Ghost Writer (Raven Maxim Book 1) (18 page)

She moves like a lazy summer breeze.

A drape of night with a streak of winter snow falls over her shoulders.

The gap between her thighs can’t be seen…

but I know it’s there,

because of the way she sways.

My memory recorded the curve of her knees and the dips of her limbs well in advance.

That gap is just for me.

May I have a seat?

I want to get on my knees and kneel at that gap,

Fall crazy in lust at the gap,

Pray at that gap to a God I sometimes don’t believe in.

Not because He doesn’t exist, but if He does, it would mean He doesn’t care about me at all…

But maybe you will? If so, I will worship you like the Goddess you are.

You’ve got a stream of wine, but you’re no expert taster…

Luckily, you’ve come to the right place.

Lower the golden chalice and let me

slide and slip between and within the heated rim.

I want to wrap these hands of mine around the bowl, grasp the stem and never let go as I savor each and every drop that is known of you.

What faces do you make when you’re tasted?

I will look into your glossy eyes as you barely hold on to sanity, and know the answer to that, too.

But I’ll never stop consuming you as I do…

You’ll be all empty, broken and shattered

When I’m done.

Lucky for you,

In my own lap, I have a carafe for your pleasure,

And we can begin again,

But this time,

It is strongly encouraged to be unladylike and drink straight from the bottle…

He grinned at the dirty thoughts, took another long taste of his beer, then set it on the table, sliding his tongue along his upper teeth. His dick went hard beneath his jeans.

I guess I’m a closet romance novelist after all. Emerald, you inspire me…

“And that’s why
it’s called delivery, you son of a bitch!” the comedian screamed, causing her stomach to crunch as she laughed her head off.

The sides of her face throbbed and she wiped tears from her eyes that wouldn’t cease falling. She peered down at her hand, all smudged with her running black mascara, the proof of her amusement. But, she barely cared about that.

“Good night, folks!” the comedian shouted before exiting the stage.

Several members of the audience leapt to their feet and gave a hearty applause. She glanced at the table, taking note of everything about their evening and squirreling it away as one of the best dates she’d ever had. The bottle of wine they shared was mostly gone. They’d both devoured two plates of food, and he’d kissed her on the cheek several times throughout the evening, simply out of the blue while they listened to the raunchiest, funniest jokes she’d heard in a long while. At odd intervals he’d held her hand, his long, big fingers wrapped around her own small ones, and she loved his touch.

She quickly came out of her deliberations as his shadow loomed above her, startling her for she hadn’t seen him rise from his chair. Helping her to her feet, he possessively wrapped his arm around her waist and trailed his other hand down her arm.

“I had a great time tonight, Emerald,” he whispered in her ear, ensuring she could hear him over the chatter and music from the speakers as people made their way to the two exits.

“So did I.” Hand in hand, they navigated the thick crowd to the doors. It felt good to stand in the slightly cool air. It had gotten a bit hot and stuffy in the Comedy Castle—maybe the large crowd all pressed together, or yet another hormonal heat flash. No matter the reason, she welcomed the reprieve. “I’m parked right over there… looks like it’s cleared out a bit.” She pointed across the way. “But, uh,” she said, looking around, “I wish we’d been able to talk more.” She hated that she sounded a bit sad, but his eyes seemed to light up at her words.

“You want to go out somewhere else?” His enthusiasm was more than apparent as his face split in a wide grin. “We can head off somewhere, like some 24 hour breakfast place and just have coffee and talk.”

“I’d love that but unfortunately I have some work to do, a project I’m working on, and the deadline is very soon.”

His smile slowly vanished, but he nodded. “Oh, okay. I understand.”

They simply stood there, looking at one another as people walked past them, the crowd becoming thinner and thinner, and the parking lot fading away into the distance.

“Sloan, may I ask you something?”

“Yeah, yeah, okay, yeah.” He stood a bit straighter and placed his hand on his hip as if bracing himself for the worst. This response tickled her, but she kept her amusement to herself.

“How long have you been divorced?”

“A little over a year, but it was over long before that. How ’bout you?”

“It’s been a very long time.” She smiled. “But was over before it was over, so I know what you mean.” His Adam’s apple bobbed about when he swallowed, and the tension, the intensity, grew between them as he moved closer to her. “Have you been dating regularly since the divorce?”

“Ahhh.” He winced as if an invisible sun beamed in his eyes. “Off ’nd on.” He scratched the side of his neck, visibly anxious. The man had never come across as uneasy before, and yet, the topic of his ex-wife still caused him some discomfort. This caused a bit of unease on her part, as well. “I keep pretty busy, but a part of me just wasn’t ready, I guess. It was a bunch of different reasons.” He shrugged.

“Yeah.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I can understand that.”

He sucked on his lower lip and scooted even closer; so close, it looked as if he were trying to melt into her very soul.

“Emerald, I’m not gonna lie to you, okay? It was a difficult split. I’m a one-woman type of guy. Once I commit to someone, that’s it.” He threw up his hands. “So it’s hard for me to see myself as a solo act, even if I’ve been doing all the work alone for so long,” He chuckled sadly. She nodded, a smile on her face, silently encouraging him to continue. “I’ve been out, seen some women, but I never actually took the initiative until… well, until I saw
you
.”

“Really?” Her smile widened. She clutched her silver beaded necklace.

“Yeah. It’s funny, because earlier that week I was telling myself it was time, you know? Time to really get back on the horse and ride again. Dating is a little strange to me. It’s different than it used to be. I feel like some clown trapped in a maze. I look funny standin’ there, and the shit is hella confusing.”

“Who are you telling? My last date took me to a strip club!”

At this, they both burst out laughing.

He shook his head, as if he couldn’t believe it. “No way!”

