Orchard Flower (Version Bravo)

by Lubrican

Chapter : Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15

Chapter Twelve

The rest of the afternoon was spent much as in any family gathering where a stranger is present. There was a mixture of politely asking the stranger questions about himself, his family and so on, and pretending to accept him into the family while waiting on him at the same time. Nobody else in the family was getting waited on, which is what made it seem a little off kilter somehow.

And Zack didn't expect to be waited on, which meant he offered to do things. When it came time to get supper ready he offered to help again.

"Is this part of your nefarious plan?" asked Lynne, and then she blushed. "I'm sorry," she said.

"Don't apologize," said Zack, grinning. "It would have been, except there is no nefarious plan any more."

"Well then," said Lynne, trying to get past her embarrassment. "I suppose you can help."

Jill and I stayed in the living room sitting together and cuddling, while we surfed through TV channels. We finally settled on the Discovery channel, though I don't remember what was on.

In the kitchen potatoes were being boiled and cut up so they could be mixed with hamburger and a couple of cans of cream of mushroom soup, to make what Lynne called hash. Zack found another knife and stood next to her. As they diced potatoes he pressed a hip against hers.

"I'd have done something like this," he said softly. "I'd have tried to find ways to touch you as frequently and innocently as possible, getting you used to the idea." He brushed her shoulder with his, obviously intentionally.

"Oh really." Lynne smiled.

"And I'd have complimented you a lot," he said.

"Such as?" She glanced at him.

"Such as how much at home I feel, and how good it smells." He moved behind her and leaned forward to brush the back of her hair with his nose. "Your hair smells really wonderful. What do you use on it?"

"Just shampoo," she said automatically, and then looked around. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," he said. "Just giving you examples."

"Oh," she said. "Right."

"You're in amazingly good shape," he said, letting his eyes run down and then back up her body. "You obviously work hard and eat well."

"Is that another example?" she asked.

"No, that's just the truth," he said, smiling. His eyes lingered on her breasts, long enough that he made it obvious. "You're so beautiful," he said softly. "I can't believe there aren't men lined up outside, waiting to get a chance at you."

Her eyes widened. "Sometimes I can't tell if you're giving me another example, or actually trying to seduce me."

He had an infectious grin and he used it a lot. He also shrugged as he replied "I know exactly how you feel."

They were interrupted by Jill, who came into the kitchen to get something to drink, and who found them standing face to face, MUCH too close for what would be called "proper" under the kind of circumstances that her mother had insisted were in force.

She was smart enough to ignore them completely, get her drink, and leave.

"Oh man," sighed Zack, leaning back and patting his stomach. "I could get used to that."

"You're laying it on just a tad thick, don't you think?" asked Lynne, her voice droll.

"If I had a nefarious play, maybe," he said. "It's just the truth, though."

"It's also just hash," said Lynne.

"And spinach and hot rolls," said Zack, sounding wounded. "And we don't get anything that tastes that good at school."

"So you like comfort food," said Lynne.

I looked at Jill, who was curiously interested in her own plate.

"I like comfort in food and in every other way," said Zack.

"There's no comfort in hard work," said Lynne. She sounded like she was trying to start a fight.

"Not true," said Zack, smiling. "There's the comfort after you finish hard work, when you can relax with a hot drink and a warm woman on a cold winter's night."

Jill, having just taken a sip of tea, snorted it all over her plate.

"I'm sorry!" she gasped, wiping her nose and trying to dab at spots of tea with her napkin.

"Don't be," said her mother dryly. "That's what that little offering deserved."

"What?" asked Zack, sounding definitely injured now. "It's true."

"It's hopelessly trite," pointed out Lynne.

"Maybe that's just because you're older," said Zack glibly. "I'm sure a sophisticated woman such as yourself has heard that a hundred times. But it's still true. I can't help it if it sounds a bit trite."

"Uh - huh." Lynne dragged it out, making the sarcasm in her voice obvious. The sarcasm was ruined, however, by the smile she was having a hard time suppressing.

"Too bad we don't have some hot cocoa and a warm woman," sighed Zack.

"Zack!" hissed Jill.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"You suck at this!" she blurted.

"Suck at what?"

Jill looked around, suddenly looking guilty.

"Seduction," said Lynne, her voice flat.

"I'm not trying to seduce anybody," said Zack, smiling widely. "I thought we got that all straightened out."

"That's good," said Lynne, "because you're succeeding brilliantly."

"I am?" Zack sat up, looking interested.

"Yes, there is absolutely, positively no seduction going on here at all," said Lynne. Her smile was just as bright as his, and lasted while his crumbled.

"What an idiot," said Jill under her breath.

"No he's not," said Lynne firmly. "He's quite intelligent ... for a young man." She reached out and patted his hand, her smile tight. "So! What are we going to do tonight?" she asked, changing the subject.

Jill looked uncomfortable.

