Painted Passion

by Latisha Brandon

  “How do you know your father won’t be there?”

  “Because I called him,” Kevin informed her, while hoping he was able to defuse the situation.

  Instead she girlishly said, “I suppose I should find it flattering that you want to make love to me so badly.”

  Kevin dropped her hands and began to spin in drunken circles, as if she finally got the point. His arms flaring in the air and at his sides as he shouted to the rafters, “Yes, yes!

  “But this time my intentions are not seduction, they’re honorable. I promise to behave like a perfect gentleman. And the condo has two bedrooms.”

  Ashlyn sashayed toward him, her hips a pendulum, asking, “Will I wake to find you in my bed at three in the morning, claiming you’re a sleepwalker?”

  “Only if you send out a signal,” Kevin teased.

  “Like the Batman signal?”

  “Something a little more subtle.”

  “Like a whisper in your ear or waiting for you with a warm towel after you shower? How about me scantily clad, laying at your bare feet?” Ashlyn waited for him to climb on the motorcycle.

  “The minute you do any of those things, especially the last, be prepared to not get any sleep,” Kevin informed her, starting the bike.

  “Are you boasting? Tsk, tsk, such empty promises,” she chided into the headset while climbing onto the back of the bike.

  “God willing, you’ll soon find out,” Kevin said as he drove over the ramp and began to head south.

  * * *

  “Kevin, that’s neon pink…don’t you think it’ll clash with my red hair?”

  “Only complement,” he cooed, trying to convince her to get the miniscule suit.

  “When I agreed to let you pick out a bathing suit, I believed your good taste would prevail, but you’re pushing toward the tacky. There’s no way in hell I’m parading across a crowded beach in a neon pink string bikini.” Ashlyn walked away, searching for a suit to fit her body type, preferably in a less loud color.

  Kevin called to her retreating back, “If I buy it, will you at least wear it when we’re alone?”

  Ashlyn pivoted and said, “I will if you’ll wear these.” She picked up a yellow Speedo that only European men could get away with wearing.

  However, Kevin wasn’t fazed. He looked Ashlyn dead in her eyes and said with the utmost seriousness, “The suit’s not big enough.”

  “Where does your bragging end? When I finally see what you’re hiding in your pants, and it doesn’t live up to all you profess, be prepared to get heckled.” Ashlyn stuffed the trunks in her cart and taunted, “Do we have a deal or not?”

  “We have a deal, but don’t run and hide when I fall out of it.” Kevin placed the pink suit in the cart, pinching her butt as he passed, loving the blush upon her cheeks. “What color do you want, if pink’s not your color?”

  “Earth tones—something that won’t wash me out. And I prefer a bikini top, with boy shorts on the bottom.” Ashlyn and Kevin perused the aisles, buying needed supplies like sunscreen and extra large beach towels. “I’m glad this shop was within walking distance of your place.”

  “Look, I found the perfect bathing suit.” He held up an off-white suit, with ethnic beading along the top’s edging. The bottom was faux belted and covered the places she was always trying to hide.

  “It’s perfect. Let me try it on just to make sure.”

  “Can I come with you to help you try it on?” Kevin asked, all innocence.

  “You have that innocent look down to a science, but I know you’re a lecher.” Then she added, “You can come and watch…but just watch.”

  Kevin followed her into the dressing room. “I’ll even sit on my hands.”

  She turned her back to him, meeting his eyes in the mirror. She toed her shoes off and lifted her top over her head. Her nerves were frantic. She never could have imagined being in this place and situation. His eyes, heavily lidded, watched her every move. She played with the top of her pants, the only item of clothing she now wore.

  “Do you need help? You only have to ask.” Kevin rested his elbows on his knees, the space between them vanishing.

  “If you wouldn’t mind, I could use some assistance.” Ashlyn turned to him, sighing as he peeled her pants from her waist, down her thighs, past her knees, over her calves, and then lifted her feet one at a time.

  “I thought you didn’t like to wear pink?” Kevin asked, fingering the lace along her underwear.

  “This is a different shade of pink, pale in comparison to the shade you insist on buying.”

