by Ali Parker
“Well, the good news is, you don’t have to have it all figured out right now. It’s only Tuesday. You have plenty of time before you have to make your decision.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Do you want an opinion, or no?”
I licked my lips. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know what she would do. I didn’t want someone else’s opinion to jade my decision. I didn’t want to blame her for pushing me if this turned out to be a mistake.
But if I accepted the job, it wouldn’t be her mistake if things went south. It would be mine, and I knew that. I knew the risk of opening communication back up between Dallas and me. Even if we kept things strictly professional, it was bound to get difficult. And complicated.
Very complicated.
“Sure,” I said. “What would you do, Kate?”
She didn’t hesitate to answer. “I’d take the job.”
“That easy?”
She nodded. “Yes. Hear me out. This is your dream. This is all you’ve wanted since you were a little girl and mom bought you your first Hilroy notebook. You have an opportunity to finally give this thing a real shot. You can support yourself on your writing. This is literally the sort of shit you’d write about in your journal when you were sixteen.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “You read my journal?”
“Didn’t you read mine?” Kate asked skeptically.
“That’s not the point.”
Kate laughed and shook her head at me. “I just think walking away from this is a mistake, Elise. You could be passing up an incredible opportunity. And for what? To spare yourself the awkwardness of working with a high school ex? Let me stress the words ‘high school.’ A lot of time has passed. You’re both different people. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to make this work.”
“You’re right,” I said. “Of course you’re right.”
“So you’ll take the job?”
I paused. No, I wasn’t convinced yet. I still needed to mull it over. I hated the unknown. “I still need some more time.”
Kate chuckled and slid off her stool. “Well, time you have. But think about what I said. I have to go pee. Should we order pizza?”
“Sure. I’ll call and order. What do you want?”
“Hawaiian.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Gross.”
“You’re gross,” Kate said, sticking her tongue out at me as she went down the hallway to my bathroom.
I stuck my tongue out too, and she giggled as she closed the bathroom door.
I was scanning through the online pizza menu when my phone started buzzing in my hand. I didn’t recognize the number, and at first, I considered ignoring the call. But I answered anyway.
“Hello?” I asked.
“Elise?”
“Yes.”
“It’s Dallas.”
“Oh.”
He chuckled. His laugh was just as sexy over the phone as it was in person. “Try not to sound so excited. Listen. I’ve been told by my boss to take you out on the town until you agree to take the job.”
“Aren’t you the boss?” I asked curiously.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “I’m not really interested in spending time in town together. No offense. I grew up here. I know what it’s all about.”
“I know this might piss you off, Billingsly, but I’m going to have to insist.”
I narrowed my eyes. Damn him. Who did he think he was? “Insist all you want. I’m not interested. Sorry.”
“I’ll be at your apartment at nine o’clock tomorrow morning. Dress in layers.”
“Dallas, I—”
“Nine o’clock, Elise. It’s part of the deal, okay?”
I picked at a loose thread on the knee of my jeans while scowling so hard my forehead started to ache. “Fine. But don’t expect me to be a cute, cheerful little date for you to waltz around town.”
Dallas chuckled again. “I would never expect that.”
Bastard.
Chapter 13
Dallas
Elise’s apartment building sat atop one of the old coffee shops on Main Street. There was a sidewalk sign propped up on the cracked and uneven sidewalk that declared “Half price Pumpkin Spice Lattes after 2pm”. Most of the tables appeared to be occupied inside, and I wondered if people were indulging in the season’s current sweet treat. It seemed a bit too much for me. Pumpkins were for pie and nothing else.
Arriving early was my MO, and I’d been parked at the curb below the entrance to Elise’s apartment for fifteen minutes. I texted her at five to nine, and she texted back saying she would be down in a few.
It took longer than “a few.”
I sat and waited, watching people flit in and out of the little coffee shop for another twenty-three minutes. When she came out the door and strode confidently across the sidewalk, she held her chin high. The black purse she carried was draped over the crook in her elbow, lending her the look of a rather stuck-up young woman.
But I knew she was far from stuck up. She was just looking to give me a hard time. I couldn’t blame her for that. All I’d done throughout high school was give her a hard time. Or no time. That was more accurate.
I leaned over and popped the door open for her. Elise slid into the passenger seat and put her purse down on the floor between her feet. She drew her seatbelt across her front, and it nestled in the place between her breasts, pushing the fabric of her dark green coat in close to her.
It was hard not to look at the swell of her chest. Quite hard.
“You’re late,” I said.
She shrugged. “So I am.”
“I’m glad you listened and dressed appropriately.”
My warning about dressing in layers had been heard. She was wearing a pair of dark jeans with a bit of distressing in the thighs and on the knees. The combat-style boots she had on would do just fine for the activities I had planned today, and her jacket was very clearly done up over a thick gray turtleneck sweater. Her purse was quite large and bulged at the sides, so I assumed she had other things in there, just in case. Elise was a woman who came prepared.“I didn’t want to be more uncomfortable than absolutely necessary,” she said.
