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Those clear brown eyes held secrets, secrets I wanted to know.
What would it take to tame a woman like that? To gain her trust, to gain entry to the treasures locked behind that cool gaze.
I tipped my lips up at her in return, and she stepped into my space, a welcome invader.
Mistaking my hesitation, she offered, “Would you like me to tie it for you?”
Her voice was cool, slightly raspy, and I wondered what it would take to make her lose it entirely.
Gently setting my guitar to the side, I quirked my eyebrows up and smiled. Maintaining eye contact, I straightened my spine and tipped my chin back before snapping up the sides of my collar and securing the top button of my dress shirt.
Sliding closer, she looped the tie around my neck while I strove to keep my eyes from her chest, my hands from her round hips.
I watched her eyes follow the work of her hands, caught the slight pursing of her lips, heard the little hitch in her breath as she ran the tie around my neck and danced her fingers over my collarbone, the ends of the tie slipping through her delicate fingers.
“Your husband’s a lucky man,” I prodded.
Her eyes met mine knowingly, and my stomach clenched.
“I have no husband.”
“You tied that like an expert.”
Her lips curved up arrestingly. “I’m good with knots.”
My mouth fell open for a brief second, long enough for her to notice, and a light, tinkling laugh escaped her pretty mouth.
Smoothing her palm over the front of my tie, she pressed lightly against my chest.
“There. Perfect.”
I stared after her as she walked away.
Slipped my cell phone from my pocket.
And I wondered.
Chapter Two – Happy Ending
Christmas Day
Minty
Decisions.
I’d made many in my forty-four years. Despite my penchant for examining every angle to assess for any possible risk factors, not all of them were good. And at the intersection of those risk assessments, sat my life.
Early Christmas morning, earlier than I usually rose, I wandered around contemplating the results of some of those decisions.
Pulling the edge of the sheers back from the wide picture window, I peeked out. The street outside was quiet, a rare occurrence. While snow had fallen overnight, the snowplow had already cleared the road in front. So many travelers on Christmas Day.
Moving into the condo was a good decision.
I dropped the curtain and headed into my kitchen. It spanned half the width of my condo, and my condo was huge, taking up the top floor of the building I owned, the building my adoptive parents left me.
When they left me.
God, I missed them.