  She didn’t hesitate a fraction of a second when he pulled her onto his lap, never considering they were in a public place and could be caught at any moment.

  He hungrily kissed her and played in her hair.

  She desired him. She wanted him buried inside her. She needed him like she needed to breathe. She heard Elvis Costello’s raspy, melodic voice singing “I Want You.” Her need for him scared her and brought tears to her eyes. She felt as if she had finally arrived at a precious juncture, but she feared he would break her heart.

  He sensed her tensing. “Don’t pull away.” He re-engaged his mouth with hers, silencing her doubts and fears. He bruised her nipples as he pulled her closer, his hands spread wide across her shoulder blades.

  Her head was spinning. Bliss, simple bliss, made her hum against his lips.

  “Put your hands above your head, against the wall. Don’t move, hold as still as possible.”

  Ashlyn watched as he held her waist in place and extended his tongue to her peaking breasts. The single stroke caused her pelvis to jerk, but he held her motionless. Her hands stretched further up the wall, her back arching, and he took her a little deeper. He fed from her and Ashlyn watched every delicious ministration.

  Kevin slowly began to rotate her shapely hips in circles. He raised his hips, meeting her, the denim of his pants causing a ripening sensation.

  Her body convulsed, shaking her. Kevin brushed his lips with hers, but not before a high piercing wail escaped.

  “What have you done to me? I hardly recognize myself. I’m changing.” She was bare before him and there was no going back now. She tucked her face into the space between his neck and his shoulder.

  Kevin leaned back and coaxed her to meet his gaze. “Why are there tears in your beautiful eyes?” His arms were still wrapped around her waist as he held her.

  Ashlyn placed both of her hands along his jaw line and spoke precisely what was on her mind. “I need you to stay true to me. I need you to not make me regret this by making a fool of me. If you’re going to be with me, then it can be only me, because I’m not one for sharing.” Ashlyn eased herself from his lap, foregoing trying on the bathing suit. “I refuse to be a fill-in or a substitute.” She hurriedly put on her clothes, swiping tears from her face. She needed to get control of herself.

  “Come here, Ashlyn, sit down…please. Let me say something to you.” Kevin eased her down beside him and placed her calves over his thigh. Kevin picked up both of her sneakers, and placed them on her feet, one after the other, all the while talking to her. “Sweetie, I never mistook you for a fill-in or a substitute. Please know that. I’ve never felt for another woman what I feel for you. I plan to stay true.” He kissed her, drying her tears with the pad of his thumb.

  “No more tears. Come on, let me buy you that pink bathing suit,” he teased.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “Ashlyn, I can’t carry one more thing. I’m not a pack mule.” Kevin tripped over one of the chairs he carried. They walked across the upscale lobby of the building where his condo was and exited right on the beach.

  Ashlyn put on her sunglasses. The sun was blinding bouncing off the sand. “Kevin, we need both of the chairs, the cooler, an umbrella, the towels, a blanket, the boogie board, and the buckets. Why are you complaining? This was your idea. Besides, I’m carrying my bag.”

  Ashlyn took one of the chairs and navigated through the crowd on th
e shore. She wanted to be as close to the water as possible.

  “Right here should be good,” Kevin called to the back of her head.

  “Let’s look for a place closer,” Ashlyn responded. She didn’t see him roll his eyes, but she heard him huffing.

  “What about right here?” he asked her back, dropping everything he carried.

  “I guess I really have no choice.” Ashlyn walked back to his side. “Right here it is, even though I think we could have gotten closer to the water.” Ashlyn set up the area, spreading out the blanket and placing the chairs along the edge, under the umbrella.

  “Why are you so covered up?” he asked, perplexed. “I meant to ask before we left. What’s the purpose of wearing a bathing suit if you are just going to cover it up? And what’s with the hat? I don’t think you could find one bigger.”

  “In case you haven’t noticed, my skin is fair. I burn easily, and the bathing suit is too revealing. I really should have tried it on before you bought it.” It was revealing but not as much as the pink suit, which she’d tried on when they arrived at his condo late last night.

  Kevin had kept his promise and they’d slept in separate rooms.

