," Bryant admitted. "They're all smart kids and they have parents – or at least someone who looks out for them. I'll go toss some things into a bag and we'll be ready to go."

He took two steps before he stopped.

"We don't have a car," he said.

"I had Holly take me to get mine while you were going to get Mira," Jan told him. "I told you, I wanted home-field advantage and I was willing to work to get it."

Bryant shook hands with the rest of the crew and headed off to do as he was bid. He was suddenly nervous about spending the night in Jan's bed. A week earlier it had never crossed his mind. A year earlier he wasn't even positive she didn't despise him. He had known Jan Elliot for almost six years and the prospect of sleeping with her had been completely foreign to him for almost all of those years.

Still, he reasoned, it had been a fun week. Despite how it had begun, Bryant decided that it might be one of the best weeks of his life. He couldn't deny that he and Jan knew almost everything about the other. There would be no hidden tripwires to derail the relationship. He wondered if the obstacles that were already visible might prove too great. He had watched that evening as Jan had played the hostess, going from group to group to make sure everyone was comfortable with the evening and interacting with others.

She had not hesitated a moment before letting Angel and Anna give her a hug before they left for the evening. She had patted people on the back put her hand on Sheila Williams' arm when she leaned across to talk to the woman. She had even walked up to relative strangers in the dining area to make sure the group wasn't interrupting their dinners by being too boisterous.

"Hey, did you doze off in there?" Jan asked from the doorway. She saw Bryant standing in front of his closet but he wasn't pulling clothes out. He was just staring intently at something in front of him. He jerked around when Jan spoke.

"I took one of your shirts," she told him as she walked over and put her arm around his waist. "Is that what you were trying to find?"

"Huh?" Bryant wondered. "No, no, nothing like that. I was just trying to figure out what I should bring."

"I thought maybe you had your clothes numbered or something," Jan joked. "Seriously, you need a pair of shorts, a shirt, socks, underwear and that's about it. Oh, condoms if you have them. Those you'll need. I'm not on any birth control."

"Oh, sure," Bryant said. He walked to his nightstand and opened the drawer. He glanced up when the box he usually kept in there was gone.

"I already packed them," Jan said with a smile. "Are you okay with this?"

"I think so," Bryant hedged. "I mean, I want to. I've always thought you were, I don't know, put together really well. It's, Christ, this is hard to talk about."

"Why?" Jan asked consolingly. "We can talk about anything – at least I hope we can."

"It's been great just spending time with you this week," Bryant admitted. "I don't want to rush into something and maybe ruin what we have going."

Jan pondered his statement for a moment.

"I can see why you would consider that," she told him. "I've never really let someone get close enough to me that I've been hurt when they've left me. I know you have and I know those wounds are still close to the surface. The thing is we've been close for a while. We've gotten to know each other better in the past year – and better still in the past week. I don't really look at this as rushing into something. I guess, to me, it's a natural progression. We went from being buddies in Chicago to being friends in Emerald Cove. This last week we've moved things to dating, boyfriend-girlfriend, whatever you want to call it. Now we're looking to introduce the last element to a relationship we've cultivated for six years: intimacy."

"I hadn't really taken the time to look at things that way," Bryant confessed. Jan was running her hand up and down his spine gently.

"I haven't really given you much time to think about anything," Jan agreed. "I was so ... I guess the word I want is excited ... I was so excited when I realized that I was emotionally ready for this step that I sort of pushed you to be ready, too. I want you to understand something: I'm not going anywhere either. I followed you down here not just because I was dissatisfied with my job or the city. I came down here because you were here – the person I care most about in the world, I've come to realize, is here. If you had moved to Alaska, I'd be up there huddling with you in an igloo right now. If you had moved to New York, I'd have found some reason to move there, too."

"I honestly wasn't sure you even liked me," Bryant said, chuckling slightly even though he was uncomfortable admitting.

"That's because I didn't know how to show you," Jan replied. "I wasn't comfortable enough with myself to let you in. I knew that I wanted to stay close to you. I've never had someone in my life that I enjoyed being around as much as I enjoy being around you. Hell, I used to look forward to the end of a long weekend just because I knew I'd get to hang out with you for eight or twelve hours, afterward. Once I got down here, and starting seeing Dr. Hummel, I finally understood not only why I followed you here, but why I kept a wall between us when I knew I didn't want one there.

"This is the last wall between us – the last wall I have to scale: physical intimacy with a man I love. I do love you. I'm not sure on what level but I know it seems to grow every time I see you. I think it will grow even further the longer we're together."

Jan and Bryant reclined on her bed as a movie played on Jan's television.

"See how much better this is?" Jan asked. Bryant sat with his back against the headboard of the bed with Jan nestled in front of him with his arms around her middle. It was almost midnight.

"I suppose," Bryant admitted.

Jan wore only a long T-shirt and she had kept sliding downward to bring Bryant's hands further up her torso. Bryant chuckled to himself each time she moved. He hooked his thumbs in the fabric and as his hands neared Jan's breasts more and more of her lower torso came into view. Jan noticed but she didn't mind. Bryant would find out soon that she wore nothing except the T-shirt to cover her body.

As he felt the weight of Jan's smallish breasts reach his wrists Bryant shifted.

"I need to use the facilities," he announced. Jan groaned. She thought the noise was only in her head but Bryant heard it and smiled to himself.

"Let me go first," Jan said, pausing the movie. She slipped into the bathroom and let out a long sigh. A few minutes later she returned the bedroom and Bryant took her place.

