Awaken Me

by Farrah Rochon

  Her eyes widened. “Are you going to school?”

  “Hell no.” He laughed. “The only time you’ll catch me on a college campus is for the occasional LSU football game or if I’m visiting my brother, Ezra. He teaches journalism at the community college. We were supposed to meet up at his place today, but he has a class on Saturday afternoons and decided to stay a bit later to grade some papers.”

  “That’s dedication.”

  “Yeah. He’s trying to get as much off his plate as possible before his life gets crazy. His fiancé is Councilmember Mackenna Arnold. She’s running for mayor.”

  “Wow! I know who Councilmember Arnold is. She sponsors a toy drive for her district at Christmas. LeBlanc & Sons has been a donor for years. She’s going to be an amazing mayor.”

  “She has to win first, but I agree,” Reid said. “Anyway, I like the coffee here, so since I happened to be so close, I decided to stop in. Noticing your car parked at the curb was a sweet bonus.” He gestured his head back toward the bookstore. “You may think I’m a crazy stalker once I admit this, but I sat out there for an hour waiting for you. How long does it take you to buy books?”

  Brooklyn nearly choked on her coffee. “You’ve been here for an hour? Why didn’t you just come inside the bookstore?”

  “I wanted to surprise you,” he said. “I’m not sorry. You jumped a foot in the air when I called your name. That reaction was worth the wait.”

  Brooklyn burst out laughing. “And I thought I was twisted.”

  “You want to hear something really twisted?” He waited for the bright red streetcar that rolled along Carrolton Avenue to pass before continuing. “I’ve never done anything like this before.” Resting his forearms on the table, Reid clamped his hands together and looked at her with a curious expression. “I looked at my watch at least a dozen times while I waited for you to come out. Every time I did, I told myself this was crazy.” He slowly shook his head. “But I couldn’t leave. I wanted to see you.”

  Brooklyn’s chest felt as if it would burst. “Okay, so that may be the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

  “That’s pretty sad, because it wasn’t even that sweet. I can be a lot sweeter.” He winked. “Just give me time.”

  Goodness, he was such a flirt. She just so happened to love his flirting.

  “So, do you just hang out at the bookstore?” Reid asked as he unwrapped the muffin he’d bought. He produced a plastic knife and cut the muffin in half. Then he put half of one half in his mouth and pushed the half that was still on the plastic wrap in front of her.

  “Thank you,” Brooklyn said. She quickly took a much smaller bite of the muffin, buying herself some time to decide how to answer his question. He’d unknowingly given her the opportunity to do what she’d been building up the courage to do. Before she could talk herself out of it, she said, “Actually, I go there to work.”

  He frowned. “You know how Alex is about the whole work/life balance thing. You shouldn’t be bringing work home with you.”

  “Not that work,” she said.

  She sucked in a deep breath and slowly released it. She knew this would be difficult, but it wasn’t until this very moment, when she had to mentally talk herself out of having a full blown panic attack, that she realized just how much that online incident had impacted her.

  It pissed her off.

  She worked hard at her comics. She’d put more time and energy into this than anything else in her life. The fact that she’d allowed a random stranger on the internet to have such power over her sickened her. She was done hiding her light under a bushel.

  Still, as she unbuckled the latch on her messenger bag, she could hardly hear past her heart’s loud thumping. She set the closed sketchpad on the table, and kept her eyes on its plain gray cover.

  “I draw comics,” she finally said. She opened the sketchpad to the drawing she’d been working on all week. “This is my newest. I call her Dynamo Diane.” She looked up at him. “It’s your mom.”

  Reid just sat there, staring at the illustration, not saying anything. Brooklyn’s anxiety escalated as she silently contemplated grabbing her stuff and running away, clear to Mississippi if she could manage it.

  After several long, silent moments passed, he reached for the sketchpad, but then jerked his hand back.

  “Can I?” he asked.

  Brooklyn nudged the drawing toward him. “Of course.”

