Chapter 21

Shirley made Sunday dinner for them this time and the house smelled amazing. Ed had woken up at noon and when he went upstairs he discovered Grace had gone out. He was actually a little grateful for that as he was embarrassed by his behavior the night before. He shouldn't have kissed Grace and Heather like he had. They had the excuse of being drugged but he'd been cold sober so he should have resisted.

As penance he went outside and mowed the lawn. It was a fairly hot day for spring so he tugged off his shirt after he finished his yard. He still had to do the neighbor's lawn. Mrs. Wilkins was a retired school teacher in her seventies and appreciated him taking care of her yard work. She always brought him out a lemonade as he pushed the mower back and forth and they'd talk for a while. She was nice and she didn't seem to mind that he was sweaty.

She watched him with a smile on her lips as he finished up and gave him a wave as he headed back to his place.

He cleaned up his back yard a little then brought the lounge chairs out from their place in the rafters of the garage. He dusted them off then inspected the fabric. They were still good so they'd get another summer out of them.

He was still beat from his nurse duty so he stretched out on one of the lounge chairs to soak up the sun and rest his eyes. He fell asleep. Hours later Grace found him and woke him.

"Ed! Jesus! You look like a lobster!"

"Damn," he growled and looked down at the burn on his chest and arms.

"Come inside and I'll put some cold cream on that," she said and tugged him up to his feet. She led him by the hand to the back door and into the house. They made a quick stop in the washroom to get the cream and went down to his bedroom.

"Ok, lie down and I'll put it on. I haven't had to do this since that time you were ten." Grace gently scolded him. Ed grinned at the memory.

"I'll start with your face which doesn't look too bad," she said as she gently applied the cream to his nose and cheeks. She didn't press too hard and made sure he had a thin coating of the soothing lotion on his skin. He smiled as it already felt better.

Grace scooped a larger amount and spread it across his chest. He hissed quietly through his teeth as the cold cream shocked his hot skin but as she spread it around he relaxed and smiled blissfully. She moved down his arms then went back to his chest and added more cream to his stomach.

The tingles she'd felt this morning came back full force as she slid her fingers over his hard abs. She watched mesmerized as her hands touched his skin over his delicious muscles. She gave herself a little shake then moved to his upper thighs which felt like steel. The cream went on as she rubbed his legs all the way down over his knees and shins to just above his feet which had been covered by his shoes. She ran her hands back up his legs and felt his thighs trembling. She stopped and looked up at his face. Ed was biting his lip as if he was trying to keep himself from moaning.

"Ok, I think that's got it. Thanks so much for doing that," Ed said quickly as he sat up and pulled his knees up to hide his groin.

"Ed… I just wanted to apologize for my behavior last night," she said with a blush. "And I want to thank you for taking care of Heather and me. I don't remember everything that happened last night but what I do recall shows how out of control we were. I'm grateful you collected us when you did. Who knows what that guy would have gotten us involved in."

"You know I'll always be there for you!" Ed smiled and Grace returned it.

She looked at his lips and had the sudden urge to kiss him again. Instead she stood quickly and walked to his door. "Dinner will be in a few minutes," she said and quickly went up to the kitchen to set the table. Anything to divert her mind from the memory of his body under her hands.