Rude Awakenings: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 2)

Chapter Fifty-Seven: Lauren, Saturday (Last)

She woke up wondering if she was in some kind of time loop. Every morning seemed the same; she woke up way before she wanted to. "Five more minutes," she grumbled, refusing to open her eyes. "Need more sleep."

She felt big arms wrapping around her, felt the warmth of an enormous body pressing against her, and she took in a deep breath, smelling the scent of the man she'd known forever, a mix of body odour and fresh cut wood. She purred and sought between his legs, and found what she was looking for, and it responded to her touch the way she knew it would. "Morning, lover," she said.

"Mmmm, babe," Joe said low and urgent, "don't get me started. We gotta get up. The kids will be banging on the door soon."

"Your fault," she said, pouting, "you were too tired again last night. I have an itch I need to scratch, babe."

"I know. I'm sorry." He sighed. "Our timing hasn't been great, lately. Maybe tonight, yeah?"

She sighed in frustration. "The party's tonight. Who knows how late we'll be?"

"Shit. I forgot about the party."

"How could you have forgotten? I've been on the phone with Rachel planning it for weeks. We've talked about it over and over again."

"Do we really have to go?"

"Yes, Joe. It's my coworkers' Jack and Jill party. I have to make an appearance. I can't leave Rachel and Al twisting in the wind. Sunny and Tej will be there too."

"Oh, yeah. Remind me which ones are getting married?"

"Meghan and Tom. Ralph and Gary chipped in for the food and drink, so I definitely have to show up."

"Is Meghan the one with the tattoos and the tongue piercing?"

"You noticed. Is that your thing?"

He chuckled. "No. She has too many tattoos, but one wouldn't be bad, placed discreetly in a place only I could see."

"Oh, yeah? You want me to get a tattoo?"

He shrugged. "Actually, I'm surprised you never got one. You were always up for anything when we were kids, I thought it would be right up your alley." He trailed a finger up her bare back. "I always thought something like a cherry branch with pink blossoms running up your spine would be sexy."

She gasped and shivered with lust. "Jesus, Joe, for someone who doesn't want to start anything, you're certainly acting like you want to start something."

"Sorry, I'll stop," he said, taking his hand away.

"But now you have me thinking," she said as she slipped out of bed and dressed in sweats. "Maybe I will get a tattoo sometime, something only you can see. Maybe not as big as you suggested, that would take a long time and hurt like a son of a bitch, but I like the cherry blossom idea." It was something she fantasized about showing Rachel, too, feeling her lips on it, her skin prickling as if being pierced by the tattoo needle...

"Is she in IT with Tom?" Joe asked, going back on topic.

She nodded. "Love blossomed, so to speak, in the computer lab. Maybe they found themselves freezing in the server room and held each other close, and one thing led to another."

He chuckled. "You've made up stories about their romance?"

"No, I'm just shitting you."

Joe dressed, and they left their room, which wasn't locked, so it was a good thing they hadn't started anything. Joe had been too tired last night, or so he'd said, so she hadn't bothered locking the door. Since that first time in the summer, he'd turned her down more often than she liked, even on evenings when they'd both been home at a decent hour and should have had the energy for it. They were in their forties, not dead. She was still an attractive woman, she thought, and Joe was still an attractive man; he hadn't gone to seed like his brother. Maybe her libido did outpace his a little, as he'd claimed (and luckily she had Rachel to see to her needs when she could,) but she didn't think that was the entire explanation for this change in their love life. It was getting a little annoying, because she'd also had to cancel more than one show for Rachel and Al; they'd now provided more than she had, and she didn't like being in the catch-up position. Not that they were keeping score; they were very giving people and enjoyed putting on a show for her. She suspected Al especially got a kick out of watching her masturbate to them doing it, because she often noticed him looking up at the screen when he should have been looking in his wife's eyes. They had to be dark when she put on her show because Joe didn't know he was starring in his own porn video, but she didn't bother going dark for their shows, so in a way she was giving them a show, and in that way the score sheet was balanced a little.