Draw Me Close

by Nicole Michaels

  “Thought they took up too much space. Wanted me to get over my obsession. Who knows? I quit trying to understand the man a long time ago.”

  Lindsey bit at her lip. “I’m sure he just didn’t realize that they were special.”

  Derek turned to face her, shoving his hands in his pockets. “He knew exactly how special they were.”

  “That’s horrible. I’m sorry.” She glanced back down at the box and reached in front of him to pick up one of the comics. “You could buy some of these. They’re not in very good condition but it would be … something.” She wasn’t sure what else to say. It was another layer of Derek’s past with his father revealed. Each one seemed to be sadder than the last. What kind of man could be that thoughtless and uncaring?

  “Some things can’t be replaced.” His voice was quiet. “I’ve learned that the hard way because I’ve had to give up a lot of things I want.”

  Lindsey put the comic down just as Derek turned and grabbed her hand. She looked up into his eyes. He stared back and slowly lifted her fingers up to his mouth.

  She shivered as his lips brushed against one knuckle, than another. He lingered there, his eyes peering over the back of her hand. Lips pursed against her skin. She felt the warmth of his breath all the way down to her toes. And she couldn’t move, could barely breathe. With his touch and his lips he’d now made her fingers into an erogenous zone.

  His other hand came around her waist, gently pulling her closer. She let him, unable to think clearly as she continued to stare into his heated gaze. She knew what this meant. Things could never be the same if she allowed him to take this any further. She should stop him.

  She couldn’t.

  “Lindsey, I won’t break your rules any further,” he said, lowering their joined hands. He twisted his wrist, pulling her hand in to lean against his chest. She swore she could feel the pounding of his heart. “But … I’d really love for you to break mine. Please.”

  He had her. His request was so desperate, his voice so quiet, and his eyes so hopeful. She knew that in this moment she was willing to give this man anything. Damn the past and everything that had happened between them for whatever reasons. This was now. They’d both been hurt in so many ways. Some she was beginning to understand, some she probably never would.

  No matter what may result from it, she knew that more than anything she wanted to kiss Derek again. Had known it all along. There had never been anything better than the feel of his lips against hers, and if she got hurt in the end, at least she would enjoy it right now. Refusing to look away, she lifted up on her toes and slowly leaned in, her lips touching his. Tentatively at first, soft. A kiss here, there, here again.

  She let her eyes close as she remembered exactly how perfectly they fit together. It was like reliving a dream, the silken texture of his lips, the way he responded slowly, nipping at her bottom lip as he did now. Languidly sucking it into his mouth.

  Her body responded instantly, heat pooling in her core. She let out the quietest moan and angled her head to give him all the permission he needed. He took graciously at first, unlocking their hands pressed between them and smashing her chest against his. The now free hand slid to her scalp and shoved into her hair, controlling the angle of her head to just where he wanted it.

  And then his kiss turned ravenous, his mouth opening over hers, his tongue filling her, demanding she reciprocate.

  God, it had always been like this, Derek knowing the exact way to handle her body to leave her desperate and needy. Making every movement of his mouth feel as intimate as sex itself.

  And as willing as she was right now, this was the exact reason she’d tried to keep her distance. This was what she was afraid of. Losing herself to his charms. Her body to his intense passion. Her heart to all of him. She knew she would if given the chance.

  Voices behind them had Lindsey suddenly pulling away, extricating herself from his firm grasp. For a moment she wasn’t sure if he’d let her go, but finally he released his hold.

  She took a deep breath, her heart nearly breaking through her chest as she looked at him. His eyes were lidded, but his chest was moving just as rapidly as hers.

  “I’m sorry. That was probably not a good idea.”

  “Lindsey—”

  “Oh, look at this dress, Tina,” a woman said only a few feet away.

  “How about we take a break for some lunch?” Lindsey said, her tone purposely light. She stepped away in the direction they’d entered.