  He lifted it from the table and held it out, examining the picture with the attention one would a masterpiece hanging in a museum.

  “You drew this?” He looked over at her. “You drew this? You didn’t trace it from somewhere else?”

  She shook her head.

  “This is fucking amazing!”

  He stood and, before she knew what he was doing, came over and lifted her from her chair. He swirled her around, her foot kicking the back of an empty chair at a neighboring table.

  Brooklyn released a breathless laugh. She closed her eyes for a moment and relished in the heady sensation of her breasts being pressed up against his chest.

  “I’m guessing you like it?” she asked when she was finally able to find her voice.

  “Did you think I wouldn’t?” he asked as he set her back down. She kinda wished he hadn’t. She could stand to spend another hour or two in his arms.

  She reclaimed her seat, picked up her drink and took another sip before answering.

  “I wasn’t sure if you would think it was crossing a line or something. It’s not as if I asked permission.” Brooklyn looked over at him and lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “But, I thought since you’re doing a superhero theme for your mom’s foundation’s kickoff party, your mom should be the star of it.”

  He sat down, moving his chair a bit closer to hers. He picked the sketchpad up again and held it out. “I don’t even know what to say. You drew this.”

  “Yes, I drew that.” She didn’t even try to keep the pride out of her voice. She should be proud of herself. It was a damn good illustration.

  His eyes still on the drawing, he asked, “What in the hell are you doing working on a construction site with this kind of talent? Why aren’t you working for Disney or somebody like that?”

  Brooklyn laughed. “I have a loooong way before I’m ready for Disney.”

  “Bullshit. This picture is incredible.” His head popped up and a puzzled expression flashed across his face. “You didn’t know my mom. How did you get this to look so much like her?”

  Busted.

  She could tell him that she remembered the picture he showed her outside the ice cream parlor, but that lie was too farfetched for her to try to sell it. Brooklyn decided to come clean.

  “I’m not sure if you know this, but both your Facebook and Instagram accounts are public.”

  His brows shot up. “Well, well, well. Who’s the stalker now?”

  Despite the crispness in the fall air, Brooklyn’s cheeks felt as if they were on fire.

  He leaned over, and with the most adorable shit-eating grin, said, “You know, you could have just sent me a friend request.”

  “You’re horrible,” Brooklyn said, unable to hold in her laugh. She fiddled with some of the muffin crumbs before pushing it toward him so he could finish it off. “So, it’s not a problem that I stalked your IG account for a picture of your mom?”

  “Not at all. If I send you a friend request on Facebook, will you accept it?”

  “I’m not on Facebook. That’s for old people.”

  Laughing, he balled up the plastic wrap and lobbed it at her. “Didn’t you hear me say I’m turning thirty? I’m sensitive about that shit.”

  Brooklyn laughed so hard her side hurt. “You don’t look a day over twenty-nine and a half,” she said once she was finally able to catch her breath.

  He picked up the drawing again. It was as if he couldn’t stop looking at it.

  “So, what do we do with Dynamo Diane? Put her on T-shirts and buttons and stuff?” />
  “I was thinking that if you all plan to do a program for the event—you know, something that highlights the goals of the foundation—it could be in comic book form. Dynamo Diane on her quest to save women from heart disease. It would be a great keepsake.”

  Excitement shone in his eyes. “You could do that? I mean, would you have time? The kickoff party is only a few months away. Can you draw an entire comic by then?”

  Brooklyn did some mental calculations in her head. She still had several panels to complete on her Iansan illustrations, which would have to be done within the next few weeks if she was going to bring it with her to the Comic Con in Biloxi where Kurt Bollinger, one of her idols, would be in attendance. There was a ninety-nine percent chance she would chicken out when it came to sharing her drawing with him, but she wanted to have it done on the off-chance she found her backbone and gave in to that one percent.

  Of course, if she needed a good excuse to push Iansan aside in order to work on something more important—like a foundation that would help hundreds of people—Reid had just handed it to her. She didn’t have to feel bad about chickening out for such a good cause. Right?

