took the mailer, but waved aside the stack of papers. “I’ll examine those tomorrow.”
Annie could see that the Blooms looked rather pale, their faces pinched with worry. Heck, everyone at the hotel was alarmed, from what Annie had heard when in Memphis earlier today. The possibility of imminent unemployment once the hotel closed had them all walking on tenterhooks, especially with the holidays looming. Annie would have liked to tell them that Clay would never close the hotel now that he knew what a landmark it was to Memphis, not to mention the connection with his mother. But it wasn’t her place to speak on his behalf.
“We’ll meet tomorrow at one with the accountant, right?” Clay asked the couple. When they nodded solemnly, he concluded, “Good Night, then,” and led Annie toward the elevators.
Once the doors swished shut, Annie leaned her head on Clay’s shoulder and sighed. But he set her away from him and stepped to the other side of the elevator, staring at her with a rueful grimace. “If I touch you now, sweetheart, we’ll be having sex on the elevator floor.”
She smiled.
“You little witch. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Clay observed with a chuckle.
Soon he was inserting the key into the lock of his hotel room. Once they entered, Clay flicked on the light switch, and Annie was assaulted with a dozen different sounds, sights and smells. A carousel— A carousel, for heaven’s sake! —was turning in one corner of the massive suite, churning out calliope music. A television in another corner clicked on automatically, playing a video of that old Elvis movie “Roustabout.” A popcorn machine began popping and a candy cotton machine began spinning its weblike confection. Hot dogs sizzled on a counter grill, where candy apples were laid out for a late-night snack. And the bed . . . Holy Cow! . . . the bed was in the form of a Tunnel of Love cart with high sides, and what looked like a vibrating mechanism on the side to simulate a water rocking motion.
“Cla-ay!” she laughed.
“Did you ever see anything so absurd in all your life?” A delightful pink stained his cheeks.
“Actually, it’s kind of . . . uh, charming.”
“Please,” he begged to differ. Then, tossing his crutch aside, he leaned back against the door and pulled her into his embrace. “At last,” he whispered against her mouth.
When he kissed her, open-mouthed and clinging, Annie could taste his need for her. What a heart-filling ego booster to know she could affect this man so!
With clumsy haste, they pulled at each other’s clothes.
“Slow down, honey,” Clay urged raggedly, then immediately reversed himself. “No, hurry up, sweetheart.”
“I can’t wait, I can’t wait, I can’t wait . . . ,” she cried.
Soon they were naked. He with nothing but a bandage wrapped around his one ankle, she with nothing but two gold barrettes which she quickly tossed aside.
She saw his arousal and felt her own arousal throb in counterpoint. Leaning forward, she pressed her lips to his chest, breathing in the clean, musky scent of his skin.
Clay gasped.
“You are so hot,” she blurted out.
He grinned. “I know.”
“Oh, you! I meant you throw off heat like . . . like an erotic bonfire.”
Clay laughed. “So do you, Annie. So do you,” he whispered, holding her face with the fingertips of both hands. He gazed at her with sheer adulation, which both humbled and exalted her. Tears filled her eyes at the admiration she saw in his wonderful blue eyes.
“I love you, Clayton Jessup. I don’t know how it’s possible to fall in love with someone so fast and so hard, but it’s the truth. I love you.”
“I feel as if I’ve been walking through life with a huge hole in my heart and now, suddenly, it’s been filled. You make me complete, Annie. I know, that sounds so corny—”
“Shhh,” she
Annie could see that the Blooms looked rather pale, their faces pinched with worry. Heck, everyone at the hotel was alarmed, from what Annie had heard when in Memphis earlier today. The possibility of imminent unemployment once the hotel closed had them all walking on tenterhooks, especially with the holidays looming. Annie would have liked to tell them that Clay would never close the hotel now that he knew what a landmark it was to Memphis, not to mention the connection with his mother. But it wasn’t her place to speak on his behalf.
“We’ll meet tomorrow at one with the accountant, right?” Clay asked the couple. When they nodded solemnly, he concluded, “Good Night, then,” and led Annie toward the elevators.
Once the doors swished shut, Annie leaned her head on Clay’s shoulder and sighed. But he set her away from him and stepped to the other side of the elevator, staring at her with a rueful grimace. “If I touch you now, sweetheart, we’ll be having sex on the elevator floor.”
She smiled.
“You little witch. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Clay observed with a chuckle.
Soon he was inserting the key into the lock of his hotel room. Once they entered, Clay flicked on the light switch, and Annie was assaulted with a dozen different sounds, sights and smells. A carousel— A carousel, for heaven’s sake! —was turning in one corner of the massive suite, churning out calliope music. A television in another corner clicked on automatically, playing a video of that old Elvis movie “Roustabout.” A popcorn machine began popping and a candy cotton machine began spinning its weblike confection. Hot dogs sizzled on a counter grill, where candy apples were laid out for a late-night snack. And the bed . . . Holy Cow! . . . the bed was in the form of a Tunnel of Love cart with high sides, and what looked like a vibrating mechanism on the side to simulate a water rocking motion.
“Cla-ay!” she laughed.
“Did you ever see anything so absurd in all your life?” A delightful pink stained his cheeks.
“Actually, it’s kind of . . . uh, charming.”
“Please,” he begged to differ. Then, tossing his crutch aside, he leaned back against the door and pulled her into his embrace. “At last,” he whispered against her mouth.
When he kissed her, open-mouthed and clinging, Annie could taste his need for her. What a heart-filling ego booster to know she could affect this man so!
With clumsy haste, they pulled at each other’s clothes.
“Slow down, honey,” Clay urged raggedly, then immediately reversed himself. “No, hurry up, sweetheart.”
“I can’t wait, I can’t wait, I can’t wait . . . ,” she cried.
Soon they were naked. He with nothing but a bandage wrapped around his one ankle, she with nothing but two gold barrettes which she quickly tossed aside.
She saw his arousal and felt her own arousal throb in counterpoint. Leaning forward, she pressed her lips to his chest, breathing in the clean, musky scent of his skin.
Clay gasped.
“You are so hot,” she blurted out.
He grinned. “I know.”
“Oh, you! I meant you throw off heat like . . . like an erotic bonfire.”
Clay laughed. “So do you, Annie. So do you,” he whispered, holding her face with the fingertips of both hands. He gazed at her with sheer adulation, which both humbled and exalted her. Tears filled her eyes at the admiration she saw in his wonderful blue eyes.
“I love you, Clayton Jessup. I don’t know how it’s possible to fall in love with someone so fast and so hard, but it’s the truth. I love you.”
“I feel as if I’ve been walking through life with a huge hole in my heart and now, suddenly, it’s been filled. You make me complete, Annie. I know, that sounds so corny—”
“Shhh,” she
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