  She turned back to see if Derek was following. He stood in place for a moment, his eyes giving her a warning stare. She raised an eyebrow and when the two women shoppers came closer he followed Lindsey across the room and down the stairs.

  “How do you feel about street tacos?” she asked, her tone light.

  “Whatever you want,” he said. They headed down three more flights and then out into the sunshine. Her body was keyed up to the point of humming, but she didn’t want him to know that.

  Slipping her sunglasses onto her face, Lindsey glanced around for her favorite truck. The streets were now nearly full to bursting, the scent of kettle corn, Indian food, and of course Mexican filled the air. When she spotted what she was looking for she nodded for Derek to follow. If he was as frustratingly unsated as she was at the moment he didn’t show it. Cool and calm, that was the only thing she could find in his expression.

  “If you trust me I have a favorite. I’m friends with Ruby, the owner.”

  “Of course I trust you,” he said.

  She smiled, and led them toward the crowd. Lindsey had gotten to know Ruby a few years ago when she’d just started consigning at the Pink Pearl. They’d hit it off right away and the rest was history. They’d become friends and helped each other when they could. Ruby often hung flyers for Lindsey’s booth and Etsy shop, and in return Lindsey had painted some art on the woman’s big red taco truck a year or so ago. For small, local entrepreneurs, building these kind of relationships was so important.

  They walked side by side, dodging people coming from the opposite direction. Finally they made their way up to the bright red truck with the giant RUBY TACOS across the back. Every time Lindsey spotted the dazzling paint she smiled.

  “Wow. That’s some paint job,” Derek said.

  Lindsey smiled to herself but didn’t comment. The truck was a shimmering ruby red and the company logo was done in a vintage font that also featured a cartoony light-brown-skinned version of Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, holding a taco. The best part was that Ruby’s tacos were authentic, just like Lindsey’s grandmother from Mexico used to make. Fresh corn tortillas, lots of lime juice, and the various salsas were nice and hot, just the way Lindsey liked it.

  She pointed the menu out to Derek. All the varieties were named after characters in the story. There was a Dorothy, a Tin Man, Toto, and so on. The biggest meal was, of course, the Wizard. Luckily the line wasn’t too bad, and within ten minutes they were at the window.

  “Look who it is, our most beautiful customer and the highlight of every First Friday,” a handsome young man said from the window.

  “Hi, Rico. How are you?” she asked with a grin.

  Rico was Ruby’s youngest son, and at nineteen way too young for Lindsey. That never kept him from flirting with her. “I’m a lot better now that you’re here.” He leaned his arms on the metal counter, grin wide and charming.

  Lindsey glanced at Derek, who was staring the poor kid down. She decided to intervene and opened her mouth to speak when Ben, Ruby’s older son, appeared at the window. He was twenty-two and just as adorable as Rico. He shoved his little brother out of the way and gave Lindsey his biggest smile.

  “Hey, girl. We were starting to think we wouldn’t see you today.”

  That was the moment Lindsey felt Derek’s hand snake around her waist, pulling her close to his side. She hesitated a moment but pulled herself together. After that kiss she wasn’t entirely shocked by this, but it still surprised her a little.


  “Ugh, hey Ben.” Lindsey glanced up at Derek quickly and he raised an eyebrow at her. She turned back to the window. “This is … my friend Derek.”

  “What’s up, man?” Ben gave him a chin lift and then his eyes went straight back to her. He obviously didn’t notice or didn’t care about Derek’s possessive display of affection.

  “Not much, good to meet you,” Derek replied anyway, and Lindsey didn’t miss the annoyance in his tone.

  “Is your mother not here?”

  “Nah, she went to visit her sister in Dallas.”

  “Oh, that’s nice.” Lindsey glanced behind them in line. There was a group of women waiting, but they were all too engrossed in their conversation to notice what was going on in front of them. When she turned back to the window, Rico was back. “Well, I want—”

  “Please, as if you need to say.” Rico grinned, winked at her, and then called over his shoulder to his brother. “One Lindsey Taco, extra juice.”

