Possibilities

by Michelle Grotewohl

  He opened the door, the well-maintained mechanism moving soundlessly, and stepped outside. He drew a deep breath of cool air in- And choked on it when he saw her.

  Evie stood at the end of the dock, wearing only short black shorts and a black baby-doll tee, revealing toned legs and gently defined abs. Her feet were bare. Her long hair was pulled back into a ponytail, revealing her slender neck. He wanted to nibble on it, he thought, just for an hour or two. Her yoga mat and a bottle of water lay on the flat ground near the water’s edge.

  While he’d always found her to be sexy, it was usually in her librarian mode- quiet and demure, like the serene look on her face as she stared out over the water. But the clothes she wore… They put in him in mind of the ‘naughty’ he’d always been able to imagine but had never really seen. It shocked his senses to see a fantasy come to life, enough that he walked blindly down the stone steps to get closer.

  He stalked silently nearer, afraid if he made a noise he’d scare away the dream. She didn’t hear him until he was only a couple feet away. He saw her shoulders tense slightly, just before she turned with wide eyes.

  She relaxed a little when she saw it was him, but tensed again when she noticed he was wearing only knee-length pajama shorts and was therefore bare-chested. “Drake. Good morning,” she said shyly.

  He barely nodded to acknowledge her greeting. “What are you wearing?”

  She looked down in surprise, then covered her bare lower stomach with one hand and laughed self-consciously. “My yoga outfit. I didn’t think you’d be up this early.”

  “I’m always up by seven,” he said absently, his eyes moving over her. He wanted to touch, but was afraid he’d spook her.

  “Oh. Okay.” She fidgeted for a minute, then said, “Well, I’m gonna go back in now, change for the day.” She started past him, but he grabbed her arm before she could get far.

  “Don’t.”

  “Don’t what?” she asked, frowning.

  “Don’t change your clothes.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Because I’ve had this fantasy a million times, and I’m not ready for it to end.”

  Shocked doubt creased her forehead. “Wha- Fantasy? What are you talking about?”

  “This.” He waved his hand over the front of her.

  She appeared flustered. “Yeah… I’m gonna go now.” Then she turned and walked down the dock to the stairs, and up until she disappeared inside.

  Drake watched her go, wondering what he’d done to send her running so effectively. When he couldn’t figure it out after several minutes of thought, he moved to the end of the dock, uncaring that he was wearing only sleep shorts, and stared out over the lake, watching the fog fade as the sun rose.

  Upstairs, Evie stood at the sliding door in the living room, watching Drake through the sheer curtains. He looked lost out there by himself, only jams on, impressive arms crossed over his- Beautiful- bare chest. She wanted to go back down and wrap her arms around him.

  Admittedly, his words had confused her, scared her off if she were honest. A fantasy, he’d said, indicating her workout clothes. Surely, though, he’d meant her outfit specifically, not her in them. That made sense. That she could understand.

  But what if he hadn’t? After last night, it was easier to believe he might be interested in her. She tried to convince herself he had been talking about her clothes, so she wasn’t setting herself up for heartbreak, but the look in his eyes, the intensity, made her doubt herself.

  With doubt came the first real stirring of hope. Hope that someone like him could see her like that. Hope that someone like him could want her like that. It was ridiculous, maybe, but if it was, only she knew about it.

  She focused once more when he turned to come back inside. She watched him walk slowly up the dock, admired the flexing of various muscles while he climbed the stairs. When he went beneath the deck, she turned to go to her room; she’d look pretty silly if she was still standing in this outfit when he came up.

  As she removed her clothes, showered, then put on normal ones, she had to be glad she’d decided to do her yoga outside this morning. Even if his words were a generalization, it had been nice to feel that flutter again. It had been nice to feel wanted.

  She avoided him most of the day, only seeing him at meals for minutes at a time. She read on the back deck again in the morning, moved inside with Sudoku for the hottest hours of the afternoon, then back outside in the evening to lean against the rail and watch the sun set.

  He gave her space, either because he understood she wanted to be left alone, or he felt silly for what he’d said on the dock and wanted to give her time to forget. That wouldn’t be happening, but she’d let him think she had if it meant they didn’t have to talk about it again.

  As it grew darker outside, she began to think she might make it all the way to bedtime without seeing him. She wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or upset.

  Her answer came a few minutes later when he appeared beside her, leaning his elbows on the railing so they were nearly eye-level. “Any dinner plans?”

  She risked a glance at him, and felt relief that she hadn’t made it to bedtime. Interesting… “Just microwave chicken. You?”

  He smiled at her answer. “Microwave pizza sounds good.”

  Now she smiled. “I’ll man the microwave if you’ll get the drinks and set the table.”

  His blue eyes glowed warmly when they came to hers. “Deal.”

  Chapter Three

  The next morning dawned cloudy and dreary, promising rain. Despite the weather, Evie’s mood was surprisingly bright. The night before had gone as well as she could have hoped.

  During dinner, she and Drake talked about what they’d done all day: As little as possible on both sides. Then, after working together to clean up their mess, they’d sat on the couch and watched a Castle marathon on the TV in the living room until they couldn’t keep their eyes open.