"I was sort of planning on spending some time with Bob," she said.

"He's welcome to stay as long as he likes," said Lynne promptly.

"At his house," added Jill.

"That would be rude," said Lynne. She looked at Zack. "You can't just abandon our guest."

Zack grinned. "I don't mind if she spends time with Bob." His grin widened. "At his house," he added.

Lynne's gaze pinned him. "You are quite persistent, aren't you."

He somehow managed to look completely innocent. "I just tell things the way I see them," he said. "All I heard about all semester was how much she missed him."

I sat there silently. It didn't seem like a good time to put in my two cents worth, particularly since they would appear to be self serving.

Lynne's eyes never left him.

"And what am I supposed to do with you while she's off ... spending time ... with Bob?"

"You are a fascinating and interesting woman," said Zack calmly. "I like to think I'm not completely boring. We can come up with something to keep us entertained. I'm sure of it."

Lynne's brow furrowed.

"I'll just bet you are," she said softly.

"I thought she wasn't going to let us go," giggled Jill as we stomped into my back door.

It had started to snow during supper and was coming down fast and thick by the time Jill and I actually tried to leave. Even I was a little surprised when Lynne's only response was "Don't stay too long or you might get snowed in." Of course Zack said "Take your time," but everybody ignored him.

"Let me get some wood on the fire," I said, taking my sheepskin jacket off.

"Hurry!" said Jill, doing the same thing. "Have you got some blankets? We could lie by the stove."

She was practically giddy as I brought things to the stove. Her shirt was already unbuttoned, and the creamy skin between her breasts was on display. I leered and she told me how much she loved it when I did that. Teasingly she pulled the shirt apart, showing me stiff nipples.

"You want dessert?" she asked coyly.

"Oh, baby," I moaned. "I want dessert in the worst way!"

"Mmmmm, you make my ... pussy wet ... when you say things like that," she sighed. She had stressed the word "pussy", saying it as seductively as a young, inexperienced woman can. She had me rock hard by the time she finished the sentence. Then she shook her breasts at me. "I wanna be naked with you!"

"Ohhh," I groaned. "If you keep that up I may not last very long."

She let the shirt drop backwards off her arms and undid her pants. She pushed them down slowly, arching her hips at me as she did so, putting her appearing mound on display for me.

"I don't care," she said breathily. "I'll suck it hard again. I just want you in me."

"What if your mother brings Zack over here?" I teased.

She stepped out of her jeans and lay down on the blankets I'd brought out to spread by the wood stove. I'd given it a bit more air and it was heating up nicely. She plumped a pillow under her head and spread her legs, drawing them up. She slid the tip of one finger between shiny pussy lips and rubbed her clit gently.

"Then they're going to see me getting royally fucked," she said, her eyes glittering. "If you'll ever get naked," she added.

What we didn't know then, of course, was that it wouldn't be likely for Lynne to take Zack anywhere. It wasn't by plan ... sort of. In another really humorous way, it was by plan.

Zack was really only teasing Lynne, at that point. He felt foolish for having entered into a conspiracy with Jill, and really did feel like Lynne was out of his league. He was still interested, of course. He was just trying to make light of it, so that the atmosphere would be relaxed. In other words, he had no plan, except to be himself and make a joke of the whole debacle.

There were two problems. The first (and there might be some argument as to whether to call it a problem or not) was that Lynne WAS more experienced than a callow college girl. She recognized what he was doing, and she saw the honest interest in his eyes that he had no idea he was projecting. She reacted to it with a mixture of mild irritation and attraction. The irritation was on two fronts - that he used a little too much innuendo ... and that she found herself liking that.

Basically, the plan that Zack no longer had ... had a chance of actually working.

The second problem was that, while Zack was trying to make light of the situation, that's not all he did. Sometimes he was just himself, without the innuendo, and he was a likeable young man. Underneath all that libido he was displaying, he was just a nice guy. But Lynne didn't know him well enough to tell the difference between what was libido, and what wasn't.

Lynne, being a strong woman, reacted to his teasing by teasing back a bit.

"I do have hot chocolate, by the way," she said, as the back door closed after Bob and Jill.

"I'd love some," Zack said promptly. "but only if you have some with me."

"I'm not your warm woman, Zack," said Lynne.

"That's not what I meant," he said honestly. "I'd just feel bad if you went to all the work to make it for only me."

"Oh," said Lynne, feeling badly. "It's no trouble, honestly."

"I'd be happy to help," he offered.

She looked sideways at him.

"So you can rub up against me some more?"

His face was dead straight as he responded.

"Of course," he said.

Then he hung out in the kitchen with her, while she heated a pan of milk and got the cocoa out. He searched the cupboards for cups, selected two, and put them on the counter by the stove.

He never came near her the whole time the cocoa was being made.

She watched him out of the corner of her eye, unaware that she was mildly disappointed that he was ignoring her. She was also unaware of the increase in heart rate and breathing that the experience was causing in her.