  “Really?” Derek said under his breath, his hand clamping down on her waist.

  “It’s really good. I always order the same thing with extra lime juice, so he just started—”

  “Yeah, I get it. You forget I was a young guy once. They think they’re being cute. It’s not cute.” Derek’s tone was dry as sand, and Lindsey found herself grinning in spite of herself. Yeah, she’d known when the guys had started describing her special meal the way they did, with a wicked smile, that they thought they were getting away with the innuendo, but she’d been on to them.

  Rico put his head back through the window. “What can I get you, man?”

  “Well, I guess if it’s that good, I’ll get a Lindsey Taco, too. In fact, make it two of them.”

  Rico grinned and raised an eyebrow before saying, “You want the extra juice?”

  Derek glanced down at Lindsey before turning to Rico. “Absolutely.”

  Rico laughed and gave them a wink. “You’ll love it.”

  “I intend to,” Derek whispered against her hair. His warm breath tickled behind her ear and she shuddered against him. So much for no flirting and touching. Every rule they’d set had just been blown to pieces.

  * * *

  The Lindsey Taco was amazing, but nowhere near as delicious as the woman herself. And he wanted her again. All of her. But he could tell she was trying desperately to pretend they hadn’t just had their tongues down each other’s throat.

  They were seated at one of many folding tables lining the sidewalk that had been set up for the day. He guessed that while they were in public he could play along with their denial for a little while, but as soon as he got her alone it was back on.

  “So what do you think?” she asked.

  “It’s really good. So you just started ordering this exact thing?”

  Lindsey shrugged. “Yeah. I got the Glenda for a while, which is made with chicken also, but this was the way my abuelita—my grandmother—used to make it. She kept it very simple, just cooking the chicken with tomatoes, lots of lime juice, and onions. She also made fresh guajillo chile salsa and then topped it with slices of avocado and cilantro.”

  He loved listening to her say Spanish words, the shape of her lips as she formed the vowels. He’d like to hear her say something dirty. Instead he continued with their conversation. “It tastes really fresh. Nothing like the drive-thru tacos I grew up on.”

  She laughed. “Most certainly not. Americanized tacos are good, but these, these are the real thing. Completely different.”

  “So how do you know those yahoos that work the truck?”

  She shook her head, hiding a small grin. “Those are Ruby’s sons. I’d gotten to know her just from stopping and getting lunch, and one day I just told her about how I remembered my grandmother’s tacos and so she made one for me. We kind of became friends after that.”

  As if his ears had been burning, the youngest of the sons—Rico maybe—walked up to their table and leaned on an empty chair. Derek’s body went on alert.

  “Everything good?” Rico asked.

  “Wonderful,” Lindsey said. Derek nodded his agreement, wondering what the guy wanted and wishing he hadn’t come by.

  “Hey, Linds, I meant to tell you that Pete over there asked me about our truck. But don’t worry, I told him we were your one and only. Just wanted to warn you in case he caught you and started putting the pressure on.”

  Derek glanced across the street to where Rico had nodded. A rather ugly white truck with the words PETE’S BBQ stenciled onto the side sat parked on the curb. Things started to click into place in Derek’s head. He glanced at Lindsey who appeared embarrassed.

  “You’re right, no more food trucks for me. I just love your mama. Tell her hi for me, will ya?”

  “Will do, Linds,” Rico said. He turned to Derek. “Later, man.”

  “Yeah, later.”

  Derek was in shock and he waited for Lindsey to explain, but when she didn’t he put his drink down and stared at her. “Lindsey, were you really not going to tell me you painted that truck?”

  She lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know.”

  Derek’s shoulders dropped in annoyance. “Don’t bullshit me, Linds. I mentioned the paint job, the least you could have done was say it was your work. It’s beautiful.”

  She gave him a smile. “Thank you. But if you must know, part of the reason I didn’t say anything was because I didn’t want the cartoon genius critiquing my work.”