  “Let me see, so I can judge for myself.”

  “You are so fresh. Does your mind ever venture past seeing me undressed? Besides, my courage has fled…give me more time.” Ashlyn sat down beside Kevin, who never seemed embarrassed to bare his body. His board shorts fit low on his waist, highlighting his pelvis indentations—the sexiest part of the male body, in her opinion. She couldn’t keep her eyes from straying lower.

  She’d woken that morning to him standing in front of the stove, shirtless, and fresh out of the shower. He’d made her a fresh fruit salad with green tea and honey, while he inhaled a Spanish omelet and sweetened Tai coffee.

  “Just rip it off, like a bandage! The faster the better.” Kevin knew if he joked, he would get his way, and sure enough, she stood, dropping her large hat and black cover-up.

  She stood proudly before him, turning in a circle on the tips of her toes, modeling for him. “What do you think?”

  Kevin jumped up, grabbed her cover-up and tried to throw it over her head. “I think you should put this back on.”

  “Kevin, get this thing off my head. I can’t see. Have you lost your mind? I know it’s not that bad.” Ashlyn pushed him away, scrutinizing him. “Why did you do that?”

  “You’re practically naked, and everyone can see.” The bottom half of her suit rode her hips like perfection, barely grazing the edges of her toned thighs. Her top drew the eye from her graceful neck, down to her cleavage, down to a generous expanse of flat belly wrapped in a dark tattoo.

  “You’re the one who picked out the suit. Just imagine if I wore the pink one.” Ashlyn smiled at him. “I think you’re jealous, afraid of other men looking at me. Is this a first for you?”

  He was jealous. He felt uptight and ill at ease. He’d never cared in the past about the attention other men gave any woman he dated. This was new and he didn’t know if he liked it. Kevin silently sat down, watching as she did the same. The material hugged her body like a second skin.

  She kept him on his toes, she challenged him, and she made him want to be a better man. The prospect of remaining faithful and cleaving only to one frightened him. Kevin looked at her out of his peripheral vision, until his eyes went cross, and pain shot through his brain. He was losing his mind and he had only known her for less than two months. Kevin jumped up. “I’m gonna go for a swim. Why don’t you relax and read that book you keep trying to hide from me.” Ashlyn looked at him in surprise. “Don’t look so shocked, you know the one I’m talking about, with the pirate on the cover and the lady with the ripped blouse. Why do women read that pornographic garbage? If a man is captain of a ship, he’s not going to do it with his shirt hanging open, especially around other men!” Kevin bent down and kissed her forehead.

  “It’s neither pornographic nor garbage. It’s woman’s fiction, a romance novel. Besides, you wouldn’t understand about female fantasy. You think you can just tell a woman she has a fat ass and she’ll jump into bed with you.”

  “It worked with you.” Kevin ducked as Ashlyn kicked sand at him. “Stop, you know I’m just playing. You have yet to jump into bed with me.”

  Ashlyn gazed at him in a huff. “What about seducing her mind?”

  “Believe me, I’m trying.” Kevin picked up his board, heading to the ocean.

  Ashlyn watched him walk off. She knew he was trying to clear his head. Jealousy was a new thing for him. She gave him space, letting him work off his excess energy. He frolicked in the waves like a kid. She thought he would fall off the board, but she was pleasantly surprised. He looked at ease, as if he had done this on numerous occasions. What was she doing there, crying like a baby one moment, and stopping herself from entering his bedroom the next?

  Could she really trust him? She still didn’t know. Only time could answer that question. He was devastatingly handsome and sensual. The effect he had on her made her lose sight of her good sense. If only he were not so beautifully masculine. He charmed her with his words and seduced her with his dark and brooding ways. He made her laugh hysterically and flush with the first blush of youth. She feared for her heart, because never had her heart resided in such a place as it did now.

  She desired to cast all aside and remain at his side. But how could that be? Yes, she’d taken the summer off, declining future assignments, but to what end? Should she return to Philadelphia, pack her bags, and accept the assignment in Japan? For so long her job had been her life.