  “I can do it,” Brooklyn said. “Now that I’ve gotten Dynamo Diane just how I want her, the rest won’t be as hard.”

  Reid’s expression was filled with appreciation and awe. His voice, when he spoke, heavy with gratitude. “I can’t believe you did this,” he said. “It’s the most amazing, unselfish thing anyone has ever done for me.”

  He turned in his chair until he faced her. Then he leaned forward and Brooklyn’s heart began to dance a quadrille within her chest. She waited until his mouth was mere centimeters from hers before she pulled her head back and said, “Before we do this, I just need to ask if this is going to be a real kiss, or a ‘thanks for making my mom a superhero’ kiss?”

  “Would you stop thinking so hard and let me kiss you?”

  Brooklyn pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “Answer my question first.”

  She was an idiot. No doubt about it. The man she’d been fantasizing about for a month was seconds away from putting his lips on hers and here she was playing Twenty Questions. But she had to know that the seductive look clouding his face was there because of attraction and not gratitude. It made a difference, at least to her.

  Reid captured her chin with his fingers and lifted her face up to his. “What I’m about to lay on you is one hundred percent real. You got any other questions, or can I kiss you now?”

  She swallowed. “You can kiss me now.”

  He was still grinning when his lips finally met hers, but that grin soon faded as his mouth began a tender, effortless exploration. He was both sweet and seductive, teasing her with his soft touch, setting her body ablaze with his sensual skill. A moan escaped Brooklyn’s lips as she melted, her insides turning to liquid as Reid’s surprisingly soft lips coaxed her mouth open.

  It felt as if she’d been transported to another realm, her mind so caught up in the enchantment of his coffee-flavored kiss that she could think of nothing else. It was better than anything she had dreamed up in her daydreams. Reid’s gentle, yet hungry mouth imprisoned her, capturing her with every hypnotic thrust of his tongue.

  He moved deliberately, as if he were mapping the inside of her mouth. The blood in her veins pumped faster with every slow and steady glide, her nipples growing so tight they ached.

  A faint voice roaming somewhere in the back of her mind tried to warn her they were in public, but Brooklyn mentally swatted it away. She refused to allow reality to step in. She wanted to exist in this fantasy for as long as possible.

  But when his hand moved from her side to her breast, Brooklyn froze. That reality she’d been fighting off came roaring to the forefront. She wrapped her hand around Reid’s wrist and pulled it away, releasing a shaky breath as she willed her chaotically beating heart to calm down.

  “I…uh…I’m sorry,” she said. “This is going a little too fast.”

  “Okay,” Reid said with a nod. His chest expanded with his swift intake of breath. The stunned look in his wide eyes mimicked what Brooklyn was experiencing at the moment. It was apparent that neither of them had been ready for the aftereffects of that kiss.

  “If this is going to happen—oh, God, this is happening, isn’t it?” Brooklyn exclaimed.

  “If by ‘this’ you mean me getting to kiss you at least a hundred times by the end of the week, then I sure as hell hope it’s happening.”

  An insane amount of joy and disbelief bubbled up inside her.

  “Can we make that a dozen?” Brooklyn asked. “A hundred seems a bit excessive.”

  A smile drew across his lips as he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and lightly caressed the spot behind her ear with his thumb. “We can take it one kiss at a time. And if I’m moving too fast, it only takes one word: stop.”

  Brooklyn leaned into his touch, her eyes falling closed. It was almost too much to grasp, but with every gentle brush of his finger against her skin, the picture became clearer.

  Her fantasy had become her reality.

  * * *

  Reid leaned back against the thick, centuries-old tree trunk, one leg drawn up, the other thigh serving as a table for the comic he’d been reading since they arrived at what Brooklyn proclaimed was the most perfect spot in all of City Park. As far as Reid was concerned, it was just one shady tree among dozens of other shady trees. She was the one who made it perfect.

