Picking up the Pieces Ch. 03

He had to admit that he liked her ideas. The old barn was a fire-trap, and the roof leaked. A new barn would improve the property. It could be wired for electricity. He was already designing a lift in his mind, or a dumb waiter to transport the goods to and from the loft.

Work was just like any other Monday, hectic with calls being backed up longer than usual. Brian kept his cool, answering the same questions to the same callers, repeatedly. It was twenty minutes after ten when he realized he'd missed his morning break.

He became aware that his manager was standing behind him, waiting for him to finish the call he was taking. Brian motioned to the call screener that he was going to be off-line for a minute while he spoke to the manager. She shrugged, acknowledging his silent message. He removed his headphones, and stood to see what his manager wanted.

"Brian, we have a new employee," Robert said. "Erica, this is Brian. He's going to show you the ropes."

~ Peggy met him at the door, welcoming him with a long wet kiss, and saying dinner was in the oven. "We have some time if you're in the mood?"

After the day he'd had at work, Brian could think of nothing better than rolling in the sack with Peggy. "You're damn right; I'm in the mood."

He hardly noticed the table set up in the living room as they made their way along the narrow corridor on their way to the bedroom.

Peggy turned and lifted her arms. Brian pulled her T-shirt over her head, noticing the way her nipples stood at attention.

She loosened his tie, and was unbuttoning his shirt when his hands found the top button of her jeans. He noticed that she was in her stocking feet as he kicked off his own shoes. She stepped out of her jeans, revealing that she wasn't wearing panties, and then unbuckled his belt, letting his pants drop to his ankles. He removed his shirt. She lowered his shorts, and from a squatting position, she looked up at him.

From what he saw in her eyes, a mixture of desire and expectation, Brian thought she was going to take his cock into her mouth.

Instead, she rose to her feet, bored her nipples into his chest, and offered her lips to be kissed. He rubbed her back, all the way down to her ass, and back up.

"I've been looking forward to this moment all day. You feel so good. I'm wet, and I see that you're ready," she said, as he backed her toward the bed.

It was better than their first time together. They were more relaxed, and confident that they were satisfying each other. They didn't talk. They communicated by little grunts, gasps, and in the case of Peggy, sharp fingernails stabbing Brian's back.

He lost track of her orgasms, and as he released his cum inside her there was no thought of the consequences of having unprotected sex.

He rolled off, and they lay on their backs, staring at the ceiling.

"I knew we were going to have fantastic sex when you put your hand on my ass," she said, still catching her breath.

"When we were dancing at the party?"

"No, when you were helping me climb out of the boxcar, like I told you."

"I don't remember putting my hand on your ass," he said, sliding his hand under her butt, and squeezing her ass.

"Didn't you feel a connection to me when we were in that dark enclosure? That's when I knew we were going to have sex, and that it would be fantastic."

"I felt a connection to you when we shared the seat in your dad's truck, but I don't remember putting my hand on your ass. Maybe it was wishful thinking on your part."

Peggy lifted her body off the mattress, and lowered her breasts until they were mashed against his nipples. "Who's the tease now?" she asked.

"I'm just saying that you transformed from being sour on all men to imagining that my hand was on your ass awfully fast. I think you wanted my hand on your ass so much that you believed it really happened."

Peggy was thoughtful for a minute, kissed him, and then said, "Perhaps you're right. I know something has happened to me since I met you. I mean, we just had unprotected sex. I'm twenty-three and old enough to know better, but somehow it seemed like the way it should be."

"I've been meaning to bring that up. I thought about it later, and decided I was prepared to accept the consequences."

"What do you mean?"

"I told someone that we were engaged today."

"You didn't!" Peggy yelled, rising to her knees. "Is that what you mean by accepting the consequences? Do you think I'm trying to trick you into marriage?"

"I worded it wrong. I didn't mean it would be consequential to marry you. Actually, it would be nice to come home to you every night."

