Serving Pride by Jill Sanders

love this quickly, right?
     
    On the trip back to
the docks, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. He stood behind her
and hugged her as she steered into port. The chilly wind was in
their faces and the sun was sinking lower behind the clouds. It
felt so good to hold her near and he hated for the day to
end.
     
    When they docked,
Robert jumped out and tied the boat off.
     
    “Listen, it’s still
early, how about you come over and we can have some dinner and
watch a movie?” He helped her onto the dock and kept hold of her
hand after she landed next to him.
     
    “That sounds
great.”
     
    He almost did
another fist pump in excitement. When they pulled up in front of
the store, he no longer cared who saw them together. He walked
around and opened her door and pulled her into a deep kiss right
there, for the whole town to see.
     
    He supposed he was
laying claim to her, telling everyone that she was his. He didn’t
care, it felt good holding her, and more importantly, it felt
right.
     
    Taking the stairs
to his place, he was shocked to find his door slightly
open.
     
    “Hold on.” He
grabbed her arm and stopped her on the stairs.
     
    “What is it?” She
looked at him.
     
    “My door’s open.
Head down to the store while I check it out.” He moved closer to
the door, wishing he had his weapon in hand.
     
    “Robert? You can’t
go in there alone.” She inched forward, trying to follow
him.
     
    “Amelia, please,
just go downstairs. I’m sure it’s nothing. I’ll just check it out
then come down and get you. Besides, maybe you can buy us some of
Patty’s rotisserie chicken for dinner while you’re down
there.”
     
    “Oh, okay. But if
you’re not down there in five minutes, we’re coming up after you.
And I know for a fact that Patty still has a shotgun under her
counter.”
     
    He smiled and
kissed her nose. He watched her go down the stairs and when he was
satisfied that she had made it into the store, he turned back to
his door. On closer examination, he could see that the handle had
been broken.
     
    Who would have done
this? He looked around and saw plenty of people in the street.
There is no way someone could have done this without being
seen.
     
    When he stepped in,
his kitchen light was on and he could see the mess. His television
was still there so he immediately crossed burglary off the list. He
slowly walked down the hall towards his bedroom and noticed there
was more destruction there. Nothing seemed to be stolen—his safe
and his television were in their place—but everything was trashed.
After he double-checked everything, he walked down to the store and
spent the next twenty minutes talking to Patty and a group of
people at the store. He’d assured them that they had nothing to
worry about and hinted that it was most likely kids who’d broken in
and just trashed his place.
     
    Amelia helped him
straighten up and after he’d fixed the front door lock, they sat
down to eat. Whoever had broken in had shattered the last two
plates he had, so they ate rotisserie chicken and potato salad on
paper plates and drank cold beer as they watched an old
movie.
     
    After they ate,
they sat on the couch and he tried to figure out how to get her to
spend the night, though he knew she probably had to get home to her
mother. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy his time with her.
They were halfway through another movie, his arm resting across the
back of the couch, when he pulled her closer, smiling as she
snuggled into his chest. Leaning his head down, he started running
kisses over her ear and down her neck. She moaned and angled her
head, giving him better access.
     
    She surprised him
then by pulling away, but she quickly moved to straddle him. Her
hips were in his hands, her mouth was on his, and he could have
just stayed like that all night. But she started to move and he
knew he didn’t just want her for that night, he wanted her every
night.
     
    Their clothing hit
the floor as