“I’m serious, it’s true.” Her laughter died out, but her heart still sang. “We’re not children, Sloan. Things have
definitely
changed.”

The man blocked her in with one leg out, resting his foot against the wall behind her.

“I would never take you to a strip club, especially not on a first date.” They both lightly chuckled. “Who would want to take you to a strip club when you’re so beautiful, huh?” His voice grew lower, huskier. He placed his hand gently on her shoulder, then leaned in to rub his nose against hers. She slowly closed her eyes as her breathing accelerated. “I wouldn’t need no damn strip club… That’s like ordering a pop tart at a lavish, upscale French bakery.”

“One that doesn’t even have the frosting, huh?” Grinning, she slowly opened her eyes, only to find his gaze lined up perfectly with her own. Slowly, the towering man brought his lips to hers…

So soft…

So sweet…

So gentle…

So needy…

So wanting…

So possessive, yet free…

The kiss ended way too soon, which disappointed her so. Standing back to his full height, he gently caressed her cheek with the back of his hand.

“I like you, Emerald. I had to kiss you, make sure I wasn’t dreaming.” He smiled tenderly. “Thanks for such a good time.”

“I like you too, Sloan. Thank you for your honesty and for a fun night out. I appreciate you being open and upfront when I asked about your divorce.”

“Hey, no sense in me lying. The truth is sometimes worse than any cockamamie story the likes of me could dream up,” he teased. “Let me walk you over to your car.” They arrived at her cranberry colored Mazda and she suddenly hated that vehicle.

Why did it have to be parked so close? Why did it have to be full of gas and ready to whisk her away with no interruptions? Why had she played the safe route and met him there instead of allowing him to pick her up and drive her home? They’d talked several times after all, even text-messaged each other. There was a level of comfort they’d reached, but she didn’t dare deviate from her original plans, and now her decision was biting her in the ass. Before she could curse out the inanimate thing, she felt warm, wide fingertips along her jawbone. He turned her towards him, made her face him, head on. Without asking or waiting for a chance at resistance, he pulled her to him and kissed her again.

His breaths bathed her face with warmth. He slid his hand dangerously close to her ass as he pressed her into him, but he stopped short of going there. With apparent reluctance, he let go and leaned against her car, real relaxed and leisure like. Running his finger along his lower lip, he threw a glance around the parking lot, then looked back into her eyes.

“So, let’s get to the most important question of the night. When can I see you again?”

Tonight in my bedroom, under the sheets, you big, sexy son of a bitch!

“Hmmm, how about next weekend?” She put on her professional business smile, the last tool in her arsenal to not appear lovestruck and silly.

“Mmmm.” He grimaced. “That’s an entire week away… I was hoping for somethin’ in the next couple of days or so.” He didn’t smile, didn’t blink; he simply waited for her to grant his wish and comply…

“Okay, well, let me see.” She reached into her purse and fiddled about for her cell phone, then scrolled through her calendar to ensure she didn’t have to stick around for anything at work. “All right, today is Saturday so I could probably get together with you on Tuesday. There are no orders due right now.”

“Orders?”

“Yes.” She smiled. “That’s what I was talking about when I said I couldn’t get together tonight.”

“You mentioned some projects you had to work on.”

“Right. I have a couple of dining room chairs to finish. I restore old furniture and sell it.”

“And why am I just now hearing about this? Wow! That’s cool!” He appeared genuinely impressed.

“Yeah, I really enjoy it. It started out as a hobby but then I got good at it and now,” she said with a shrug, “people pay me to do it. So hey, it works out, right?”

“You are just full of surprises, aren’t you?” He leaned in close again, and her heart skipped a beat.

“Why’s that a surprise?”

“Because you look delicate, and fixing furniture, restoring it and all that entails takes some elbow grease.”

“You think I’m a weakling?” She bent her arm in a muscleman pose, causing him to chuckle.

“No, you know what I mean. You’re just real feminine, ladylike, and I guess I’m being kinda sexist right now.”

“You are but I’ll give you a one-time pass,” she quipped.

“I’ll have to watch that… it wasn’t my intent. But I love that you do that, you know? Fixing furniture, restoring the broken and splintered, making it look like it used to, or maybe even better. This is just another layer of you I want to explore.” At that, she gulped, but placed her hand quickly over her neck to cover the evidence. “Guess what?”

“What?”

“I happen to love antiques. Now, furniture isn’t really my thing, but I do collect old radios.”

“Oh my God.” She gasped with schoolgirl-like excitement that she refused to dial down. “Sloan, if that’s the case then you are going to go bananas when you see the Turkey Neck shop.”

“Turkey Neck shop?” He laughed.

“Yeah, crazy name but it’s an old warehouse turned into a huge outlet mall specifically for vintage items. I get a lot of my finds from there, actually. There is a guy named Henry who only deals with outmoded electronics. You ought to see some of these funky and cool radios he has. Most people only go to him for parts, but he has some real gems. You know what?” She rummaged in her purse again. “I bet I have his card in here. He is such a sweet man… ah ha! Here it is!”

She handed it to him. Sloan flipped it around between his fingers as if about to do a magic trick, then read it.

“Cool. I’ll have to check him out, thanks. I need you to take me on a tour around this place, you know that? Maxim is so new to me. I’ve driven around, walked around, too, but I’m sure I’ve missed a whole hell of a lot. I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon so I want to see what the locals do, what you all are up to, get my heels in a bit deeper.”

“The offer is always open. I’d be more than happy to.” She zipped her purse closed.

“Hey, I don’t want you to go.” There was no prelude, no warning, no appetizer of words before the scalding entrée, not a damn thing! He’d simply said it, and he looked just as surprised as she was that it had come out of his own mouth. Her heart flipped on his behalf. “Emerald, what I mean is… I had a real good time and hate that it has to end. I’m usually not like this…”