AuthorCoraKart: What are you doing Thursday?
NZThrillWriter: Planned on taking the bike for a spin.
AuthorCoraKart: Is your bike big enough to pick up my luggage?
Jake’s name spread across the screen on my phone. “Did you finally come to your senses and book a flight?”
I stared at my desktop, a possible itinerary to New Zealand on the screen. “All I need to do is hit confirm.”
“Well, what are you waiting for?”
I rocked in the office chair, pulling my legs up and crossing them. “There’s only one issue I’m having.”
“And what would that be? If you use your boss as an excuse, I’m going to go and reserve that plane seat for you.”
I laughed. “No, she agreed I should take a break from reality. She even gave me a deadline, otherwise I’ll be terminated from my contract.”
“Maybe you’ll finally see the light and publish Indie.”
“I’ll make the deadline. I’m not ready to do it all on my own.”
“Then what’s stopping you?”
I sighed, switching tabs on the computer to Jake’s social media page. He posted a photo from his morning bike ride. The side of his helmet was in view, along with a span of mountains, snow covering the tops while the bottoms were filled with greenery and flowers, an epic lake separating them. “It’s not important.”
“If it’s keeping you from visiting me, your favorite friend, it’s important.”
“I’m just fearful for the unknown.” It wasn’t a lie. I had never been out of the country, or flown on an airplane without Martin. He wouldn’t let me travel unless we were together.
“Do you want me to meet you in Sydney and fly here with you?”
I snorted. “I wouldn’t be able to recognize you.”
Silence broke between us. It was painful, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t matter. His appearance wouldn’t keep me flying there and spending time with him, but it constantly nagged at me for not even knowing the color of his eyes, or if his smile matched the warmth in his voice.
“If I sent you a picture of myself, would you book the flight?”
“No,” I said quickly, nearly cutting him off. “I’m not shallow, Jake. I couldn’t care less what you look like, but…” I closed my mouth, not wanting to hurt his feelings.
“It’s unnerving,” he finished for me.
My hand found my head. “If I told anyone that I was flying across the world to meet someone I had never seen before, they’d call me crazy.”
“Does it matter what everyone else thinks?”
I sighed, clicking back to the tab with the itinerary. “No, it most definitely doesn’t.”
Especially not now. Martin didn’t have a hold on me anymore. He couldn’t hurt me again. Who cares if I did something that was completely reckless and stupid?
I had nothing left to lose.
I hovered over the confirm button with the mouse. “You promise your bike is big enough to pick me and my month’s worth of luggage?”
Jake coughed. “A month? Really?”
My hand twitched on the mouse. “I can change the dates.”
“No,” he said quickly. “No, a month would be spectacular. I’ve told you, you’re welcome to come for any amount of time to stay with me. You’ll be stuck with this mug shot. I could just walk around backwards so you’ll feel more comfortable, you know, it’ll be like my photos online.”
Covering my face, I muffled into the phone, “I never should have said anything.”
Jake chuckled. “Don’t worry about it, Love. It would be a shame, though…”
“What would be?”
“If I had walked around backwards the whole time.”
“I’d imagine you’d be running into things left and right,” I laughed.
“Most likely, but the real shame would be not seeing your lovely face whenever I wanted.”
My breath caught in my throat. His voice deepened, the fun loving humor that shifted my frown into smiles evened. It held more, a yearning I’d never allowed myself to feel toward him.
“It’s not that lovely when I wake up,” I joked, wanting the new flutters in my stomach to go away.
He laughed, his happy-go-lucky personality returning. “I’ll be the judge of that.”
Planting the pointer of the mouse on the confirm button, I clicked it. “Guess so. I’ll forward you my flight information.”
“Did you confirm?”
“Just did, I’m forwarding you information now.”
“Woo hoo! Cora Kart is coming to see me!” He cheered.
I shook my head, a smile so wide spreading across my face that it hurt my cheeks. “Oh my gosh! Stop!”
He laughed, and I closed my eyes at the sound. Soon I’d be able to see him laugh. I imagined what he would look like in my head, mixing different shades of eye colors, nose styles, and cheekbones. Were his eyebrows thick? Barely there thin? Did he have creases on his forehead? Was there a mop of hair underneath the hats and helmets he always wore? Or only a buzz cut? I knew his body type. The broad shoulders and strong legs looked great from behind, and the low ache in my stomach that had disappeared for years was beginning to simmer.
“I’ll make up the guest room, then. Shepley will be confused for a bit, might even try to jump into bed with you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Your cat would have its own room.”
“He’s weird about sleeping with me. I snore,” he joked. “Might be obsessed with you, he has a thing for long hair.”
“Guess I’ll keep it in a bun.”
“Ah, something for him to paw at in the middle of the night. Actually, I’m beginning to get jealous of the cat.”
I flushed. Was he expecting more than a writing partner from this visit?
I changed the subject. “I should get going. I’ve got a lot of packing to do.”
“That you do. I’ll talk to you later, Love.”
Butterflies were in my stomach when I hung up, the excitement of meeting him becoming a reality. Jumping out of the chair, I ran to the basement to get my luggage cases. I had a plethora of things to do before Thursday strolled around.
