Chapter one
It was an ever-changing world we lived in and the only person to make sense of any of the chaos was Blaine. He was my next door neighbor. I secretly spied on him when he was working out with the door to his garage wide open. I had invested in a high powered telescope and binoculars to help me get my fill of the man without getting too close.
“I don’t know what would possibly compel me to come over with leftover cheesecake from the restaurant. I wonder if you could make it worth my while to stop by at the end of my shift.” I had the phone to my ear waiting impatiently for his response.
I was the hostess wearing expensive blazers and short black skirts with my blonde hair pulled back into a bun.
“I know what you’re trying to do and it’s not going to work. Michelle, we tried dating and it was a dismal disappointment. I consider you one of my dearest friends and I don’t want to lose that over a fleeting moment of pleasure. I don’t want to give you the wrong idea.” I was teasing, but in the back of my mind, there was a modicum of truth behind every word.
“I don’t know what you were thinking, but maybe you should get your head out of the gutter. I was merely suggesting a nice hard tissue massage to help alleviate the stress of the day. I’m not saying that I would be opposed to anything else if something were to happen between us.” I was notorious for my teasing gestures and flirtatious ways.
“I think that I can help with the massage, but don’t expect anything else to happen. I do have a favor to ask of you. My new assignment puts me smack dab in the middle of a biker gang. I don’t have the image and my superiors are expecting results. Could I impose on your creative license?” I had been trying to get him into my chair for the two years that we had known each other.
“Be still my beating heart. Are you telling me what I think you’re telling me?” I had a side hobby with the money made something the IRS wasn’t going to find out about.
“It goes against my better judgment, but I need this to be on a need to know basis. It’s fortuitous that I know an artist who can be trusted to keep my secret. I called you on the pretense of the cheesecake hoping that I could parlay that into an intense session with you.” There was another session that I wanted to get him into the middle of namely between my legs with my feet in the air.
“Before I answer that question I have one of my own. What kind of freedom do I have with the designs? I have an artistic temperament and I hate when people think they know what they want.” My business was out of my house in the basement where I had set up my tiny shop with an outside entrance in the back.
“I have a few ideas, but I could be persuaded to let you use my body as a blank canvas. It has to be unique and something that will stand out from the regular tattoos of skulls and crossbones. Nobody can know about this.” I didn’t have many friends and having him to talk to about my experiences with men helped me to navigate the choppy waters of dating.
“My needles are my paintbrush and I have some creations that I have been working on.” This was my window of opportunity to make him see me as a viable conquest in between the sheets.
It would also get him close enough for me to touch the body that I had been fantasizing about from the moment I spied him without his shirt on. He had the habit of washing his car during the weekend wearing nothing more than a pair of tight blue jeans. He made the women in the neighborhood ogle the merchandise.
We were fortunate to be in the great state of California where the average temperature was quite comfortable.
“I want something eye-catching to give me an unfair advantage. I’ve already acquired the motorcycle from the impound lot. I never had any aspirations of riding, but I think I might have to consider getting one after the assignment is over.” I would have gladly jumped on the back and wrapped my arms around him in a tight embrace.
“I have some experience in my questionable youth with young men wearing leather and driving a motorcycle. I won’t go into detail, but the biker look really does something for me.” I had lost my innocence on the back of an old style Harley Davidson with the engine doing most of the work for the young man who was all hands.
“I have to make a good first impression in three days. I hope that I can depend on you to get this done in an expedient manner. These guys are hardened criminals and I need to fit in like a glove.” I was anxious to get my hands on him.
“It’s pretty dead around here and I’m planning to close up early. I’m just waiting for this elderly gentleman to finish his clam chowder. Keep a light on for me and I’ll be there shortly. I know about your fear of needles and I will try to be gentle. It might be a good idea for you to find some liquid encouragement at the bottom of a tequila bottle.” Numbing him to the sensation of the needle would help him to sit still.
“Are you trying to get me junk… I mean…drunk…so that you can take advantage of me? I think that you can hear from the slur of my words that I’m already half in the bag. I will be the perfect subject when you finally arrive to take me on this interesting journey.” He was 6 feet of heaven with 200 plus pounds of muscle with bulging biceps and a noticeable lump in his trousers.