I chuckled as I slid into first gear and pulled away from the curb. “So, you really meant it when you said you weren’t going to be a cheerful little date.”
She looked over at me for the first time since getting in the car. Her expression was cool, calm, and incredibly impassive. It conveyed many of her thoughts that I swear I could hear in my own mind:
I can’t believe I’m stuck in the car with this asshole.
Does he seriously think he’s being funny right now?
Why the hell would he expect me to be anything close to cheerful?
Has it seriously only been two minutes since I got in this car?
This is going to be the longest day ever.
She didn’t say any of those things like I expected her to. Instead, she said, “I’m an honest person, Dallas. Unlike some people.”
Ouch.
We fell in line behind the other cars on the street, and I set a course to take us out of town.
Elise sighed and crossed one leg over the other. “So where are you taking me?”
“You’ll see.”
She sighed again, like her patience was already worn thin. “I don’t like the unknown. Or surprises. Can you just tell me? This is supposed to be a professional play date, isn’t it?”
She made a decent enough point. I supposed there was no harm in letting her know how we were going to spend the first of many days together. I would, of course, leave out the many days part. “We’re going to the lake.”
She frowned. “It’s freezing out.”
“It’s perfect weather for canoeing. I’ve packed a thermos of coffee and have a bag of snacks. We’ll row out to the middle of the lake and just enjoy the serenity.”
Elise stared out the windshield. “I hope you
realize that the rowing isn’t going to be a ‘we’ thing. It’s going to be a ‘you’ thing. I’ll drink the coffee. You row.”
I smirked. That was the Elise I remembered. “That sounds fair to me.”
We spent the rest of the drive in silence. I was used to talking a lot, mostly because I was used to having Roy with me, and he was an enthusiastic little chatterbox, especially in the car. There was plenty to see outside the windows, and as a five-year-old with the attention span of a squirrel, the conversation ranged from a dog on the sidewalk to the litter on the street to the weird shoes on the man standing at the corner of the intersection.
With Elise, it was different. The quiet was comfortable. There was no way of knowing if she felt the same way, though. I wondered if she hated the silence. Did she interpret it differently? Did she find it awkward and irritating?
Maybe I should have felt the same way, but it was like I was sitting with an old friend and we were just content. At ease.
I doubted she was at ease.
I glanced over at her. Her hands were resting lightly in her lap, and she had her face turned away from me as she gazed out the passenger window. We had left town and were now driving down a long winding road. Tall trees stood at attention along the edge of the pavement, leaning in over the road like a canopy constructed by nature. The leaves had all yellowed. Many had fallen already, and a few fell as we passed beneath them, gliding gently through the air in a zigzagging pattern to land up ahead and be blown aside when I barrelled past in my Mercedes.
“Is fall still your favorite season?” I asked. The question came out of me before I’d even thought much about it.
Elise didn’t look over, but she nodded. “Yes.”
Back when we were teenagers, Elise would collect leaves. I remembered walking her home from school, and it took forever because she kept stopping to pick up leaves. She carried them by their stems, letting them hang from her fingertips, pointing down at the sidewalk with their crispy points. She’d press them in books and use them for art. At least, that was what she claimed she did. I never saw her actually do it.
We spent another quiet fifteen minutes in the car before we arrived at Eagle Lake.
There wasn’t a single soul in sight. Just what I’d been hoping for. I parked the car, and we both got out. Elise gripped the collar of her jacket, pulled it closed around her throat, and shouldered her purse. “It’s freezing,” she grumbled.
I popped the trunk of the car. “Good thing for you, I came prepared.”
I pulled out two fleece blankets, as well as the bag of snacks and hot coffee I’d brought along. I slung the bag over my shoulder and handed Elise the blankets. Then we walked up to the little wooden cabin on the beach—well, cabin was a generous word. It was more of a shack. There, we spoke with a portly gentleman with a long shaggy beard about renting a canoe. He and his fellow employee, who appeared to be his teenage son, dragged one of the canoes down to the shoreline for us after I slapped a hundred-dollar bill on their counter.
They bid us farewell, and I dropped everything into the canoe.
Elise had her hands on her hips and was staring down into the boat. “You want to take me out there in this thing?”
I nodded.
She pursed her lips. “But it’s so cold. And if we get wet—”
“We won’t get wet,” I said.
The look she gave me was pure distrust, but she put her purse in the canoe anyway. I told her to get in, and she did. She sat down on one of the benches inside as I pushed us out into the water. I managed to jump in after only getting my toes a little wet. Then I scooped up the paddles, took my seat, and started rowing us out to the middle of the lake.
I watched Elise as I paddled. Her head turned from left to right as if it were on a swivel. Her eyes were wide and bright with wonder as she soaked up the beautiful scenery around us.
Eagle Lake was a beautiful place to be, especially at this time of year. The water was breathtakingly calm. It almost looked like glass, reflecting the bright blue of the clear autumn sky and the sharp oranges, reds, and yellows of the leaves of the trees that hugged the outskirts of the lake. It almost felt surreal, like we were on a movie set or inside a painting.
