“Melissa. I’m serious here. You can’t keep bringing strange guys here to have sex. Do it somewhere else.”
“Where?” she asks, her tone rising as if she’s seriously unsure of the answer. She’s almost alarmed by it. Where? Why do I care where she has sex? Can’t she figure that out on her own?
“I don’t care where. Just not in my bed. I don’t want you using my bed. Please acknowledge this request and tell me you get it.”
She suddenly whips around. “Have you ever climbed it?”
Exasperated, I throw my hands up. “Climbed what?”
“Mount St. Helens?”
Mount St. Helens? Her focus now returns to the wolf made of volcanic ash? I shake my head, completely puzzled by her strange tangents to the conversation. “Uh. No, not yet. I hope to go in February.”
She finally seems to tune into me, and raises her gaze as some color fills her face. “Why in the winter? Isn’t that more dangerous?”
“I plan to climb up and snow ski down.” I wave my hands toward the two skis leaning against the wall in the corner.
“You don’t seem strong enough to do that.”
Insult me much? I inwardly groan and tap my hand on my leg. “Well, that’s my plan.”
“Can I come?”
I stare into her pupils, looking for dilation, or brightness, or unfocused eyes, because I’m sure now she must be high on something. Nothing she says makes any sense, or logically flows, or even connects. What does one have to do with the other? She’s crazy. I can’t find any logic to her thinking.
“Uh. No.”
“Why not?” Her eyes squint and her forehead wrinkles up as if contemplating my reply with all her energy.
She’s really offended. I roll my eyes. “Where shall I start? Because you can’t climb. Or ski. It’s dangerous. And hard. And you don’t have the right equipment, nor do you know anything about it. Those are just the obvious reasons, but I could go on.”
“How do you know how?”
“I learned from my dad. I’ve done it with friends. For years. I read about it. I do it. I make it my hobby.”
“It doesn’t seem to fit you.”
Yes, insulting me is the surest way to make me all the more eager to embrace this half–baked, hair–brained idea of hers. “Melissa? Hear me. You can’t do it. It’s not for you. It’s hard work. It can be dangerous. It takes tenacity and care and following rules. It takes strength of mind, body and character. It’s definitely not for you.”
I lay it on thick, hoping she gets me. She retreats half a step. “You… think that badly of me?”
“You were just screaming about riding daddy with some stranger in my bed! I don’t really have the highest opinion of you, no.”
“You think you can judge me because I have sex? Don’t you? I mean, it’s a natural expression and part of being human. And being young. There’s nothing dirty about it.”
I don’t really care. And I certainly would never discuss my private life with her. Never. Ever.
“No. It’s fine. Just not here. I think you missed the point of this entire exchange. Hear me, okay? I don’t care if you have sex. Or with whom. I don’t care why you do it. Or how often. I just don’t want you to do it on my bed again. Okay? Please quit sneaking in here. I detest it. And I’m asking you here and now to show me that much respect.”
Her head tilts as her expression is once again perplexed. “I didn’t realize you felt that way about me.”
I scratch my head. She literally stumps me. “How could you not know I felt that way? I’ve been crystal clear every time it happens.”
“I don’t want you to think so badly of me.”
I throw my hands up. “Fine. I don’t. I just want you to listen to me when I speak to you. I want you to respect my privacy. And I don’t want you to come in here, in the apartment, which I am renting, and use it as if it’s your own. We don’t have that kind of relationship, Melissa.”
She shakes her head and her hair falls back. “Well, do you want to have to sex with me?”
I glance at her, completely dumbfounded. I meet her long stare and she doesn’t blink, or blush, or simper. She offers to have sex with me for what? To make me like her? I don’t know what to even do with her now. I open my mouth to speak; and even I am shocked by what pops out.
Please keep check at my website for a release date.
My Other Titles:
The Sister Series available to date:
The Other Sister
The Years Between
The Good Sister
The Best Friend
The Wrong Sister
The Years After
Daughters is a spin–off of The Sister Series about Jessie’s (The Other Sister) daughters.
Christina (Daughters, #1)
Natalie (Daughters, #2)
River’s End Series:
The Rydell River Ranch is a large horse training, boarding and breeding operation, owned and operated by four brothers who are left in charge of their century old legacy in the small, rural town of River’s End.
River's End
River's Escape
River's Return
The Zenith Trilogy:
Share in the fall, rise and eventual fulfillment of the rock band Zenith’s destiny…
Zenith Falling
Zenith Rising
Zenith Fulfilled
The Seaclusion Series:
The characters are all connected to Seaclusion, Washington a fictional town set along the Pacific Ocean.
Poison
Notorious
Secrets
Seclusion
My standalone novel: Diversions
Jason Malone has spent his life being denied by his family. His father, the respected mayor of his hometown, has all but ignored his existence, while his drug–addicted mother has always caused him more harm than good. After being unjustly imprisoned for crimes that lead back to his absentee family, he is finally starting to get his life back together again.
Until the day his estranged brother's fiancée walks into his life and changes everything.
Christine Andrews is the dutiful daughter of a rich and powerful family, engaged to Trent Gallagher, her father's right hand man, and poised to join her father and Trent in running the empire her father has built. Until Christine discovers the existence of Jason Malone and suddenly she begins to doubt everything around her, including her fiancé.
Christine becomes caught in a power struggle between the two brothers, but she soon realizes there is far more at stake than her heart, when one night everything is altered forever.
About the Author
I live in the rainy area of Western Washington, and spend as much time as I can getting away from the rain by traveling to destinations all across the state where my family and I do tons of camping, boating, fishing, and horseback riding. Many of the locations we camp become the basis for my books. Most of my settings are fictional but are based on real places.
I earned my business degree from Western Washington University. I worked for several years in the construction management field before turning to writing and being home with my kids.
I love to hear from readers. Please contact me at: [email protected]
Or through one of my sites:
Website
Facebook Author Page
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed Natalie.
Leanne Davis - Natalie (Daughters Series #2) Page 29