The Home & Family Pt. 01

Luke realized that he had to make a decision. This woman had spent a tremendous amount of money on him and had planned a romantic get away and all she was asking for was sex. Surely he could provide her with that.

With clear determination, Luke made his decision. He would do what it took to make this fantasy of her's come true. After all, she wasn't asking for any kind of emotional commitment. Luke had long ago stopped sharing his heart with others - and this woman was clear enough to admit that all she wanted was his body. Sure, he could do that. He said, "If you are you positive that this is what you want, then I'm your man. But, you don't even know me and you are inviting me into your bed for the week-end. Is that really what you want?"

Dakota smiled back at him, her face reflecting her relief that he was going to agree. "Yes, I'm sure. Anyway, the bed and breakfast is owned by a couple of my friends - if you turn out to be dangerous or threatening or even just boring, they have promised to save me from you!" she added with a wicked gleam of amusement in her eyes.

Luke laughed out loud. "Well, let's get going."

Dakota turned toward her car and then turned back toward Luke, "Do you mind if we take your vehicle? Mine is acting up and I want to have it checked out. A friend is coming by to look it over this week-end while we are gone."

"No problem. That way I don't have to unload my stuff!" Luke replied.

"I'll go get my things, then," Dakota said, turning toward her car.

Luke answered her, "I'll go make sure we have filled out all the paperwork and that we're free to leave."

As Luke started across the parking lot, a young man, looking to be about 18, stepped out in front of him. "So what did the fat chick want for her money?" he asked loudly. Luke looked at him and recognized his face - he was the spitting image of Wiley Stone.

Without the benefit of a formal introduction, though, Luke felt required to voice the unnecessary question, "Boy, who are you?"

The young man got a smug look on his face, "I'm Wiley Stone, Jr. and I asked you what the fat chick wanted for all that money?"

Luke turned around to look behind him to where he had left Dakota. He could tell from the way that her shoulders had squared up that, although her back was to them, she still had heard what the boy had asked. Luke turned back to the boy and gave him a scathing look as he raked his eyes over the boy's body. "I reckon she wanted a REAL man and that's why she didn't come looking for you!"

With that, Luke pushed past the boy and made to go on. However, the boy didn't drop the matter and yelled after Luke, "Yeah, well, you better hope she don't want no sex - one look at that lard-ass body and you might just freeze up!"

In less time than it took for the boy to take his next breath, Luke had him by the shirt collar and lifted him several inches off the ground. "Boy, where I come from, the women are treated like ladies and scum like you are taught lessons in manners. Now, if you don't want a taste of the same dirt that your daddy used to eat, you better make damn sure I don't ever see your face again. And don't you EVER insult my lady again - got that?" Luke dropped the boy uncerimoniously to the ground.

Wiley Jr.'s feet didn't catch his weight and he fell rather ungracefully at Luke's feet. Luke looked down at him with one eyebrow raised and stared him down until the boy jumped up and, cursing loudly, took off in the other direction. Luke shook his head and went on to check the paperwork. It struck him odd that he had just referred to Dakota as his lady, but he decided not to think too hard about it.

Chapter Four

When Luke got back to his truck, Dakota was already buckled into her seat. She had a smile pasted on her face, but he could see that her eyes were red rimmed from tears. From her body language, it was obvious that she didn't want him to comment on what had just happened, so he figured he would let it all go, at least for the moment. "Got the papers signed, so we're ready to go! You going to give me directions?"

Dakota's voice was just a little too bright as she told him to head out of the valley, toward the reservation. Luke knew he wanted to talk to her about Wiley Jr.'s comments, but he wasn't sure just what he wanted to say. He was lost in his thoughts when he noticed the silence in the truck. He figured he better do something quick or his little samaritan was going to lose her nerve and have him let her out of the truck. "So tell me a little more about this fantasy. What possessed you to buy a man for sex?"