  He stared at her from underneath hooded eyes, not wanting to break her concentration. She lay on her stomach, her legs bent at the knees, her ankles crossed as her feet bounced to whatever music was coming through her earbuds. Her Thor T-shirt rode up slightly at her waist, revealing a sliver of skin. Reid had lost count of the number of times he’d fantasized about crawling over to her and burying his face against her stomach. He wanted to sink his teeth into that sexy little roll of flesh that folded over her jeans.

  He fucking loved her curves. His hands ached with the need to grab hold of that healthy ass and those luscious thighs and, God, those breasts that tested the limits of the T-shirts she loved to wear. He wanted to touch every inch of her.

  He leaned his head back against the tree trunk and shut his eyes tight, barely able to contain the frustration of sitting here and not touching her. But he wouldn’t make that mistake again. He’d done so last night and it had spooked her. He had to remind himself that when it came to Brooklyn he had to move slow.

  If only he knew how to move slow. He didn’t know how to do any of this. He now recognized that he was in the midst of a life lesson, learning the difference between being in a relationship and just hooking up. But he was willing to learn, because the more he got to know her, the more he wanted this thing with Brooklyn to grow into something more.

  He studied her face, how her forehead creased with concentration. She’d been at it for a half hour, all her focus on the sketchpad as she worked on the program booklet for the foundation’s kickoff party. She’d first suggested she draw a few sample panels, as she called them, to share with Indina and his brothers. She wanted to make sure his siblings liked the idea before she started working on the actual comic. Reid assured her they would like it. If they didn’t he would raise all levels of hell, but he knew his sister and brothers would be as blown away as he’d been at the sight of their mother immortalized as the superhero they all knew her to be.

  He still couldn’t believe Brooklyn had kept such talent to herself. As he glanced down at the comics encased in sheet protectors that he’d been reading, he acknowledged her talent went far beyond what he’d first suspected.

  Reid still didn’t know what to make of her reaction earlier today. He’d caught site of this second set of illustrations when she’d opened up the black zippered portfolio where she kept her Dynamo Diane drawings. When he’d asked if he could see them, she’d recoiled. She’d tried to play it off with a nonchalant wave, telling him that the drawings were just something s
he was messing around with.

  Reid wasn’t fooled. Her discomfort had been palpable. It was the only reason he hadn’t pushed. But then, after a few moments passed, she relented, handing him the drawings. She explained that she’d been working on the comic for months, but as with all of her illustrations, hadn’t shared them with anyone yet.

  It was a straight up crime that she’d kept this hidden from the world. As he’d pored over the pages, Reid had been pulled so deeply into the story that, for a time, he’d forgotten everything around him. Not only could she draw, she could tell a story in a way that made you feel as if you were immersed in the character’s world.

  She may not think she was good enough to work for a major company, but she was wrong. She was phenomenal.

  “You’re staring,” Brooklyn said, her eyes still on her sketchpad.

  “You’re easy to stare at,” Reid returned, not the least bit repentant at getting caught.

  She glanced over at him, an impish grin tilting up the corner of that gorgeous mouth. She was so damn cute. She wore no colorful streaks in her hair today, but the wild, twisty curls still spoke to her personality in a way that made him smile.

  Reid jutted his chin toward her. “How are things going over there? Has Dynamo Diane saved the world yet?”

  “That usually doesn’t happen until the very end,” she said. “However, in this story, the world isn’t what’s in need of saving. A group of young girls who have been told they shouldn’t study STEM needs Dynamo Diane to rescue them from this patriarchal society.”

  “You lost me at STEM.”

  She laughed. “STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math—all fields that young girls have traditionally been told are much too taxing for their delicate brains.” She twisted around on the blanket and her T-shirt rode up just a bit more. Reid shifted his leg to hide the bulge slowly building behind his zipper.

  “From everything you’ve told me about your mom and the objectives of the foundation, encouraging girls to pursue the sciences is exactly the kind of thing the Diane Holmes Foundation will do.”