The window shutters were painted with floral patterns, and the tables bore linen cloths. The wooden floor was swept clean, and the copper pots over th... fireplace were gleaming.Joerg did not recognise the rotund woman who showed to greet the first customers of the day, but Birte certainly recognised both Joerg and Hildburg. Her mouth gaped open."The Lord's mercy on us!" she exclaimed.Her voice finally made them recognise her. Joerg made the connection first."Birte! Are you..." he caught himself. " I'm kind of cold," she whispered, apparently unbothered by what I'd been doing. "Is there a blanket anywhere?"I looked up the aisle; there was a small stack of them on one seat, unused. I got up and grabbed one quickly, and handed it to her.She unfolded it and started to pull it over herself, then offered one corner of it to me. "If you're cold too," she said."Yeah, a little, I guess," I whispered.We both scrunched into our seats, kind of but not really facing each other, and she closed her. This was the first time I'd ever..." So much the worse," cut in Ben. "She's actually perverting you, ruining you for ordinary sex." I never found sex ordinary,"' said Janet quietly. Both Velvet and Ben turned to look at her. She was sitting with a tiny smile on her face. Velvet saw the woman was uneasy, distraught, but she wasn't letting it totally blind her to what was happening in the room."Then why'd you go running off to another woman's bed, for Christ's sake?" demanded Ben. "I couldn't. He simply smile at her and kissed her passionately. With more love than he has ever given her. When he pulled away slowly he said, "Because I love you Hope. I always have. From high school to college and even now. You are my life, and I will never leave you." After saying that he kissed her again bringing her closer to him. He lifted her up onto the counter and took her shirt off of her. Jeremy began to kiss down her neck while putting his arms around her back undoing her bra and pulling it off.