4

4

Lauren blinked, Marcus’s laughter ringing in her ears like a bell of shame. She watched the way his eyes twinkled in mirth and his left cheek dented and she suddenly felt a little angry.

“What’s so funny?” she demanded, hating the way she sounded like a second-grader. What was with this guy? She’d only known him for an hour and he’d already managed to embarrass her.

“You are…” he chuckled more. “So easy to rile up. Damn.”

Lauren rolled her eyes and tried to push him out of the way, but as solid as a brick wall, he stood firm, watching her with an amused smile.

“You thought I was going to kiss you,” he stated and Lauren felt her face get hot.

Who the hell says such things to strangers??

“Who…I don’t…Look. I don’t know you, alright?”

Marcus shrugged, still grinning and looking quite handsome with those black-rimmed glasses on. Lauren ignored it. She decided that he was annoying.

“It’s alright, Ms. Burns. It’s just that ever since you’ve arrived, you’ve been so tense, you know. So…tight. I was just trying to get you to relax a little,” he explained and Lauren scoffed, throwing her hair over her shoulder.

“Relax? If that’s the way you get all your guests to relax, it’s no wonder nobody ever comes to these towns,” she stated almost to herself.

Marcus smiled, but his brows drew together in a frown.

“Who says nobody ever comes to our town?”

Lauren opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by Martha who walked in with a glass of wine.

“Oh, dear,” she said with a smile Lauren found too delighted. “Am I…interrupting anything?”

Lauren forced herself to not give the lady an incredulous look.

“No,” she responded flatly. “Not at all.”

Martha nodded and winked at them, making Lauren cringe.

Great. She’d just arrived and already the mayor’s wife thought she was in cahoots with her son. Marcus made everything a million times worse by grinning and nervously scratching the back of his neck as he glanced at Lauren.

Lauren stared at him. What the hell was he doing looking at her with bedroom eyes when his mom was less than five feet away? What was this?!

“I’ll, uh...go to bed now," he said quietly. "Uhm, goodnight, Lauren.”

Still baffled by his sudden sweet lover’s voice, she only nodded in response.

“Mom,” he said as he left and Martha kissed him goodnight, before turning to Lauren.

“I’m not judgin’, you young ones do whatever it is y’all need to do, it's fine by me.”

Lauren stared blankly at the lady.

Honestly, she'd just met the man.

“It was nothing, Mrs. Stanford. Honestly.” She smiled to soften her words when the older lady looked a little dejected.

“Martin and I are having a late dinner, come on and join us, dear. No cocktails, I promise.”

Lauren smiled tiredly. Cocktails never again, thank you.

“Aw, thank you for the offer, but I’m really tired tonight. Ate on the way, so I’d like to just go to sleep.”

Something sharp flashed briefly in Martha’s eyes, but Lauren, truly tired, didn’t catch it.

“Alright then, dear, you sleep well now,” she said sweetly and left the room.

Lauren looked briefly around her before picking up her luggage and setting it all in a corner. She didn't plan on staying for long so there was no need to unpack. Yet.

She searched and found her pajamas, a pair of small silk shorts and a matching top, and began to undress, revealing her matching set of red lace underwear. She had no one to show it to or to impress, but Lauren always wore the finest underwear, loving the feel of the silk and lace materials on her skin. Aunt Abby would've had a stroke if she knew.

Lauren took her bra off, uncovering her large breasts before throwing on the silk pajama top then the shorts.

She tugged at the shorts as she draped her robe over a chair, the pair fit quite snug around Lauren’s full ass and it left little to the imagination.

With a tired yawn, she quickly forgot about her butt in the shorts and climbed into the bed, nearly moaning at the feel of the silky bedding against her skin.

Her muscles ached, reminding her that she'd really driven a long distance and she really should have taken a break.

Lauren sighed, remembering the drive. And the man.

His handsome face filled her mind one more time. The way his golden-brown eyes had studied her face when she spoke. It had made her tremble, although she'd ignored it at the time, she would let herself acknowledge it then in the comfort of darkness and solitude.

He’d been so hot.

The way, his large hand had closed around her hand had made Lauren feel so tiny. She bit her lip thinking of how, back in high school, gathered around in the dorm late at night, the girls would discuss men. Lauren remembered the boldest girl, Julia, mentioning how the size of a man’s hands and feet always hinted at the size of his cock.

That stranger had had pretty big hands...

He was probably really big. Lauren’s hand rose in the air and she watched her fingers form different sized O’s with her thumb before she realized what she was doing and quickly dropped her arm.

A laugh escaped her before she stifled it and turned on her side, ignoring the throb at her core.

She remembered his reaction to her mentioning that she was coming to Woodfair. The way his eyes had suddenly darkened.

She’d been confused by that reaction and she still is.

Did people perhaps avoid Woodfair around here? Was it like some sort of taboo area? If it was, Lauren hoped that it wasn't because of her family, because that would positively suck.

She sighed again. Damn, these thoughts were keeping her awake and she just wanted to pass out.

In an effort, she began to count sheep and about twenty-five woolly friends later, her bladder started complaining.

“Aw, crap,” she whispered into the darkness, before rolling her eyes and swinging her legs over the side of the huge bed.

Five seconds later, she was pulling open the bedroom door and shrugging into her robe, leaving the belt untied.

The house was quiet and the hallways were dim, but there was a distant light coming from the lounge area downstairs and she was sure that was where Martha and Martin were.

Not wanting to disturb them, Lauren shuffled her way around upstairs until she found a bathroom.

After relieving herself, she was on her way back to the room when she decided that a glass of water wouldn’t hurt and headed for the stairs.

The wood felt cool beneath her feet as she slowly descended the staircase. She heard Martha and Martin’s voices as they discussed something.

She would just head over to Martha and ask her for the glass of water, she decided. However, halfway down the stairs, Lauren began to feel a little apprehensive, not really knowing why.

It must have been the shorts, she wasn't used to being seen in such a state of undress.

As she was trying to decide whether she should just drag her exhausted butt to bed or grow a pair and get down there, their voices become more clear to her and Lauren found herself unintentionally listening.

“…else I’ll do it myself!” came a sharp hiss from Martha and Lauren winced. That didn’t sound like the Martha she'd just met.

“Dear…you…Burns. Nobody would ever…such nonsense. Trust me.” Martin was practically whispering and Lauren wondered what it was about.

At this point, Lauren was nearly over the banister. She could only hear bits and pieces, it wasn’t making much sense. What was that about Burns?? And what did Martha want to do herself?

“You’re a fool, Martin,” Martha suddenly said so coldly, Lauren felt herself shiver. What on Earth were they arguing about? Was it because of Lauren? They did say Burns…

“We can ...this to put Aaron Spencer away for good…if you…without…”

Lauren felt her heart beat hard and fast in her chest, the things she was definitely not supposed to hear now ringing in her ears.

Aaron Spencer?

Not stopping to think she turned around and silently hurried back up the stairs on shaky knees.

She reached the landing and turned into the corridor only to smack herself into a warm wall.

“Oomph!” She got thrown back, but a pair of hands grabbed her waist in the nick of time, slamming her back against a warm body.

Lauren’s heart was on overdrive, her mind still stuck on what she had heard.

“Why in such a hurry?” said a deep voice and Lauren looked up to find Marcus looking down at her with plain hunger.

She realized that, with his arms around her and her breasts pressed against his chest, she was in a very compromising position.

She stared back at him, her breath caught up somewhere in her lungs.

Oh, God. What if he'd seen her eavesdropping?

Marcus tilted his head, pressed her closer and smiled.