“This is lovely,” Elise said. Her voice was soft as she appreciated the natural splendor all around us. “I wasn’t expecting to be pleasantly surprised by anything today. But Eagle Lake in the fall is a game changer.”
“I thought you might like it.” I pulled my bag onto my lap and fished out the thermos of coffee. I’d packed two old fashioned tin mugs, and I topped them off and handed Elise one.
She peered down at it, lifted it to her nose, and breathed in deeply. “Is there caramel creamer in this?”
I nodded. “I hope that’s how you still like it.”
“On special occasions,” she said before taking a sip. I liked the way the coffee caressed the soft line of her upper lip.
“Well,” I said slowly, “this could be a special occasion if you decide to sign with Treo. We could celebrate.”
She smiled. “Don’t push your luck, Jansen. I still have a lot to think about. A good cup of coffee isn’t enough to change my mind.”
I chuckled. “A guy can hope.”
“But I do appreciate it. This is surprisingly nice.”
A lot of smart-ass comments ran through my mind, but I kept them all to myself. I was trying to make amends. So, I kept my lips sealed as I pulled out more goodies from my bag: muffins and scones from my favorite bakery in town.
Elise’s smile broadened as I handed her a white chocolate cranberry muffin. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Like in the car on the drive over, a pleasant silence wrapped its arms around us. I watched Elise eat as I picked at my blueberry scone. She ate just as daintily as she used to. Her bites were small, just nibbles really, and she chewed delicately and slowly. It took her three times as long to eat her muffin as it did for me to eat my scone. When she was done, she folded the muffin wrapper up into a neat little triangle as I started to row once again.
Elise leaned back against the opposite end of the canoe. Her arms were draped over the edges, and she closed her eyes, tilting her head back to show her face to the sun. I watched her chest expand as she took a deep breath. She seemed satisfied.
I didn’t want to spoil the moment. So, I kept rowing and rowing until my arms ached. A smile played in the corners of her lips as I fell still and assumed the same position as her. Even though the air was cold, the sun was as warm as in summer, and it felt great upon my skin.
“Sore arms, champ?”
I cracked open an eye and peered at her. “Me? Never.”
“Please,” she scoffed as she sat up straight. She moved a little too quickly. The boat rocked wildly to one side. Elise let out a startled little shriek and gripped the edge of the canoe as ripples of water fanned out around our little boat. Her panic caused her to rock it to the other side even more dramatically.
I spread myself out to steady us and balance our weight. Elise looked up at me, wide eyed, as I did everything in my power not to laugh at her.
“Steady there,” I said. “It’s too cold for a swim.”
Elise laughed nervously, and her grip on the sides of the boat eased up. “Sorry. I’m a bit clumsy.”
“That’s all right.”
She chewed the inside of her cheek before leaning back again and staring up at the sky. “It’s nice out here. Away from all the craziness.”
“It is,” I agreed. “I come here with Roy sometimes. He gets bored pretty quickly, of course, but I still like coming here. There aren’t any distractions. Just the quiet and plenty of clean air.”
“I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time and was a bit of a bitch this morning.”
“You weren’t,” I said.
“I definitely was.”
I smiled. “I deserved it.”
“True.”
She had a way of always making m
e laugh. I scratched at my jaw and the stubble growing there. “Is now a good time to tell you that I have plans for us for tomorrow as well?”
She raised her eyebrows. “What?”
I nodded. “I’ll be picking you up at nine o’clock. I’m going to show you a side of the town you’ve never seen before.”
“And how do you propose to do that?” she asked. I could hear a note of curiosity in her voice now. That condescending angry tone was gone.
I leaned back in my corner once more and clasped my hands behind my head. “You’ll see, Billingsly. You’ll see.”
Chapter 14
Elise
My skin prickled with heat. Not the sort of heat one felt in a humid or tropical climate, where their outside felt just as overwhelmingly hot and wet as their insides, but the sort of dry heat that elicits a physical response.
A response like taut nipples, shortness of breath, an ache below my belly, a suddenly wet mouth, and an even wetter pussy.
I swallowed and blinked my eyes open.
I was alone, lying on my back upon a bed that wasn’t mine, but it wasn’t that of someone I knew, either. It was a four-poster canopy bed. From the frame above hung sheer white curtains that blew gently in a breeze I couldn’t feel but wished I could. It might rid me of this heat.
This wild, desperate, incomprehensible heat.
It smelled like salt and jasmine and lavender. Like a beach almost. And my mouth tasted like mint. I ran my tongue over my teeth and then my lips.
Where was I? And why did my body feel like this?
I looked down at myself and discovered that I was naked. I was sprawled across the bed, and the sheets had been cast aside to put my nakedness on display. I peered around, looking for someone—anyone—but no one was there.
I so wished someone was there. I needed someone to come and touch me. To put out this fire with their hands and tongue and cock.
Yes. That was exactly what I needed.
I waited, but I was impatient. I only lasted a few minutes before I concluded that waiting was pointless when I could take care of things myself. I got comfortable and reached down between my legs, where my fingers slid through the slippery wetness with ease. I smiled to myself as I traced my opening and then my clit.