“You’re cleaning that up,” she whispered against his lips as he lifted her off her feet and deposited her on the edge of the table, standing between her legs and lowering his hands to her waist to pull her close against him. Lisa locked her ankles behind his back and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself so close she literally couldn’t tell where he ended and she began. Gasping against the side of his neck, Lisa suddenly remembered. “Oh my God…”
    “What?” Hugh was paying an inordinate amount of attention to a particularly pleasant spot under her jaw.
    “I had a dream exactly like this…” she breathed. “Only it was my trailer, and I—woke up before—”
    The doorbell rang.

~*~*~

    Hugh’s eyes flew open.
    Lisa’s eyes flew open.
    Their lips remained, interlocked and resting easily, even as their eyes met. Slowly Lisa smiled, closing her eyes again only long enough to reach up and hold his face still as she caressed his lips one last time, carefully untwisted her legs, and pulled away. Hugh’s breathing was labored as he reached for her waist and pulled her off the तालिका, टेबल to her feet.
    The doorbell rang again.
    Lisa narrowed her eyes, looking in the direction of the foyer, then suddenly blanched.
    “It’s the dogsitter. Oh shit. Shit shit shit. Um… hide.”
    “Wha—?”
    “Get in—um, God, get—here, in here, just—” Lisa pulled open the nearest closet and shoved Hugh inward.
    “What? Lisa, this is—”
    “You’re the one who कहा we have to keep this a secret now sit down and shut up and I will be back for आप in two मिनटों ok? Ok.”
    “I—” The door was slammed in his face.
    “Lanie. Hi,” Lisa swung the front door open and gestured for the young woman to come in. Kapow and Shazam immediately came full speed and plowed into their new friend in an animalistic cacophony. “Thank आप so much for filling in on such short notice… my regular is actually on vacation at the same time I am… Meet the dogs.”
    “Hi, puppies!” Lanie knelt on the floor to let the कुत्ता crawl all over her. “Ohhhh, we are going to have so much fun!” She looked up at her employer. “But… your suitcases… don’t आप have to leave? Like, now?”
    “Um.” Lisa turned and saw the disaster area that Hugh had created just moments earlier. “Actually, it looks like I’m not going to be leaving for a few—” A loud thud came from the direction of the closet. Kapow and Shazam’s heads both swiveled around, looking for the source. Lanie frowned slightly and stood up. “Oh… there’s a hook… in there… that’s been loose.” Lisa कहा lamely. “Must’ve finally… fell.”
    “Oh…”
    “Anyway, I’m so sorry आप came all the way out here, but like I was saying, it looks like I’m not going to be—”
    Crash.
    “How… many… loose hooks did आप say…”
    “I am going to have to fire my handyman!” Lisa all but shouted the last words. “I’ve been trying to get him to tighten those things…” Suddenly Lisa smiled. Oh, Hugh… “Like I was saying. My flight is not as early as I thought. But I guess it’s just as well you’re here now, I can walk आप through everything. Won’t take but a minute.”
    “Ok.” Lanie shrugged and dropped her पर्स on the floor where she was leaving her shoes. “Show me where everything is, and I’ll just come back tonight?”
    “Perfect.” Lisa gestured toward the kitchen. “I’ll दिखाना आप where the खाना and toys are… and I have instructions for आप on the तालिका, टेबल if आप have any questions—neither of the कुत्ता needs medicine right now, so there are no pills to deal with…”
    As Lisa’s voice faded away Hugh dropped his head back against the दीवार and closed his eyes.
    This is without a doubt the most absurd situation आप have ever gotten yourself into…
    But at least it looked as if Lisa had gotten his message… Hugh smiled to himself and sank into a cross-legged sitting position, trying not to gouge himself on the umbrellas. Just in the short period of time they had spent since the news came out about his marriage… Hugh squinted at his watch but couldn’t make out the numbers. If Lisa didn’t hurry it up, he was going to be late for his meeting.
    Hugh let out a long breath, listening for the sound of her voice.
    Tell me to stay…
    Oh, the look on Lisa’s face when he कहा that… Hugh looked आगे to many nights of seeing that same look directed at him. And then she had taken his hand, and she had led him to the couch, and they had arranged themselves and Lisa had picked up the remote and started flipping channels.
    Hugh had been incredulous for a moment, narrowing his eyes at her even as she stretched her legs over his lap and pointed her toes luxuriously. “Lisa, I hope आप are not offended when I say I think we are at cross-purposes here…” he had said.
    “Oh, no we’re not,” Lisa had smiled flirtatiously at him from where her head was resting on the सोफ़ा, सोफे armrest. “I have every intention of doing everything in my power to reduce आप to a quivering, jelly-boned mess sometime in the near future…” she raised her leg just far enough for Hugh to get the hint and run his hand along it gently. “For now…” Suddenly she lowered her eyes, unsure of herself. Hugh furrowed his brow, trying to imagine what in the word could make Lisa bashful. After the image she had just painted in his head… “Hugh.” Her voice was sad. “God, I’m sorry. I sound like one of those horrible fawning females. Can आप just—be with me, for awhile? Just—”
    “Try and stop me.” Hugh’s gaze burned the चोटी, शीर्ष of her head until she lifted her face to see his expression. “You are not a fawning anything, and आप know it. You’ve just been—we’ve just been alone for so long…”
    “We’ve been alone together,” Lisa whispered, smiling gently at him. Hugh reached for her hand and kissed it softly, his eyes never leaving hers.
    “Not anymore…”
    A soft thud brought Hugh back to the present. As he struggled to untwist his legs to stand up, the closet door swung open and Lisa looked straight in—then very pointedly reverted her gaze down, down, down…
    “Oh, there आप are,” she said, opening the door further. “Comfy?”
    “Your closet floor leaves much to be desired.”
    “I will see to it immediately,” she कहा dryly, and extended a hand to help him up.
    Hugh ignored it. “You have an inordinate amount of umbrellas for living in the most God-awful sunshiny place a person could ever imagine.
    “I will throw them all out just for you.” A smile was beginning to creep over her lips, and Hugh decided at that very moment that whatever he had to do to keep that smile there, he would do it.
    “And that single girly hand you’re extending is not about to make a difference in hauling my considerable bulk up to my feet.”
    Laughing uncontrollably द्वारा now, Lisa proffered her other hand in addition to the first and Hugh took them both—then pulled.
    “Hugh!” Lisa shrieked as she tumbled downward only to be caught easily on Hugh’s bent leg, his arm circling her waist completely. Immediately his other hand was there, reaching out of the darkness to पालना her face gently, to tilt her head closer to his until their lips met again. Slowly, languidly, with none of their earlier hurry या desperation, they leaned into each other, lips only slightly brushing for सेकंड्स at a time before they changed positions. Finally Lisa let her weight sink entirely into his lap and reached to hold his face still, relishing the opportunity to lean over him. As Hugh leaned further back into the wall, supporting her weight in his arms, Lisa moaned softly into his mouth, drawing his lower lip in to tease it gently with her teeth.
    The कुत्ता came galloping out of the रसोई, रसोईघर and ran full speed into the closet door, slamming it closed. Hugh let out a gasping laugh into Lisa’s ear as she jerked her head around to see what had happened.
    “No offense to your dogs, Lis,” he कहा huskily, taking the opportunity to repay a favor that she had done him numerous times over the course of the season, “but tonight we are going to my place. Unless आप want to be interrupted again.”
    The sudden jolt of heat that struck Lisa’s stomach and slithered its way lower shocked her into silence as Hugh’s tongue began to tease at her earlobe.
    “God…” she breathed out hard. “Ok. Your place it is.”