“You’re in New York.” Six months with no contact, dreaming of what I would say if I ever saw him again, and that’s the opening line that I went with. If only verbal communication had a backspace key.
“That explains the high-rises and lack of palm trees.” He grinned, giving me a glimpse of that endearing dimple I had missed so much. “I was hoping I’d run into you while I was here.” Glancing over my shoulder, he dipped his head in a brief nod to Tandy, who was trying to hide her face behind her falafel. “Thanks again, Tandy.”
The puzzle pieces fell into place with a click. Shooting my sweetly conniving friend a knowing smile, I turned my attentions back to Kole. “You wanted to see me, yet the last time we saw each other you strongly implied you would like it very much if we didn’t have to occupy the same planet.”
He didn’t deny my claim, but raised both shoulders in a nonchalant shrug. “The last time we saw each other you were about to marry another man just to avoid me. The standard ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ would’ve been better received. Just sayin’.” Rocking back on his heels, he plunged his hands into the pockets of his khaki slacks.
“I’ll keep that in mind the next time I freak out and bolt on a guy,” I chuckled at the ground, lingering guilt demanding I avert my gaze.
“From what I’ve heard there’s a new and improved Aubrey Evans that would never do such a thing.” Kole ducked down to catch my eye and draw it back up with him. “She’s rumored to be the tough and business savvy dynamo that made Art Hadley crawl across the country to persuade her to let him make her second movie, only to slam the door in his face and inform him she’d be producing her own film.”
I swallowed hard, my throat suddenly as dry as the Mohave. “Wow, she sounds like a badass.”
“I knew she had it in her.” A light breeze blew a strand of hair between my lips. Kole brushed it away, the back of his hand sweeping over my cheek with a delicate caress. “I’m just sorry I missed it. I bet it was a hell of a show.”
“He groveled. It was everything I had hoped it would be.”
Kole’s head fell back, his hand clenching in a fist at his side. “Yes!” he cheered to the heavens before turning his twinkling gaze back to me. “I would love to hear every pleading detail. Maybe while I’m in town we can grab a coffee? Catch up like friends do in situations such as this?”
It’s a perplexing emotional conundrum to find one’s self in; wanting to appear aloof while suppressing the urge to scream, ‘Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!’ Still, by pinching the side of my leg hard enough to bruise it, I managed a somewhat aloof—if not pained—façade.
“Yeah, maybe. Do you still have my number?”
“I do.” He nodded, a peaches and cream glow filling his cheeks.
Finding myself sinking into the silver sparks swirling in his eyes, I jerked back to the here and now. “Great! Well, until then …” raising one hand, I pressed my index finger gently to his forehead, “… this isn’t over.”
I anticipated a light chuckle over the resurrection of our inside joke. Instead, his hand encircled my wrist and tugged me to him. Enveloping me in his embrace, he welcomed my mouth with his own. His tongue gently parted my lips, twirling and twining with mine.
Feeling him pull away, I grasped the fabric of his shirt in a white-knuckled grip, my breath coming in ragged pants. Much to my delight, he only retracted enough to rest his forehead to mine.
“No,” he murmured, the warmth of his breath on my face causing waves of desire to shudder through me, “it’s only the beginning.”
The future rose before me, a ghost ship with its billowing mast of the unknown. However, this time I didn’t push it away. Running my hands up his back, I weaved my fingers into his silky hair and drew his lips to mine. Let the spray of life’s adventure wash over me. Finally, I was ready for it.
Epilogue
“He watched from a distance, waiting until you were ready,” RB sighed, with a dreamy, far-off look in her eyes, “but in the romantic way and not, like, a Class A Creeper.”
“There’s a thin line …” I chuckled, letting the thought trail off.
A soft knock sounded at the door, followed by the swipe of a key card. Kole poked his head in, granting me the warm smile that had come to signify home and acceptance. “Hey, beautiful, I hate to interrupt, but the wedding planner is here. If we’re going to make it in time to the—”
“Nah! Un-uh!” I so eloquently interjected.
“—rehearsal at the undisclosed location you threatened me with bodily harm if I revealed, we need to go now,” he finished without missing a beat.
Rising from my chair, I offered a friendly smile to the reporter that had listened patiently as I cathartically purged my story. “I guess that’s my cue. Thank you so much for letting me blather on.”
RB stared up at me, eyes bulging, mouth opening and closing yet somehow not forming a peep. “But … that can’t be it,” she finally managed. “What about your first real date? Or the first ‘I love you’? How did he propose? All those big moments! You can’t leave it like that! I need to know!”
I crossed to where Kole held the door open for me, smoothing down the wrinkles in my skirt and blouse as I walked. The second I was within arm’s distance, he caught me by the waist.
“That is a great question,” he said with an impish grin. His nose delicately brushed mine, his roguish gaze focused on the curve of my lips. “How were those big, once dire, moments?”
“They were okay,” I teased, rolling my eyes in playful indifference, “fleeting.”
My reward was a kiss on the tip of my nose. “Good answer.”
Pushing away, he backed out into the hall, his outstretched hand luring me to follow.
I took one step forward and paused, glancing back to Reporter Barbie. “Those moments were great,” I answered her directly, feeling after everything that I owed her that, “but to be honest, I’m much more excited about what’s to come.”
The End?
About the Author
Stacey Rourke is the winner of the RONE Award for Best YA Paranormal Work of 2012 for Embrace, Gryphon Series Book Two, as well as the Turning Pages Magazine Winner of Best YA book of 2013 & Best Teen Book of 2013 for Sacrifice, Gryphon Series Book Three. She lives in Michigan with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and two giant dogs. She loves to travel, has an unhealthy shoe addiction, and considers herself blessed to make a career out of talking to the imaginary people that live in her head.
Visit her at:
http://rourkewrites.weebly.com
diaryofasemi-crazyauthor.blogspot.com
Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stacey-Rourke/
or on Twitter or Instagram at Rourkewrites
Other Books by Stacey Rourke:
The Gryphon Series:
The Conduit
Embrace
Sacrifice
Ascension
Legends Saga:
Crane
Raven
Steam, coming soon!
I’m Not Crazy, I’m on Lupron; a Journey through Infertility
Adapted for Film Page 17