His piercing blue eyes made me feel naked every time he looked at me. He wasn’t wrong about our attempt to date. It felt like somebody was telling us something by the end of the night. I didn’t see the reason why we had to play games and could’ve jumped ahead right to the bedroom.
The elderly man finally finished and was hiking up his pants almost up to his nipples. He wasn’t very generous with the waitress and mumbled something incoherent underneath his breath going out the door.
“The chef and owner left for the evening. We only have leftovers and what I can manage to scrounge up in the kitchen. Michelle, I’m glad tonight was slow and I don’t think that I would’ve been able to keep up with any kind of rush.” Tammy was the chef’s protégé learning at the feet of the master.
“I’m going to close up for the evening. It must be the threat of the storm keeping people from enjoying a night out.” Tammy was within walking distance making working for the restaurant ideal.
“I didn’t want to say anything, but I thought staying open was a waste of time. You still have a half hour drive ahead of you and you should get going before the storm starts.” The wind was picking up and there was a definite shift in temperature.
I jumped into my Hyundai Veloster knowing that it was a spur of the moment acquisition. It was the turbo version and the engine purred to life when I touched the button.
It was a unique design with orange paint to make it not one of many. It didn’t take long for it to warm up and I was soon joining those on the desolate street at this hour. Buying it was one of the best decisions of my life.
I got a text message and I put my hand up to my mouth in startled surprise. Blaine was drinking heavily and was sending me photos of the blank canvas waiting for me to put my unique touch on.
“I thought that you would like to have some inspiration. You don’t get to look behind the curtain of my towel. I guess I could lower it a little for your amusement. Do you see what you have me doing under the influence?” I was enjoying the peep show, but I had already committed his body to memory after hours of stalking him with my telescope and binoculars.
“I can see somebody has been dipping into the good stuff. I hope you have enough good sense, not to pass out before I get there. I’m guessing the pain that I’m going to inflict on you is going to be running upstream against the liquor running through your veins.” I was doing my best to multitask with one hand on the steering wheel and the other one text messaging at the same time.
I did have enough forethought to move to the side of the road with my four-way lights flashing. The signal was choppy and I had to continually move it around in a circle to keep from losing him.
“I’ll have you know that I’m not as think as you drunk I am.” He had switched the words without even knowing that he was doing it.
“I would say this is a fine example of what affects liquor has on the human body. You could be a test subject for those young men and women thinking about taking their first drink at an early age. A person can lose control and do something stupid like drinking and driving. Perhaps you can take this show on the road and go to the schools in the area to show them the pitfalls of drinking.” I was having fun at his expense raking him over the coals for doing the predictable thing.
I got out and stood underneath the lamp at the end of the road. It was interesting to be in the driver’s seat leading him by the nose. He was never this open and honest with his feelings and I felt that it was foolish not to take advantage of it.
“I’ll have you know that I’m a role model to young cadets getting their first taste of the action. Some of those young girls give me knowing glances and I have to be above reproach.” He was amazingly articulate with some subtle breaks in reality with words missing from his sentences
“I’m not sure you would know what to do with somebody young enough to be your daughter.” I was testing the waters and paving the way for a question that was on the tip of my tongue.
“I’ve never had any complaints. Experience is better than awkward hands and clumsy maneuvers in the back seat of a car. I could be convinced to try something different. It’s every man’s fantasy to be with a younger woman.” He was opening himself up to a follow-up question and there was no time like the present.
“I want to ask you a question, but don’t feel that you have to answer it out of some misplaced chivalry. I know dating wasn’t for us, but maybe something more physical would have been better. Have you ever seriously considered taking us out of the friend zone?” I figured I wasn’t going to get another opportunity like this one and no woman in their right mind would have done anything differently.
I felt the first droplets of rain hitting my shoulder and soaking through the thin fabric of my white blouse. There was this awkward silence that was deafening.
There was the telltale sign of him typing something but it had yet to be revealed.
I was grinning when I was blinded by a set of headlights. I looked up and the car was barely a blur coming towards me. I jumped out of the way and found myself tumbling down an incline. I felt every single bump until I came to rest in the kind of pain that I wouldn’t want to wish on my worst enemy.