"Forget it, Brian. I've been married, and believe me; I'm not prepared to answer the telephone to hear some police officer tell me my husband got hit by a train."

"Is that the reason you won't consider marriage?"

"Not really, there's something else. We're in business together. It would never work."

The bell on the oven interrupted their conversation. Peggy went to the bathroom, came back and put her jeans and T-shirt on. Brian hung his work clothes in the closet, selecting a pair of short pants and a T-shirt to wear. Since Peggy wasn't wearing panties or a bra, he went commando also.

"What's this? Where did you get the table?" he asked as they walked through the living room on the way to the kitchen.

"My dad brought the table over this morning. Those are samples of everything in our inventory. I have three dealers coming here later tonight. I told them there will be a two hundred dollar minimum for each product grouping, and they all agreed."

"What's a product grouping?"

"Each dealer will pick a product group he or she wants to specialize in, such as toothpaste and soap, or children's books and vocabulary builders. I made lists of ten different groupings to be sold to the dealers for two hundred dollars per lot. Why don't you look them over while I put dinner on the table?"

Brian took a seat at the kitchen table and watched her bend over to open the oven door. "Did anyone ever tell you that you have a nice ass?'

Peggy turned, frowning, trying to hide a blush. "Look at the lists. I want you to pull a few kits of each list while I'm doing the dishes. They'll be here beginning at seven-thirty."

"Who's going to want to specialize in toothpaste and soap?" he asked.

Peggy was not amused. "Someone will jump at the chance to make one hundred percent profit."

"What was our cost?"

"More than the teddy bears, but we'll realize a profit of one hundred and fifty on most of the groupings."

Brian whistled. "We've got to become legit as soon as possible."

"I agree. If Mr. Bennett finances the barn, we'll incorporate and start a bank account. Is that okay with you?"

"Peggy, I wouldn't challenge any of your business decisions, even if I disagreed sharply, not after the sex we just shared."

She turned, aghast. "You don't think I let you fuck me so you will agree with me, do you? Please tell me you don't believe that."

"I think you had sex with me because you wanted to. You said you were hot for me the minute I got home. I believe you."

She was holding a steaming casserole dish, seemingly mesmerized by the way their eyes were locked. "Thank you, Brian. I believe you, too."

She sat down, and ladled a huge portion of the casserole onto his plate. "Did you phone Mr. Bennett today?"

"Yes, he'll meet us at the café on Wednesday night."

"Who did you tell that we are engaged?"

"Robert brought a new employee to me for training. You remember Robert from the party. He's my manager. Anyway, sometime this afternoon I got the impression that the new employee was making a play for me."

"Oh my, I hope this new employee is a female."

Brian laughed. "Erika is very much female. I may have used our engagement as a defense mechanism, but really, I meant it when..."

"The bread! I forgot my mom's bread!" Peggy shouted when she smelled something burning. She jumped to her feet and pulled the burning bread from the oven.

She was obviously upset when she returned to her seat. Brian tried to console her. "This is very good, even with out the bread."

"Mom sent it, knowing how much you liked her bread."

"We won't tell her it burned," he said, grinning at her. It worked; Peggy grinned back.

"Is Erika cute?"

"I guess you could say that she's cute."

"I'm glad you told her that we're engaged, even if we're not."

"You're not angry? News spreads like wildfire in that office. By tomorrow, every girl will want to know if I'm engaged to the gorgeous girl I brought to the party. Is it okay if I say it is you?"

"You better, but don't get any ideas that I would accept."

"I've got to know your reasoning. Why wouldn't you accept if I asked you to marry me?"

She looked perturbed. "We've been over this. For one thing, we've only known each other a few months. What do we have in common? I don't know what you like to do. For instance, what was your major? Then there's the threat that marriage would destroy our business arrangement."

Brian held his plate for second helping of casserole. "We have lots of things in common. I like your cooking, and we have some common interests."

Peggy smiled. "What do we have in common besides great sex and our business interests?"

