MattI didn't answer, nor did I take my eyes off the picture."You're not going to relent, are you?" She reached out and brushed her finger across it."No. I wish I could." I moved behind her and ran my hands over her shoulders. It was dangerous to even touch her, but I wanted to hear the story, yearned to know that there was something more than she was presenting to everyone else. She was a woman's woman. The kind of girl who decided she was going to rule the world and fucking did it."I dated the same guy from sixth grade through my senior year of college. I figured we were going to be together forever. The night he called things off was the most painful and yet freeing night of my life. I'd grown comfortable in my relationship with him. There was no passion there and I was suffocating.""But to be rejected by him left you angry?" I pressed my chest to her back and pulled her closer as I breathed in softly."Yes. I thought my heart was going to bleed out that night. I've never cried
EricaThe night before ended too soon, but after the long day, dinner, wine and dessert, my head started to pound. I tried to play it off for a while as Matt and I finished eating dessert, but I had to excuse myself and get to bed shortly after we cleaned up. Whether we would have slept together was a mystery, but one probably best untapped. I would want more than a night of passion, and he was probably like every rich guy I'd ever met.Love 'em and leave 'em was the theme. I wanted to think that Matt could be different, but I'd never seen him in a relationship. Not once since meeting him. There was something to be said about that. No way in hell a hot guy like him wasn't sleeping around if nothing else.My phone woke me the next morning, and damn if I didn't have a remnant of my migraine still messing with me."What?" I grumbled into the phone. Only a few people were stupid enough to call me on Saturday morning before nine, and of course it was the one I hated to hear from most. My b
Erica"No, I'll go with you unless it's a private visit and you need some time to yourself with her.""No, I'd love for you to go. I'll warn you ahead of time that she doesn't care much for me.""What? That sounds crazy. Who wouldn't wanna be around you?" He scoffed."My mother. She prefers my brother, Daniel, who's a lawyer here in Seattle. She thinks art is stupid and doesn't like the fact that I followed my dreams in some capacity.""What were your dreams?" He stood up and moved up behind me, standing a little closer than I would consider comfortable for friends."To do what you're doing. To paint and have my art hanging on the wall in a major gallery." I glanced over my shoulder as he breathed in deeply."Those look so good."I glanced down at the eggs and then to my breasts. "What looks good?"He chuckled. "The eggs look good. You look incredible, but you know that already."I turned to face him as he moved toward the cabinet and pulled down two plates."Why do you assume that I
MattI snuck glances at her as she talked about work and the new project she was working on for my father. Something about being around her made me feel fifteen again. She was alive and full of so much passion that it bubbled up around the edges of her persona. I wanted to reach over and run my hand up her thigh, but the subtle touches earlier that day combined with the kiss the night before were probably more than enough.She knew how I felt about it. The question I'd posed was a serious one. What was I willing to do about all of it? Moving to Seattle seemed the right answer in so many ways, but being away from Damon, and Dad, from Sophia and Bethany? That sounded like hell. All I would have is Erica.She was more than enough, and yet if things didn't work out between us, I would have to pick up and move back to Dallas. Something about admitting that failure left me not wanting to jump too quickly. I could feign that the move was more about working closer to Jonathan or being a part
MattI stopped behind Erica and slipped my hands into my pockets to keep from reaching out to touch her again.She glanced back at me with an uneasy expression. "Thanks again for coming with me.""Of course." I followed her into the apartment-like place. An older woman with a perfect blond bob haircut glanced up from reading a Time magazine and nodded at me and Erica."Is your brother out of town?" The woman's tone was flat and filled with condemnation. I ached for Erica without having to hear more than her mother's greeting. My father had been nothing but overly loving my whole life. I wasn't sure I would know how to deal with one of my parents not wanting anything to do with me, or wanting me to be something different than I was."Yes, Mom. This is my boyfriend, Matthew." She moved to the side as I walked up and extended my hand to the older woman.She shook my hand, but didn't address me. "Why do you wear skirts like that? They make you look frumpy. You have a handsome young man's
Erica"I love this place." I picked up my menu and tried to push down the feeling of unworthiness I always left my mother's house feeling. It didn't matter if I was five or twenty-nine. I still had the uncanny sense that she looked at me like I was one of the greatest mistakes of her life. My father had always gone out of his way to remind me that I was loved and a princess in his eyes, but my mom stripped that warmth away any and every chance she got. I was never enough."The menu looks great. What are you thinking about getting?"Matt's deep blue eyes moved from the menu to my face and the depth in them caught me off-guard. He'd been so good to me over the last day or so, but seeing a different side of him didn't help my desire to push him to stay in Seattle with me. There had to be something bigger or better than me that would convince him that he needed to move. If I wasn't enough for my own mother, then I certainly wouldn't be enough for a complete stranger."I like the hummus an
Erica"You still thinking about my offer?" Matt walked next to me from the parking lot up to the condo. Sleep tugged at me, and a nap sounded better than winning the lottery or falling in love. Funny how it was the simple things in life that pulled me in deep."No, I'm not thinking about it. I'll do it if you think it would help you with your showing."He chuckled and followed me into the chilly house. "This isn't about me, Erica. It's about you.""What about me?" I tossed my purse onto the table and turned to face him. "I don't want to see how you see me. What if it's ugly?""The painting or my vision of you?""Both?" I smiled and took a step closer to him. "You know I have feelings for you. It would hurt too much to see that you found me as commonplace as the next girl.""Right. Because that's the woman I described at lunch, right?" He reached out and caressed the side of my face. "You wanna take a nap?""Yeah. I can take the couch though." I cupped my hand over his and turned my fa
Matt"You ready to go?" I turned from the kitchen sink with a glass of water in my hand, the desire to lick my fingers clean raging through me. I knew she wouldn't appreciate it, or maybe I was being a prick about wanting her to think of me as more of a gentleman than I was. Sex was the ultimate expression of passion and I'd denied myself too long.The sound of her moans accompanied with her writhing on top of me as her body clenched around my fingers had me coming alongside her the second time I brought her over the edge. I wasn't sure she realized the power she had over me, or maybe she was simply being careful not to use it. Either way, I wanted more. So much more. I took a long drink and watched her with the remnant of desire that still danced around my stomach. I wasn't sure it was going to dissipate with her anywhere near me. It was a waste of energy to try and force myself into a calm. My fantasies were within reach. So close."Absolutely." She licked at her lips subtly and wa