It was ten past two and Grant sat in the small alcove near the art history section of the Rio Lobos Public Library. He flipped idly through an oversize book on renaissance art and waited for Elizabeth to arrive. He tried not to fidget, a bit of unwelcome anxiety creeping in. It was an old habit, one from another lifetime. These days, he was mostly numb, but there was the odd time that he found himself out of sorts.
“Oh, good. You are still here. Sorry to be late,” he heard a light voice say from behind him.
“No problem. I haven’t been here very long,” he told her, standing to greet her.
She sat down at the corner to one side of him and leaned down to open a messenger bag she had dropped on the floor beside her. Grant watched a wave of long blonde hair fall forward, covering her face for a moment and obscuring it from his view. Well, it wasn’t quite blonde. Instead it was a melody of shades ranging from a very pale yellow to a honey color. It was the shade of hair women got from being out in the sun and letting it streak naturally. Many a woman tried to achieve it from a box, but never quite pulled it off so perfectly as the real deal.
She sighed and looked up at him, laying a large scrap book of some sort on the table in front of her. He could tell that she was nervous, but he also noticed something else. She was beautiful. It wasn’t that he hadn’t noticed before, but this was the first time he had ever been in such close quarters with her. A blush spread up her cheeks as if she realized he was checking her out and he silently chastised himself.
Imagine it, he had been with hundreds of women across this country and some of other continents, but he couldn’t remember being so instantly awe struck by any of them as he found himself in this moment with her looking up at him, drawing him in with her alabaster skin, big blue eyes and full pink lips. What he wouldn’t give to kiss them right here and now.
Shaking it off, he tried to refocus on why they were here. For her, it was to have him critique her work. For him . . . Well, it was something that he was rapidly finding himself ashamed of doing. Looking into her open and honest face made him feel even more horrible. It was if he had gotten an instant glimpse into her very core and gotten lost in there. Now, he was struggling to distance himself from her immediate effect. This was going to be much harder than anticipated.
“Grant?” she said.
He realized that she had said something before, but he had been too absorbed in his thoughts to comprehend it.
“Oh, sorry. Was lost in thought for a moment. What did you say?” he asked.
She smiled. It was breathtaking. There was no mistaking that the attraction was mutual as her lashes dropped and she bit on her lower lip before speaking again. Opening the book in front of her, she slid it toward him, her hand brushing against his bare arm as she did so. It was like grabbing the naked wires of a compromised power cord and getting a shock of electricity that set his entire body tingling. Every bit of the energy conveyed detonated squarely in his groin.
Seriously, Grant. What the fuck is wrong with you. Snap out of it!
Thank god his lap was concealed beneath the table. She looked too flustered already without getting a glimpse of him getting a hard on. The last thing he needed for her to think was that he was some sort of sexual deviant rather than a trusted friend that she might want to one day bring home to dear old dad.
“I asked if you were ready to look at my photos? I don’t mean to rush you or anything, but I . . . Uh, I don’t have a lot of time before I have to get back home.”
Grant realized she had come here alone. Most likely, she had snuck out to meet him. Otherwise, there would have been several of the big hairy biker dogs standing around cracking their knuckles like bouncers at a dive bar.
“We can look at them now,” he told her.
They settled in to looking through the photos of her work. There were several in the book that he hadn’t seen in the clubhouse first hand. Though he was far from the expert he claimed to be, he did know a bit about fine art and her work was fantastic. He marveled that she was not only beautiful, but talented as well. Her brilliance came across even further in her manner of speech, as she was both articulate and seemed well educated. When they were done, she glanced at her watch and smiled at him in a way that just made him want to kiss her again.
“Thank you so much for this, Grant,” she told him. “I hate to rush off, but I’ve already been here too long. Will you be at the coffee shop again soon?”
“Of course,” he told her, standing as she put her book back in her messenger bag and rose to leave.
“Good. I really enjoyed seeing you there,” she told him.
Standing here looking at her, he found himself appreciating her wonderfully curvaceous figure. Sleek leather leggings hugged her long, slender legs, the smooth curvature of her hips tapering off into a tiny waist. Her breasts were the perfect size, not overly large but ample enough to strain at the skintight t-shirt she wore. The v necked front allowed just the tiniest glimpse of a most delicious cleavage. He was completely aware that he was gawking until he glanced upward to see that she was blushing, once again.
It was refreshing in a way that he couldn’t describe. There weren’t many women out there that blushed like that these days. He had grown accustomed to women that were all too forward with their sexual prowess, not that there was anything wrong with that, but there was something special about a bit of a challenge. He found himself wondering if Elizabeth was a virgin, a thought that only spiraled downward into thoughts about how much he’d love to be the one to take her for the first time.
“Yeah. Um, I really enjoy seeing you there too,” he finally replied, forcing himself to get a grip.
She turned to walk away after a final goodbye, but then stopped and turned. Grant wondered if she had caught him admiring her perfect backside and thigh gap before he had realizing she was turning back. The flushed cheeks that she wore told him that she had, and he kicked himself again. He really was going to come across as a pervert if he didn’t get a grip on himself. Damn, it was killing him how much he already wanted her.
“Grant, if you don’t mind, can we not mention to my mother that we met here today?”
“Uh, sure. She would mind?”
“I just like to keep some things personal.”
“No problem.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you soon then,” she told him, turning again to leave.
Grant watched her walk away. This had gone well, mostly. She was willing to sneak around behind the parents’ backs so that gave him a chance to get to know her without them. It was obvious that she was attracted to him. The problem was that he was attracted to her on a level he hadn’t expected and that could be a problem if he didn’t keep himself in check.
This had been their first clandestine meeting and he already found himself wanting to yank her to him and push her against the nearest wall of books and kiss her until he could not longer tell where he ended, and she began. He wanted to hear her panting breathlessly as he ravaged her neck and slipped her shirt over her head to kiss those perfect breasts that had been hugging it so tightly only moments before. When she was ready for him, he’d slip those leggings from her and flip her around, taking her from behind so he could admire her glorious asscheeks while kneading and twisting her hardened pink nipples.
Fuck me. I’ve got to get out of this library and find something else to think about.
Grant walked back to the table and retrieved his jacket, slipping it on to cover up his hard on before leaving for home. Of course, despite his self reproach, he could only think of one thing all the way home - Elizabeth Lowery.