Hiseyes stared into mine for just a few seconds before scanning my body. I feltlike the sluttiest version of myself as I slowly stood up straight, allowinghim one last chance to stare at my less than impressive cleavage. He broughthis hand up to rub the scruff on his chin in exaggerated thought as he lookedme up and down one last time, as though he were buying a mare from an auction,and tingles were sent down my spine.
Butas exhilarating as those moments kind of were, I wasn’t totally sure what I shouldbe doing. Was I supposed to pull out my own chair and sit? Was he going to getup and do it for me? Should I have just told him to skip dinner and go straightfor dessert back at his place? I had jumped in feeling overly confident, but Ihadn’t thought this far into the plan.
Iwaited for what felt like an eternity while he continued to eye every inch ofme, and my surge of sexy confidence quickly faded into discomfort. Was that myfault? Did I lay it on too thick? Was I too hot for my own good? I had no idea,but I knew I had enough of the mental undressing, so I began to pull out my ownchair.
That’swhen he finally spoke, and I was startled by how deep and raspy, yet somehowsmooth, his voice was; it suited him perfectly. He could have sold me a pile ofdog crap with a voice like that.
Iwas so taken aback by just how perfect he was that I didn’t hear what he said.
Ismiled again and asked, “What was that?”
Heheld his hand up, signaling me to stop what I was doing. “Isaid, noneed.”
Ichose to ignore his impatient tone and sharply inhaled as my stomach suddenlyerupted in a swarm of butterflies. I knew what this meant. He wanted to skipdinner and go straight to dessert. I asked myself if I was ready for this kindof thing to happen, to which I answered,yes. This was exactly the kindof thing I wanted to happen.
Itook my hand from the back of the chair, resting it on my hip. “And what do youmean by that, mister?”
Mister?
Hepushed his chair out, plopped his cloth napkin on the table when it was justmoments before in his lap, and said, “Imean, there’s no need for thisto continue.”
SexyHolly left in an instant, leaving PlainOl’ Holly inher place with her mouth hanging open in shock. “But … but why?”
“Well."He cleared his throat and straightened his tie, and before speaking, he sighedimpatiently, like I was an annoying little kid. "If youreallymustknow, I wasn't too thrilled about taking ababysitteron a date, but Ithought you were kind of cute.” He looked me over again, then twisted his faceinto one of sheer disgust with a quick shake of his head. "Let's just say,your picture looked better. Now, if you’ll excuse me …"
Hewalked right past me, purposefully averting his eyes from ever landing on meagain. He left me standing there, with my heart feeling as though it had brokenall over again, and all I could do was pull out my chair and stare blankly atthe space across from me. When the waiter came to take my order, I opened mymouth to ask him to please go away, but all that came out was the beginning ofan onslaught of tears. I watched him awkwardly rush away on lanky legs to getsome help for the crazy woman at table #14.
Thehostess arrived at my side a few moments later, and taking my arm, she quietlyasked for me to come with her to the bathroom. We sat on the couch in thesitting area of the ladies’ room, with her arm around my shoulders, and itturned out that Judy with the constant smile was a good listener, almost asgood as Brandon minus the parking lot make out session, and I greatlyappreciated that.
Ialso appreciated the complimentary slice of layered chocolate cake.
Thanks,Judy.
CHAPTERTEN
BRANDON
My laptop sat on thealuminum table top in the café of Reade’s. Scotthad brought over cup after steaming cup of black coffee to keep the fireburning, but what he didn’t know was that I didn’t even have the kindling toget the flames going in the first place. With every delivery, he asked how itwas going and every time I grinned with feigned enthusiasm. “It’s coming along,man,” I’d say, and send him on his way, not having the heart to tell him thatnot only was I struggling to get anything down but I really would havepreferred he just left me alone.
Nickhad continued his badgering, because it was his job. When he asked what thehell had been wrong with me, I just told him I was finding it harder to findthe inspiration to write. But the truth was, I had found an entirely differenttype of inspiration that made me want to push the story in a differentdirection, but I couldn’t have found it at a worse time.
Ileaned back in the chair, tipping it on its back legs. With my fingers lacedbehind my head, I glared angrily at the words I had typed that night. All ofthem felt like puzzle pieces that had been forced to fit somewhere they weren’tsupposed to go, and through my frustration, I angrily held down the backspaceuntil they had disappeared entirely. That left me at 81,236 words, and dammit,what I would have given to have my bottle of Scotch magically appear before mein that moment.
Thesound of the front door jingling open provided me with a welcomed distraction,and I turned to see the bane of my existence walking toward me in what I couldonly describe as a death march. She was a vision of vampiric elegance in theblack dress; a jolt struck me in the heart and other neglected places of mybody at the hint of milky white skin through the slit that went up to herthigh. Her hair framed her face in darkness, and I couldn’t remember if I hadever seen it out of a ponytail.
Iwanted nothing else than to take more than a moment basking in her enigmaticbeauty, but I couldn’t draw my eyes away from the makeup streaked along hercheeks as my blood reached a point beyond boiling.
Actingas the Knight in Shining Armor to her Damsel in Distress, I stood up toimpulsively wrap my arms around her. Pressing my cheek against the top of herhead, my thoughts ran angry circles around that instinctive part of my brain,screaming at me to protect her.
Iwill kill him. I will throw my entire fucking life away and kill him. I willfind him and break every fucking bone in his body and I. Will. Kill. Him.
Shetook a step back after several moments, wiping her hands against her face franticallybefore wrapping her arms around herself with a shiver. Her shoulders and backwere exposed, and I took my jacket off to drape it over her. She thanked me,pushing her arms through the sleeves, and when they had a moment to focus onthe sight before her, her dark eyes widened.
“Wow,”she said breathlessly, sniffling the last bit of her tears, looking over thetattoos that I realized she had never seen. “How many do you have?”
Istruggled a laugh, still seething. “I’ve lost count.”
Herhands went to my arms; a grateful disruption to whatever was happening in hermind, as she rolled the short sleeves of my t-shirt to the shoulders. I feltfrozen with excitement as her hands ran over my bicep, and I saw her lick herlips before letting them part.