Dakota laughed. Luke liked her laugh. Her voice was sweet like mountain honey and her face lit up when she smiled. He decided that he would have to keep her happy this week-end just so he could see that smile often. Luke realized that she had begun talking while he was thinking about her smile, and he focused on her words so he wouldn't miss anything.

"Well, my life in a nutshell is that I'm a 36 year old widow with no plans or intentions of remarrying. I figured that, since I don't date and don't plan to start, that this might be my last opportunity to have sex in my lifetime. I thought I would make it worthwhile and go all out. I would find the sexiest man I had ever seen, assure that he couldn't say no to me and have my way with him for a whole week-end!"

Luke was amused and somewhat startled by her frankness. But something bothered him about her speech. "Why don't you date?" he asked.

A shadow darkened Dakota's eyes and her jaw tightened. When her voice came out this time, it was not the honey smooth texture that Luke had come to expect, but it was brittle and angry. "Luke, you just witnessed for yourself, not 15 minutes ago, what I would have to put up with if I tried to start dating. I'm not willing to go through that just to find a man. Even without the threat of trying to date, I still have to hear that trash from jerks like Wiley Stone. His son just takes after his father. The man has made comments about my size since the day he met me. It's like he doesn't even realize that there is a real person in here - all I am is a fat body to that jerk!"

Luke shook his head in disgust. He had hoped all those lessons that he had taught Wiley as a boy had stuck, but obviously, they hadn't. Wiley was still picking on people. "Dakota, I've known Wiley since I was a kid, don't think that you are the first he had taunted. But you can't let people like that get to you - there are plenty of guys out there who aren't like Wiley."

"Well I haven't met any other kind - at least not available ones, who I would consider dating material. I've never had men flirt with me - I've never been asked out on a date, except by my husband, and even then he didn't ask, we just went. I'm just not the kind of woman that men ask out. Men see me as someone to help them when they need counselling or guidance, but not as someone who might be a potential mate - and certainly not as someone who might be a potential play mate."

Luke swallowed hard, realizing that he himself had first thought of Dakota only as a do-gooder, not as a woman. "Well, Dakota, maybe you just don't realize when men flirt with you. We men aren't the smartest creatures around and sometimes we don't do a real good job of expressing ourselves. You have to give us time and lead us in the right direction, and even then, you have to use your imagination and give us lots of breaks!" Luke said, trying to lighten the conversation. From the snort of disgust that Dakota sent in his direction, he didn't think he had succeeded.

The next few miles were spent in silence. Finally, nearing the lodge, Dakota began giving Luke specific directions, until they came to the parking lot of the bed and breakfast.

Before Dakota could open her door, Luke reached out and captured her hand. "Look, I don't want to spend this week-end defending the male sex. In fact, I don't want to think about anything this week-end but you. Can we make a truce that you won't hold me accountable for the failings of the masses of men in the world? I'm not saying I'm not one of the scumbags, but for this week-end, can we just pretend that I'm not?"

Dakota looked at his handsome face and his sincere smile and her own features softened. "OK," she sighed.

"Good! Now give me a little more information about this fantasy week-end. What is it that you want out of it - other than sex?"

Dakota smiled at him and blushed slightly, "I want you to be everything I'll never have. I want you to flirt with me, admire me, adore me and make me feel beautiful. Actually, what I want is to feel special. I don't care if we have sex or not - well, that's not completely true. I wouldn't mind having sex, but that's not really the primary focus of this week-end. I want you to spend every waking moment basking in me. I want to be the center of your universe. Do you think you can do that? Are you that good of an actor?"

Luke gave her a wiry grin, "Lady, you ain't seen nothing yet!" In his heart, he wondered just how much acting it was going to take on his part.

But his response got a genuine laugh out of Dakota. Luke continued, "Alright, now, after we step out of this truck, I'm going to be your week-end lover. No more thoughts of all the scoundrels who aren't here with us - just think about you and me. Everything that happens here this week-end is meant to fulfill your fantasies. If anything is happening that you don't like, tell me and I'll change it. You are mine for this week-end. Ready?"