  Derek went silent. They stared at each other for a long moment and he was surprised she didn’t look away. “Did I ever critique your work?”

  She shook her head. “No, I guess not.”

  “All right, then. So next time you brag when you do something amazing.”

  Twelve

  The following Wednesday evening, Derek stepped out the front door of his office, locked up, and then immediately headed around the side of the building toward his best friend Mike’s shop.

  Derek had purchased his building about five years ago, mainly because it seemed like a sound investment. Also because he’d thought moving to a smaller town would be nice for Tanner when he visited. Seemed a little silly now because he didn’t see Tanner enough.

  But he didn’t regret the purchase. He did like the small town of Preston. And he’d remodeled the building to house his office and meeting space in the front, leaving a large empty bay and second office in the back.

  It just happened to have been ideal, because not long after he’d bought it Mike had needed a space. Since then Derek had leased the rest of the building to his buddy so he could use it to continue his car restoration business. It had worked out well for both of them. Mike was the perfect tenant. On time with his payments, and when he felt like it, Derek could walk around the corner and shoot the shit.

  The weather was surprisingly mild so today he found the garage bays open and Mike on his back underneath an orange Camaro.

  “You about done for the day?” Derek asked in greeting.

  Mike slid out from under the chassis and grinned. He had a dark streak of God knows what greasy substance running the length of his cheek. “I think I am. And you’re just in time. Wanna take a test-drive with me?”

  Derek shrugged. “If we drive it to a place that serves beer.”

  Mike chuckled. “How about I’ll test-drive it tomorrow and we can walk over to Smokey’s.”

  “Even better,” Derek said. “But wash your damn face first.”

  Fifteen minutes later, Mike had showered, changed, and together they started the five-minute walk down the alley to Smokey’s. Wednesday night was wing night, so Derek intended to get a dozen extra hot, the largest beer they served, and try not to think about how he hadn’t seen or heard from Lindsey since Friday afternoon.

  They’d both been quiet for the rest of their shopping excursion although she had ended up finding a piece for the island. Seeing her happy about that had made things a little better. He’d even loved watching her haggle over the price. That was a side of h
er he hadn’t expected, but it had been sexy as hell.

  The thing that was irritating him was that on the drive home she’d been noncommittal about when they could get together to work on the island. And the total radio silence since then. That was really starting to piss him off.

  He knew she’d been a little freaked out by the kiss, but he’d never imagined it would affect her this long. He’d texted her Monday but she hadn’t responded. Later that night he’d realized he’d made the critical error of sending an open-ended text by saying Let me know when you want to start on the island instead of something more definitive. Something that required a response.

  And now he was overanalyzing everything. Not cool. This was Lindsey. They’d had rules. They broke them and now she was pulling back. The two steps back had now become five. He was beyond ready to start moving forward again, but that required her cooperation.

  Derek followed Mike through the bar, giving the bartender a quick wave as they headed toward a table near the back. Several televisions showed various basketball games, one Dr. Phil. Weird. In no time they’d ordered and were sipping a cold beverage.

  “Now that hits the spot,” Mike said as he set down his glass.

  “Agreed.”

  “So, how goes it with the house? I’ve been so busy lately, I haven’t had a chance to see it. It sure has been nice having you on the project. It’s nice knowing I don’t have to worry about a damn thing. Anne tells you and Lindsey what she wants and that’s that.”

  Derek appreciated his friend’s trust. “Yeah, it’s looking good. You guys need to come out.”

  “Yeah, Anne wants to this weekend.” Mike took another drink of his beer and then hesitated for a moment before speaking. “So she said you and Lindsey have been working together?”

  Derek had yet to discuss the developments between him and Lindsey with Mike, but it was no surprise he knew. “We have been. And it’s been good.”

  Mike raised an eyebrow. “Good? How did this transpire exactly? If you recall I was there last fall when she lost it in Anne’s kitchen when you showed up.”