  Ashlyn cringed when she heard her cell phone ring, embarrassed by the song. Who thought it was funny to hack into her phone and download songs not of her taste? The hook of the song kept playing repeatedly, while she hunted for her phone in her straw bag. When she found out who had downloaded the ringtone, there would be hell to pay. Every time the phone rang, a new embarrassing song started.

  Ashlyn finally retrieved her phone. “Hello.”

  “How’s daddy’s little girl doing? I haven’t spoken to you for over a week, but I know you are busy preparing for another assignment.” Her father’s voice erased her irritation.

  “I turned down the job, because I think I’m suffering from burn-out.”

  “I’m not surprised, with your hectic schedule.”

  “The constant go, go, go was slowly wearing me out. I’m making up for it. Right at this exact moment I’m relaxing on the beach and listening to the waves slap against the rocks.” Ashlyn reclined into her chair, imagining her father sitting on the beach next to her mother.

  “Where are you?” Her father intertwined his fingers with his wife’s, giving her the sign that Ashlyn was fine.

  “Ocean City, Maryland, but I’ll probably be here for only a few more days.” She watched Kevin approach, but he was stopped by a young, giggling college girl. Ashlyn kept her eyes on him and her ears attuned to her father.

  “Is everything really okay?” Liam questioned, concern in his voice.

  “Everything is fine. I just needed to take time off to clear my head. Daddy, I have to ask you a question.”

  “Ask away, it must be serious.” Liam turned to Kathryn, silently putting Ashlyn on speakerphone. They sat on their private beach at the back of the house.

  “Why did you and Mom decide to show me only one side of my heritage when I’m equally proud of both?” Her question was met by silence, her parents not expecting the question. “Dad, did you hear me?” she probed.

  “I heard you. I just don’t know where to begin. In just your short life, things have drastically changed. When you were born, we felt as if we had no other choice. Ashlyn, this really is a conversation I would rather have in person. When are you coming home again?” He wanted to hug her, reassure her, but she was so far away, and not just by miles. He had felt her pulling away for a while now, but in the beginning, he’d chosen to ignore the signs. Usually she came to stay for at l
east one week at the beach house, bringing Makayla with her.

  Ashlyn watched Kevin smile at the crowd of young coeds obviously away from home for the first time and on summer vacation. Surprisingly, she didn’t feel jealous. She shook her head at his antics. Kevin gazed at her and winked. “I met someone, Daddy. His name is Kevin. He’s a young artist from Philadelphia. We met a few months ago, when I was there on assignment.”

  Her parents looked at each other. “Can you tell me any more about him?”

  Ashlyn watched Kevin approach, squealing when he shook like a wet dog, and rained droplets of cold water upon her. “He has a wicked sense of humor.”

  Kevin picked up one of the towels, wondering at first whom she was conversing with, especially when he heard, “He’s unlike anyone I’ve ever known. No, Dad, he’s not like Frank.”

  Thank God for that, Kevin thought.

  “I love you and I’ll talk to you in a few days.” Ashlyn quickly turned off her phone before it rang again, and Kevin, or anyone else within hearing range, heard the ringtone.

  Kevin pulled Ashlyn to her feet. “Get in the water with me. We can neck beneath the surf.” Kevin led her past the giggling girls, who complimented her fawn bathing suit. They ran into waist-high water.

  The water cooled her sun-heated skin. Ashlyn wrapped her arms around his neck, and Kevin lifted her, wrapping her legs around his waist. He carried her further out. She drew his face to hers, touching her forehead to his.

  “Aren’t you glad that I’m so unlike any man you’ve ever known…that I’m not Frank?” He kissed her, stopping her from calling him arrogant.

  * * *

  Ashlyn washed her hair, cleaning away the saltwater and sand from five days of fun in the sun; their one-day trip had stretched to five. The hot water relaxed her tense shoulders. Every night she retired pathetically alone, waiting for him to make the first move, but she’d been solely disappointed. He kissed Ashlyn at her bedroom door, his lashes darkly lush against his golden skin. He was breathtaking…and driving her insane. Last night she’d watched him charm the hostess, the waitress, and a party of women sitting behind them. Every female who encountered him walked away feeling delightfully noticed.