  As Evie had lain in bed falling asleep, she’d thought how it had been a pleasant surprise that they had a similar taste in TV shows. She didn’t watch much TV, but when she did, she preferred police dramas.

  She thought now that it had been odd to do so little yesterday. While she enjoyed her down time, she didn’t think she could handle not having something to do every day. She’d be crazy inside a week if this were her everyday life.

  Thank goodness it wasn’t, she mused as she climbed out of bed. Even now, on vacation, she was glad she could go outside, fish, swim, or take a boat ride to break up the monotony. And that had been her plan, until she heard the first roll of thunder while she was in the shower.

  While the noise dampened her plans, she still had plenty to do to keep busy while trapped inside. And with any luck, the morning thunderstorm would turn to afternoon sunshine before she got bored.

  “Storms are expected to keep up all day and into the night,” Drake informed her when she stepped out of her room a bit later.

  Her shoulders slumped a little, but lifted again. “That’s okay. Plenty to do.”

  He nodded absently, looking at the newspaper.

  She looked at him as she made her way to the fridge for breakfast, and saw he was sitting on a stool on the bar side of the counter, eating cereal without a shirt on. There was something about that image- the sexy, well-built grown man eating sugary kids cereal- that made her want to take a picture.

  On impulse, she pulled out her iPod Touch and took one, right as he was lifting his spoon for a bite. With a smile at his lifted brows, she stuffed her Pod back in her pocket and grabbed a yogurt cup.

  “What was that?” he asked with a laugh.

  “I took your picture.” She leaned on the counter across from him and opened the granola bar she’d taken from the pantry.

  “I gathered that much, smartass. Why?”

  She grinned and shrugged. “I can delete it if you don’t want me to have it.” She reached for her pocket.

  “No,” he said quickly, putting his h
and on her arm to stop her. “I was just curious.”

  Her shoulders lifted again. “It was such a sharp contrast. It needed to be captured for posterity.”

  “A sharp contrast?”

  She clarified. “Yeah: Big strong guy, shirtless, eating marshmallow cereal. Too cute,” she said with a shake of her head.

  “Cute,” he repeated in disbelief.

  “Yep. Cute.” To prove it, she tapped his nose with her finger.

  He snapped at her, purposely missing her fingertip by millimeters and making her giggle softly. They stared at each other for a minute, uncertain what they were seeing in each other’s eyes. Finally, Evie looked down at her breakfast.

  Drake cleared his throat quietly and finished his breakfast, then stood to take his dishes to the sink. When he turned around, she was right behind him with her spoon. When he only stood there, she leaned around him and dropped her spoon into the sink with a clatter. Giving him a small smile, she turned toward her room.

  “What are you going to do today?” he asked. She half turned back. “Since it’s raining and stuff, and you can’t go outside.”

  She shrugged delicately. “Read, play on my Touch, maybe watch a movie. Choices are limitless.”

  “That sounds good. Me, too.”

  She gave him a look that said she didn’t know why he was telling her this. “‘Kay.” Then she went into her room, closing the door behind her.

  Determined not to stalk her all day just because he was attracted to her, he went downstairs to shower, shave, and dress… And stay away from her.

  A few hours later, Drake stalked back upstairs. He’d read in his room for a while, listening to the storm through the open door, but now he was restless. He wasn’t used to sitting still for long periods of time, and even on vacation, he couldn’t do nothing for long.

  He saw Evie sitting on the denim-covered couch, her knees drawn up before her, a book in her hands. He noticed it was a different book than she’d been reading on the boat, and she was already more than halfway through it.

  It annoyed him just a little that she was so content to just read, because under normal circumstances he was, too. But today he couldn’t focus.

  “What are you reading?” he asked, just to get her attention.

  “The Fall of a Great Hero,” she said without looking up.

  Well, that hadn’t worked. He moved closer. “What’s it about?”

  “A Great Hero,” she said with a smile.

  He went closer still, so he was towering over her. Still her eyes stayed on the pages before her. “Like a super hero?”

  Still reading- and he had no doubt she was retaining every word though she carried on a conversation- she said, “No. Not really. Batman, Superman, they’re super heroes. Tiernan is a Great Hero, someone trained from childhood to use all kinds of weaponry and magic.” It was obvious by the tone of her voice that she had a little bit of a crush on the man. It irritated him.

  “What the hell kind of name is Tiernan?”

  She smiled again. “A sexy one.”

  He lifted a brow, stupidly the tiniest bit jealous of the book character who currently held her attention. Determined now, he plopped onto the couch beside her, close enough that their thighs were touching.

  There, he thought when her eyes lifted slightly, looking over her book and across the room. Now he had her attention. “Does he fall off of something, fall as in die, or fall in love?”

  She looked back down, but he could tell she wasn’t really reading now. “All of them, actually, but not just Tiernan.”

  “But isn’t the book about him?”

  “Mostly. But there are other heroes, as well as numerous women and mythical creatures.”

  “Is there sex?”

  “Tons,” she said, her smile back and just a touch wicked. “Tiernan is quite the lover.”