Seated at the table, across from each other, both were silent. Lynne holding her cup to her lips, blew gently on the surface of the dark brown liquid. Zack stirred his cup with a spoon.

"So ..." Zack said. "What do you do around these parts for fun?"

"I don't know," said Lynne almost automatically. Her eyes darted away from his before coming back. "I haven't had any fun in quite a while."

She wasn't about to admit that she'd had a fling with Dennis Wallingham five months ago. It was none of his business for one thing. And it had been five whole months ago. She could barely remember what it had been like. Dennis had acted like a kid, and had lasted about as long as one too. Then again, she admitted to herself, she didn't actually know what kids were like any more. It had been way too long since she'd been one herself. And all she had about Paul were wonderful, aching memories.

She examined the "kid" sitting across from her. She couldn't help but be curious about a young man who was so obviously interested in her. She thought that interest was bizarre, and probably entirely driven by hormones, but it was still nice to know a man other than Dennis could BE that interested in her.

"That's too bad," he said. He picked up the cup and sipped. "A woman like you should be having lots of fun."

"Would you stop that!" she hissed.

"Why?" he asked, his face serious. "It's true."

"It's not true," she said. "I'm twice your age."

"You're forty-four?" It was clear he didn't believe that. "Now Bob might be forty-four, but not you. Besides, age has nothing to do with it. Look at Jill and Bob."

"I don't approve of Jill and Bob either," said Lynne tightly.

"Well you'd better get used to it. I've known a lot of girls who said they were in love with some guy, but none of them were like Jill. I'm telling you no guy at college ever had an even chance with her."

"That's the problem," insisted Lynne. "How is she supposed to know it's really love? She should have dated around?"

"Oh she went out with guys," said Zack.

Lynne blinked. "She did?"

"Yeah. She once told me she was doing some comparative shopping, but that there were severe quality issues with the guys she was meeting. That was after I took her out a couple of times. Made me feel like a real loser."

"That's awful!" said Lynne.

"It was OK. Right after that she said that I was the only guy she'd met who was worth a second glance, and that if she didn't love Bob so much she'd find me mildly interesting."

"That's even worse!" squealed Lynne.

"Not really. I've never been around a girl as honest as she is. I think it's why she's the best female friend I have. She doesn't mess around. You always know where you stand with Jill."

"Well that doesn't mean she can be mean to people," said Lynne.

"What's worse on the mean scale?" asked Zack. "A woman who leads a man on and then dumps him, or a woman who tells a man up front that she gave him a chance and she's just not interested?"

"I don't think a woman should do either!" said Lynne.

"It's what you did with me," he pointed out. "You made it quite clear I don't make the cut."

"That's not what I meant!" she moaned. "I simply said that you coming here with ulterior motives was not acceptable, and that I'm too old for you."

"You're not too old for me," he said. "I think you're perfect. What's really going on is that you believe I'm too young for you." He blinked. "Plus it's entirely possible that I'm uninteresting, or annoying or whatever, but the age thing is all your idea, not mine."

"You're not uninteresting," objected Lynne.

"I feel so much better," said Zack, grinning.

"Look, Zack," she said softly. "You're a sweet boy, and I'm flattered more than you know that you find me attractive, but it just wouldn't work."

"Help me understand why that is," he suggested.

"We have different interests!" she yelped.

"I'm very interested in your apple orchard," he said. "I haven't seen the rest of the place, but Jill says there's tillable land, and that cattle could be run on parts. I find all that interesting."

"Yes, but that's just business," said Lynne.

"Well I don't know about you, and I don't have a lot of experience to base this on, but I'm interested in finding somebody to love. When I look at you and imagine you looking at me like a woman looks at a man, I'm very interested. The whole point to having a business is that it allows you to have a life with a partner who makes you want to get business taken care of and get home to her."

"You're young, and full of hormones," muttered Lynne.

"Well you haven't exactly entered menopause," said Zack artlessly. "Don't you miss sex?"

"You can't ask a woman something like that!" gasped Lynne.

"Why not? It's a legitimate question," he argued.

"It's just not proper!" she snapped.

"So it's not proper to say that now that I've met you I find you even more exciting than I imagined? It's not proper for me to tell you that you turn me on something fierce? It's not proper for me to want to be a man, and to want you to be a woman?"

Lynne set her cup down and fanned her flushing face with her hand.

"I am not used to this kind of honesty!" she moaned.

"And that is what's the real shame," he said softly. "You should hear things like that all the time, because you're a vibrant, beautiful, sexy woman, who should be tired out from having great sex more often than you're tired out from working this ranch."

"I thought you gave up your nefarious plan," whined Lynne, trying to do anything she could to retreat from the luscious things he was saying. Those things were making her crazy, and she felt like doing crazy things.

"I did," he said, leaning back. "I'm just being honest now."

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