“Cora, I’m so glad you called me today,” Stephanie, my neighbor from across the street squealed. We were sitting in the food court of the local mall, shopping bags spewed around us while we ate Pad Thai.
“I needed to get out,” I sighed, twirling a noodle with my fork. Turns out, when I went to pack clothes for New Zealand, my closet was slim to none. Not much fit, and the remaining outfits weren’t appealing. The few decent outfits sagged on my body. I had been too stressed to eat the last few months. It shouldn’t have mattered to me, but the fire that was close to being blown out inside of me was beginning to flicker, and I wanted some new outfits to accentuate the flames. Maybe it would help a story to emerge from my brain.
“You’ve been hard to reach lately. I’m sure having the divorce behind you helps. Thank God you got rid of that asshole,” she grumbled. “Charlie couldn’t stand him at the block parties. He always hoped you all would cancel, no offense.”
I raised my hands. “None taken. He wasn’t one to associate with neighbors.”
“That’s alright, we enjoyed your company, not his! So why are we buying all these new summer outfits? You do know a blizzard will be here before we know it, right?”
I twiddled with my fork, my eyes watching the noodles swirl. “I’m going out of town.”
Stephanie beamed. “Yeah? Good for you! Heading to Florida?”
I smiled. Everyone thought of Florida when they pictured somewhere warm, at least when you lived in the Midwest like us.
“Not quite.”
She waited for me to tell her, nodding her head in my direction. “Well? Where are you going?”
I sucked in my cheeks and squinted my eyes. “New Zealand.”
Her lashes touched her eyebrows. “Wow! What’s in New Zealand?”
“I have an author friend who lives there. Going to visit and work on a manuscript.”
She clapped her hands. “Oh! Are you working on another book in the Dove Series? I just love that couple! And so steamy, Charlie likes the perks he gets when I read your books,” she winked.
I grinned. “I need to work on a new series. Not sure what direction I’m taking yet.”
“As long as there’s a hot alpha male who knows how to go down on a girl, it’ll be a best seller.”
I held in my laughter. “Publisher says it has to be a romance, so I can guarantee that.”
She took a sip of her drink, licking her lips, then blotting them with her napkin. “Do I know the author you’re going to stay with?”
I shook my head, pretending to pick a piece of lint from my jeans.
“Who is it? Does she write romance? Maybe I can check her books out,” she said thoughtfully, taking another sip of her drink.
I sighed, unsure if I should tell her about Jake. Giving in, I eased around the subject. “Yeah, he doesn’t write romance, really.”
Water spilled from her lips. “Did you say he?”
I shrugged. “Yeah. He writes action. It’s helpful to have author friends who write in different genres in case you cross over. Gives a good perspective on creating scenes you’re not used to writing.”
Her eyes narrowed, a devious smile spreading across her lips. “Is he hot?”
I rolled my eyes. “I knew you’d take this the wrong way.”
She waved a hand at me. “What? That you’re escaping across the world to stay with a guy? No, that doesn’t raise a red flag at all. How long have you known him?”
“Around five years? I met him in an author support group.”
She covered her mouth. “You’ve been with him for that long? Did Martin find out? Is that part of the reason why you finally divorced him?”
I held in my eye roll. Stephanie didn’t know he was abusive toward me physically. At least I never admitted to it. “I didn’t have an affair, and it’s not like that. We’re associates… friends. We don’t think about each other like that.”
I swallowed, ignoring the scenarios I’d thought up in my head after mine and Jake’s phone conversation last night. The gravelly sound of his voice when he said he’d be jealous of his cat sleeping with me hit me between the legs, awakening a tingle inside of me.
“Well, let me see a photo of him,” she demanded, nodding to my phone.
I took it out, scrolling to his page. “Here.”
Her eyes narrowed the more she scrolled. “Doesn’t he have any face shots?”
I laughed, knowing she’d be disappointed. “Nope. That doesn’t matter to me because we are friends,” I emphasized. “I’m not interested in seeing a man right now.”
I had a fear of being intimate with men. The last time I had sexual interaction was with Martin, and it wasn’t consensual. It’s not something a girl can easily forget, even if it were three months ago.
She lifted her brows, staring at my phone. “He could have a butter face and still be sexy. Look at those arms, and that ass… I’d love to sink my nails into those round globes while hovered over top of me,” she purred, licking her lips.
“Would you stop? I’m going to tell Charlie you’re drooling over some dude’s back.”
She shrugged. “He doesn’t care. Whatever turns me on and gets him action…at least that’s what Charlie tells me.”
We both laughed. Charlie was a great husband to her. I was jealous of their relationship for as long as I knew them.
Standing from the table, I gathered my trash onto my tray. “We should head home. I want to wash all of these before I pack them away.”
Stephanie did the same. “We need to stop at one more store.” She held out her finger. “No complaining about it, either. If you’re going to New Zealand to see a dude who looks sexy as shit from behind, you’re going to be prepared for all opportunities.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but she shot me a glare. “My anniversary is coming up, and I need some new lingerie, now that I know what I know, you need some, too.”
“Steph, really, it’s not like that,” I feigned, although deep down my curiosity for intimacy with Jake was slowly rising.
She took our trays and tossed them, then grabbed my wrist, leading me along. “You need to be prepared in case it is like that.”