As soon as the door closed Jan pulled off her T-shirt to reveal what she'd hidden in the bathroom to put on after a shower. She decided the shower would have to be postponed because she wasn't sure she could wait any longer. She bustled around, lowering the lights and fluffing the pillows on the bed. She had just shut off the TV and assumed her position when Bryant opened the bathroom door.

He saw Jan reclining on the bed. She had lost her T-shirt. Instead she wore a lavender bra that was cut so low the tops of her nipples were visible. She had on a pair of silk French-cut panties that matched her bra in color and style.

"Care to join me?" she asked.

Bryant felt moisture at the corner of his mouth, and unconsciously wiped the drool away before it dripped down his front. He walked toward the bed, mesmerized by the sight in front of him. Jan smiled at his reaction and shifted slightly, lifting a leg until one knee pointed toward the ceiling. It opened her center to Bryant's inspection – which he did. His gaze shifted from the tops of Jan's pale breasts to where her legs parted.

"Uh-uh," Jan chided. "This is an underwear – or less – zone. Off with your shorts and shirt if you plan to climb in here with me."

Bryant pulled his shirt over his head almost frantically. He wore a pair of mesh shorts and they slid down easily. Jan opened her arms to him as he climbed on the bed and pulled him to her for a kiss. She reveled in the feeling of his warm skin against hers and then shifted her weight until she could straddle her soon-to-be-lover.

"I finally have you where I want you," she said. "Sadly though we each have on a few too many clothes."

She reached between her breasts and unhooked the clasp on her bra. She opened it and tossed it aside, sitting aside Bryant topless. She lowered her mouth down to attack Bryant's. There were so many things she wanted to do – and she wanted to do them all with Bryant Hawkins.

The buzzing of Bryant's phone from the bedside table pulled the naked couple from slumber. Jan was wrapped in Bryant's arms, her back to his front. Bryant glanced at the clock beside the bed and saw it was after ten o'clock. Jan moaned when Bryant shifted away from her. She could not recall a single night in the last thirty years, in which she had slept so soundly. It had been after five o'clock when she had finally allowed Bryant a brief respite. She had planned to permit him a brief nap but soon both of them were sound asleep.

Bryant didn't recognize the number but answered it anyway.

"Is this Bryant?" Mira Delgado asked. The voice sounded sleepy and slightly confused to her.

"Hi, Mira," Bryant replied. He recognized the girl's breathy tones. "Did you have fun last night?"

"It was great!" Mira enthused. "We had a lot of fun at the carnival and then we went to this club Cassidy knows about. It was way cool. We could dance and stuff but no one was drunk or stupid."

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," Bryant said.

"I brought your car back but everything is locked up," Mira said. "Can you come down and get the keys?"

"Just hold onto them," Bryant decided. He was a mile away from his apartment and he had no intention of leaving to head back down there. "You can use the car to get around this weekend. I'm sure you have more places to go and people to see."

There was silence on the other end of the line.

"Are you sure?" Mira asked a moment later.

"Sure," Bryant said as Jan's hand reached between his legs to play with him. "I won't need a car."

"Okay," Mira said. "We're all going to the beach so you can wander down and get the keys if you need them."

"I'll do that," Bryant agreed. "I'll talk to you soon."

Jan had swung her legs across Bryant's midriff and grimaced when her tender parts came in contact with Bryant's body.

"I'm sore," she said and then she giggled lightly. "I've never been sore down there."

It was her phone that interrupted her this time. As she reached for it, Bryant playfully pinched her bottom. She shook it at him as she picked up her telephone.

"Hi, Anna," she said. Bryant noticed that she didn't shift her position, staying on her knees with her legs parted. He leaned forward and kissed the back of her thighs.

"Just a second," Jan said into the phone. Bryant kissed her between the legs as she started to pull away. Jan shook her head at him and scooted across the room.

"Sorry, I was in the middle of something," she told Anna.

"It's okay," the girl replied. "I wanted to invite you to join us on the beach. Holly is coming and so are Angel's mom and Michelle's mom. It should be fun!"

"It sounds like it will be," Jan agreed. "I have something I need to do first but I'll join you soon. I'll see you in an hour or so."

She put her phone down and motioned for Bryant.

"Take a shower with me?" she asked. "It's something else I haven't done in years."

"Sure," Bryant agreed. He wasn't embarrassed that he was aroused. Jan didn't appear to be frightened at what was poking out in front of him. She reached down and took his erection into her hand to lead him into the bathroom where she planned to continue the morning's entertainment.

Bryant and David made their way to the state police shooting range while those of the female persuasion got into their swimwear and staked out a small section of sand. The party included all the teenagers from the evening before. They all wore bikinis that ranged from functional to purely decorative.

Mira wore a top that lessened her impressive bust and a pair of boy shorts. Angel's bikini was functional, too. The bottoms were also shorts and the top looked like a sports bra. Anna's string bikini was tie-dyed and Michelle's was similarly made but lime green. Cassidy wore a wraparound top that was striped and ruffled. Her bikini was small and hugged her bottom.

The older women all wore one-piece suits. Jan would have worn her bikini but it was hanging over the shower rod in Bryant's bathroom. The one-piece was the only one at her house. Holly's suit was dark-green and cut high on the sides. Maria's had a deep V at the neck that highlighted her bust. Sheila Williams' green suit resembled her daughter's. Jan was surprised to see Bea Harrison sitting with the group – and was more surprised that she was dressed conservatively. Bea's suit looked like something a competitive swimmer would wear.