I stuffed the check in my back pocket over the foil package of a waiting condom. I’m no saint. I knew what I wanted. Cold water dripped from drenched hair down my bare back, but I’d wait. My arms were awkward at my side, unmoving when I wanted to soothe her. We both had our needs.

She turned around, scraping messy bangs off her face. “As of right now, we’ve known each other for about twenty-four hours.”

“So?” My voice was rough.

“So, we went deeper than most people do in months.” Her hollow laugh echoed my empty living room. “You want to know why I showed up when I had every reason not to?”

Abbie’s blue-green eyes glazed like dark pieces of glass, making me forget about my water-logged jeans and bare feet on cold tile.

“It was you. When I weighed all the pros and cons, it all came down to you. All my senses come alive when I’m near you. I love your smell. Your voice. Your caustic way with words…how you look at me.” She groaned a deep primal sound at the back of her throat. “For all your bark and bite you have this other side. It’s like you read me and understand exactly how I need you to see me.” Her chest heaved and she clutched the row of buttons resting on her breast bone. “I feel you.”

With rain-drenched hair and mascara-ringed eyes, this Abbie had more in common with pagan warrior women than the docile, tea-sipping bookstore clerk. She was a wild thing, beautiful and unscathed. She got my heart thumping.

 

 

   

 

 

 

Did you enjoy this excerpt? Why not share?

Click one of the social media buttons on the left and spread the love.