Brian took a bite of his new helping of casserole, and chewed thoughtfully. "There's the love angle."

Peggy dropped her eyes, and whispered, "That's true."

"You're right. We haven't known each other very long. I won't bring up the subject of engagement again until you're ready to discuss it. For your information, I studied software engineering in school, but I have no practical experience because they stuck me in customer support. I have other interests, too. I bought this acreage because I would like to raise vegetables. Last night, I thought about your idea to replace the old barn with a replica. We'll wire it with electricity and put in some decent lighting, and I envision some sort of pulley system to elevate our stock to the loft. Does that prove that we have common interests?"

Peggy was smiling at him. "You enumerated all of those interests without mentioning sex. Don't forget that."

Brian grinned at her and Peggy grinned back, until she became serious. "You mentioned a pulley system in the barn. It's got to be foolproof. I know you and my dad will take the proper precautions, but we'll hire workers someday, and they may not be as careful as you and dad."

"You sound like you have our future planned."

"I envision a flea market out front next to the road, so don't think you're going to use the whole front yard to grow vegetables. My dad has a tractor and he'll plow some of our front yard for you to use."

Brian was furious. She was making plans for 'his' property like she had joint ownership. He knew he had to get out of the kitchen before he said something that he would regret later. He took the product lists, the key to the barn, a flashlight and headed for the door, turning, "Why does your flea market have to be in 'my' front yard?"

"Brian, the road crests at 'your' driveway. It is a much saver spot for traffic to turn in than down the hill."

Brian blinked, realizing the logic in her statement. "Oh," he said, before heading for the barn.

He made quick work of selecting the items for the dealers, and carried them to the house.

"I shouldn't have jumped to the conclusion that you are taking over 'my' front yard," he said, watching her expression to see if she was accepting his apology.

"I shouldn't have sprung my idea for a flea market on you like that. I have too much time on my hands, and make plans for our future without consulting you."

They only had time for a quick hug before they heard a knock on the door. Brian had met the dealers before. He watched Peggy explain the items in each grouping, quote the anticipated selling price for each product, and stress the mark-up the dealers could realize. The first two dealers took two kits each, which entitled them to buy other items that were in short supply.

"How much do you think we made on those two deals?" Brian asked while they were waiting for the third dealer to arrive.

"We took in nine hundred and sixty dollars. I believe our profit is seven hundred and twenty. You can check the spread sheets for an accurate figure."

Brian took a dislike toward the third dealer. He brought his brother with him, and called Peggy 'babe' or 'doll'. When one of the guys took exception to a price, Brian stepped forward. "Our prices are fair and fixed. We charge everyone the same and they are satisfied with a one hundred percent profit. If you prefer, my fiancée will take your name off the call list. It's up to you."

"No, man, we'll pay your prices. I didn't know about your engagement. You're one lucky son of a bitch," the dealer said, glancing at Peggy. His brother nodded his agreement.

"For future reference, my fiancée does not go by 'babe' or 'doll' and my mother is not a bitch."

"Sorry, man, I didn't mean anything by it. Your prices are fair. Please don't take me off the call list," the dealer said, spreading bills on the table so Peggy could see that it was the correct amount.

"I don't want them coming around when I'm not here," Brian said when the brothers were heading down the driveway.

"Haven't you noticed that I schedule the younger male dealers to come when you are here? I let the older couples come any time. They're all harmless, just trying to make a few extra bucks on weekends," Peggy explained. She was facing him, looking up into his eyes.

Brian put his arms around her, and whispered in her ear. "Are you using me?"

"Yes, I use you to protect me from unsavory characters, and I use you to make me feel good. Brian, I liked hearing you tell those guys that I'm your fiancée. I believe you are using me, too."

"How do I use you?"

"You told that girl at work that we're engaged. You used me to shield you. You also use me to make you feel good."

"Would you like for us to make each other feel good?"

"I thought you would never ask."

They locked the door, and went into the bedroom.