Chapter Seven
He’d seen her the moment she walked in. Then again, so had everyone else. Plum was a difficult woman to miss, even when she toned her signature style down, which she had.
Was he glad she was trying to be respectful or was he disappointed she felt like she had to change to be here? Everyone was welcome in his church and he liked her just the way she was. Gideon decided both was a reasonable reaction and he’d speak to her about it later. If she still wanted to speak with him, that was.
It thrilled him that she was here, though. He always designed his sermons to entertain and engage but it was possible he tried to be even more inviting than usual. Perhaps he showed off. Not just his oratorical skills, but his relationship with his congregation.
Be impressed with me, look what I can do in front of an audience. Now imagine what I could do with my hands, alone with you.It was perhaps on the blasphemous side but then again, so was he.
He was well aware he wasn’t a priest for everyone, but those who enjoyed him seemed to enjoy him a great deal and that would have to be good enough. He could usually shrug off whether any given person liked him or not—there were, after all, dozens of churches in Clover City to choose from—but the truth was he wanted Plum to like him, wanted her to be impressed by him. Wanted her to think he was as competent at his job as she was at hers.
It made his heart sing when he saw her smile a few times, and not fall asleep even once. Perhaps his bar for engagement was a bit low.
After the service was over, he greeted his usual line of congregants. Did his best to remember to ask after family members and health conditions, all of those details he worked to keep in his mind so his parishioners would know he cared about them. Which of course he did. But while they might allow faith to convince them the almighty cared for them, they had much more earthly expectations of their pastor.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see Plum linger in the back corner where she’d sat during the service. She continued to linger while he spoke with the dozens of people who liked to talk to him one-on-one after services.
Sometimes a brief hello as if to prove to him that they’d been there—although it wasn’t as if he took attendance and indeed trusted his congregants to make good choices about their presence or absence at services. What would serve them most at any give time? Others because they were lonely and liked to chat whenever they got the chance. Others because they had news to share, whether happy or sad.
Mrs. Symes had made it to the front of the line and had a sly grin on her face as she shuffled up with her walker.
“That’s her isn’t it?” she asked, cocking a white brow and gesturing not-so-subtly with a tip of her head toward Plum. “She’s pretty. And owns that café across the street. Probably a good cook. You should put a ring on that before someone else does.”
“It’s nice to see you as well, Mrs. Symes,” he said, trying not to let his smile crack through. “And yes, it does appear that we have a new guest today. I’ll make sure to greet her personally.”
“Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”
Sly old woman was going to make him snort like a schoolboy over fart jokes if she didn’t ease up.
“I’ll see you at coffee hour,” he said, lowering a conspiratorial glare at her. “Make sure you get Helen to help you with the lift or the ramp. I won’t have you going down the stairs with that thing.”
Sassy old bird rolled her eyes at him but he knew she’d do as he said. There were a few more people left and then he was alone in the sanctuary with Plum. Looking more like a wholesome but still sumptuous fruit than a showy flower at the moment in a dress that probably passed as demure in her world because it only showed a hint of cleavage. Well, he didn’t need to see it to imagine her generous breasts that would spill out of his hands as he cupped them, bent his head to suckle and bite her nipples.
While lusting after Plum wasn’t a sin, he shouldn’t be getting aroused during work hours so he took a deep breath before striding toward her.
“Good morning, Miss Brolingtide. So glad to see you made it.”
Her cheeks flushed and it made him wonder if her bottom would turn the same lovely pink shade while he had her pinned across his lap and administered a spanking. It was painful how much he wanted to find out.
“Good morning, Father,” she said and bobbed a little curtsy. Was it possible for a curtsy to be sarcastic? Because Plum’s almost certainly was, the little minx.
“Did you enjoy the service?”
“I did,” she said, nodding, and licked her lips. God save him from the tide of lust he was swamped with every time he was around this woman. He should have asked her out to dinner or some other, safer date. Except Gideon suspected nothing was safe with Plum. What would going to dinner accomplish with this woman anyhow? Surely she’d be a charming and vivacious dinner partner but if she wasn’t the one for him, why torture himself with fantasies of blissful domesticity and everyday life?
If she wasn’t even willing to attend church that might be too much to reconcile. He didn’t particularly care if she truly believed which was perhaps anathema but he’d always thought actions mattered far more than professions of faith. To act Christian was far more difficult than to say one was Christian.
And then there was the other matter.
Yes, there were kinky people who married vanilla partners and either got their kicks elsewhere or abstained but his basest desires, the way he related to women, was simply too deeply rooted in who he was—in his mind, in what his body craved, and indeed in his heart—to consider that.
He was greedy. He wanted the whole package and he desperately wanted Plum to be wrapped in a bow under the Christmas tree, waiting for him like a gift. She sparkled like one.
“I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I liked the whole actions-speak-louder-than-words theme of your, um, sermon? Not that I have much in the way of comparison, but I think you must be very good at your job.”
Pride swelled his chest that she would think so.
“Thank you. I have a wonderful congregation and I do my best to be the spiritual leader they deserve. Plus 1 John 3:18 is one of my favorite passages in the bible.” When she looked at him blankly, he clarified by quoting the scripture. “‘Let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.’”