The limousine deposited them back at the hotel with night almost over and pink streamers of light making cotton candy out of the high clouds. Charlene and Luc were escorted to the private penthouse by a porter. As he opened the door, Luc swept up Charlene in his arms. Their faces smashed together as he struggled to see the way to the bedroom, all the while kicking off his painful new boots.
They fell clumsily onto the king sized bed and frantically tore off each other’s clothes. Charlene’s boots came off one hard tug at a time, Luc lifting her clean up off the bed as he struggled to help. They laughed together as they teased and pulled at each other, neither giving quarter until they both lay exhausted on the bed.
They crawled into a semblance of squareness with the arrangement of the bed and fell asleep, tangled together and moving only enough to breath softly.
Luc woke up to Charlene gazing softly at him, inches from his face and cradled in his arms.
"Good morning." he grumbled. He put his hand to his mouth, embarrassed by how his breath must smell after a month’s worth of tequila shooters. Charlene pulled his hand back and kissed him tenderly. She pulled herself close to his body, caressing him with her fingers until before he knew it they had made soft gentle love one more time.
"I hate to admit it, but you’re winning me over." he said softly.
"Why do you hate to admit it? I’m not so bad am I?" She averted her gaze for just a moment, briefly unable to reconcile what she was becoming with what she was.
Before she could break, he took her chin with his fingers and turned her face back to him. He closed his eyes as he leaned in to kiss her.
"You are bad, baby. That’s part of what I love about you."Charlene nestled her head into his chest, his strong heart beating in her ear and the smell of his body in her nose.
Luc said, "Well that was quite the first day of Stampeding. What does the second day have in store?"
"Stores. Exactly. Lots of stores." Charlene replied.
"What do you mean?"
Charlene lifted her head and rested her chin on chest to look at him. "I have nothing to wear. We’ve got to go shopping. I want to find something pretty for you."
Luc laughed convulsively, "OK. I guess shit just got real..."
Charlene moved both hands under her chin to cushion his chest and started kicking her feet behind her one at a time like a school girl on the telephone.
"Yes sir. You’re going to get it now mister."
She jumped on top of him for another ride of her favourite new Rodeo attraction
~~~~~.
