One Night With You by Gwynne Forster

the way I put it?”
    â€œYou said it as if you’d tell somebody else, but you don’t know anyone else in town.”
    â€œWell, that definitely is not what I meant.”
    â€œSo, what did you mean?”
    He sat up. “Don’t ask me a question unless you want the answer. I want to see you.”
    â€œUh…where?”
    â€œIn the middle of Albemarle Heights. I don’t give a damn, Kendra. I’ll put on a jacket and tie, and we can have dinner someplace, but that would be three whole hours from now.”
    â€œWell, since you haven’t bought a car, let’s ride in mine. I’ll put on a pretty dress, you put on that tie, and you be over here in an hour. How’s that?”
    â€œWoman, you move fast, but that suits me to a T. I’ll be there.” He’d almost added that he wanted a kiss when he got there, and it surprised him that that was what he needed from her most of all. He wanted her to rejoice with him, but what he needed was to know that she thought him worth her affection.
    He showered, dressed in the Oxford-gray suit with a white shirt and yellow tie. He put on his gray Chesterfield-style overcoat, a remainder from his affluent days, and gave thanks that, in his lowest moments, he hadn’t sold it or exchanged it for a hot dog. He’d been wearing it when he’d met Philip. A glance at his watch told him he had thirty-two minutes. He made it to the florist in eleven minutes and cooled his heels while the florist chatted with a neighbor. Vexed, though he knew it was the way of life in a small town, he turned to leave, and the man asked if he could help him. He bought an American beauty rose, had it wrapped in cellophane and tied with a red velvet bow.
    He felt like a teenager about to take his girl to his first prom. What had happened to his resolve to stay away from her, his concern that associating with her might jeopardize his case against Brown and Worley? I can’t help it, he said to himself. Right now, I need to be with her.

    If Reid was able to rationalize his way out of his dilemma about Kendra, she had no such success, but admitted her strong attraction to him and the trouble in which it would one day land her, and figured that she would have no choice but to take it on the chin when it came. She hoped he’d be worth the price she had to pay.
    She looked through her closet and pushed aside the sedate business suits and tailored dresses she wore to work until she found the red silk sheath that fit snugly until it passed her hips and then flared out sassy and flirtatious. Its low-cut bodice promised a delicious tidbit if she let him get that far. She looked at herself in the mirror and frowned. What was she thinking when she bought that advertisement for sex? No wonder she’d never worn it.
    What the heck? He wants me, and I want him. Might as well be an adult about it. She combed out her hair and brushed it until it curved under at her shoulder, put on a pair of gold hoops, dabbed perfume in strategic places and took a deep breath. Did she dare wear those spike-heel sandals in weather that was below freezing? And could she drive while wearing them? I can kick off the right one, she said to herself and slipped her feet into the shoes just as the doorbell rang.
    She opened the door and, to her delight, his eyes lit up and his long, sharp whistle made her heart sing. He stepped inside, closed the door with his foot, and she’d never seen a happier look on a man’s face than when he gazed down at her. She felt her tongue rim her lips, and then his big hands were on her seconds before he lowered his head and she rose on her toes to meet his mouth. He came down hard on her, but she didn’t care because she felt his need of her.
    â€œOpen up to me, sweetheart. Let me feel myself inside you.”
    She parted her lips, took him into her mouth and as he began to dance and twirl inside her, one of his hands moved down to