  That piqued Drake’s interest. “He has sex with multiple women throughout?”

  “Mm-hm.” She thought for a moment. “At least a dozen I can think of. Some more than once, and sometimes more than one at a time.”

  “Maybe I should read this book,” he murmured.

  She lifted her head, and met his eyes for the first time. “Actually, you might like it. Besides the sex, there are swords and magic, life and death, and some pretty good fight scenes. If you’re into Dungeons and Dragons, or Lord of the Rings at all, you’d like this. Plus it’s written from a man’s point of view, not a woman’s.”

  He lifted a brow thoughtfully. “I’ll think about it. But for now, I’m bored.” He waited, and when she didn’t say anything to that, he repeated himself. “I said I’m bored.”

  “I heard you. That’s the point of vacation, isn’t it? To be bored instead of running like a chicken with your head cut off?”

  “Nice imagery,” he said dryly.

  “Thank you.”

  “Well?”

  “Well, what?”

  “What are you gonna do about it?”

  “Me?” Her brown eyes lifted to his, wide and beautiful. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Distract me,” he said quietly, holding her gaze from less than a foot away. He hadn’t really meant to sound provocative when he’d started, but he’d see how she handled it.

  “Umm…” Her eyes flitted to his mouth several times, and he could only hope she followed through. She licked her lips, bit her bottom lip, and he thought, ‘Yes.’

  Then she blinked and looked away. “We could play Monopoly.”

  With his head fuzzy with lust, it took several seconds for him to process what she’d said. He frowned. “Monopoly?”

  “Yeah. It’s fun, and usually takes a long time. It’s something to do on a rainy day.”

  He could suddenly think of a dozen things to do on a rainy day, and every single one involved her and a flat surface.

  He felt himself getting worked up, and tried to think about something else. If commenting on her state of dress the day before had sent her running, having an erection would make her leave for good.

  When he got himself under control, he nodded. “Okay. Monopoly.”

  She smiled, obviously glad she’d thought of it. “Good. Right after lunch,” she said, closing her book.

  They had bologna sandwiches with mustard and cheddar-and-sour-cream chips- another thing they had in common, she realized. A lot of people didn’t like bologna, but she did, and clearly so did Drake.

  When they were full, Drake retrieved the game from the closet and met her at the table.

  The first game took a long time, as each was testing the other’s ability and figuring out a strategy. Drake eventually won, three hours later. When he requested a second game, she agreed and prepared to lose fast and hard. She’d never quite learned how to be ruthless the way truly good Monopoly players were. He had her in less than an hour.

  With a content sigh, he leaned back in his chair and watched her sort the money and arrange the property cards into the proper order. If left to him, no doubt, everything would have been thrown into the box willy-nilly.

  “So, dinner?” he asked as she put the lid on the box.

  “Eh…” She thought about what was in the house. She’d brought some groceries with her, as he had. “There’s some chicken breast. I can make chicken salad.”

  His eyes lit up. “Ooh, that sounds good! And if you cook tonight, I’ll make steaks tomorrow, provided the rain stops and I can use the grill.”

  “Deal.” She stood and went to get dinner started. She heard him move to put the game away, and then come back into the room. Focused on washing the chicken, she asked, “Do you like ranch dressing, or would you rather have something else?”

  “Ranch is good,” he said from right behind her, making her jump.

  She turned to glare at his smiling face. “Jerk,” she said without heat.

  He chuckled and moved to lean against the counter beside her. “Anything I can do to help?”

  “No, that’s okay. You’ll help by making
dinner tomorrow. I got this. But thanks.”

  He shrugged, but didn’t move. Just when she wondered if she was supposed to say something, he asked, “What’s your favorite movie?”

  So they were back to this game… “Um… What kind? Any, or a specific genre?”

  “Favorite all-time flick.”

  “Hm…” She really thought about it, wanting to give him an honest, really good answer. She gasped and her eyes lit when it hit her. “Return of the Jedi.”

  She could tell her answer surprised him because his face went slack and his eyes opened wide. “No way.”

  His reaction was a little disconcerting. “Yeah, why?”

  Instead of answering her question, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He turned the screen on, and turned it so she could see the background.

  “Ewoks?” she asked with a raised brow.

  He held up a finger in a ‘Wait’ gesture, dug into his pocket for his iPod and showed her the lock screen wallpaper: Luke and the Emperor. And with a swipe of his finger, she saw his home screen wallpaper: Leia and Hahn kissing on Endor. That’s when it clicked for her, and she gasped as she looked up at him.

  “It’s your favorite, too?”

  He nodded. “Yep.”

  “Seriously?”

  “How could I make this up?” he asked, holding up both devices.

  “I don’t know… Maybe you called my sister and asked her just to mess with me.” She didn’t know why it bothered her so much that they have this in common, but it did.

  He gave her a look. “Seemed to me like you just decided it was your favorite. Besides, why would I do that?”

  She couldn’t say what his motive might have been; simply had no idea. Likely because it made no sense… “I don’t know.”

  He nodded. “Face it, babe: We have more in common than you thought. And it’s not something you’re comfortable with.”