CHAPTER 17
BLAZE
I was convinced everyone in Hollywood was rich. Nobody lived in normal houses. They lived in estates. Manors. Chateaus and villas…
Harley’s house was the most elaborate of all I’d seen. High up in the hills, her place was surrounded by huge iron gates that an elephant couldn’t get through.
“You live here alone?” I asked, my eyes wide at the sheer size of the place.
“Pretty much,” she said, smiling up at me, flashing those Liz Taylor eyes my way, making me quickly forget about anything but her. She was dressed up for dinner, a form-fitting black wrap-around dress hugging her delicious curves and dipping to a low v in the middle, revealing a healthy dose of cleavage that I found it hard to tear my gaze away from. A chunky turquoise necklace snaked around her slender neck, partially hidden by the lush, loose waves of her long black hair.
When she stepped aside to let me in, I brushed past her, the scent of the same perfume she’d worn the night before washing over me and bringing me right back to the memory of her in my arms. I turned back to face her, handing her the flowers and wine and watching as she placed them on a large round table before turning back to me with that beautiful smile.
I longed to pull her in. I opened my arms slowly, offering her a soft smile. She stepped forward, slipping into my embrace as if it was a dance we’d practiced a hundred times.
“It’s nice to see you again,” I said, my words lost in her hair.
“You, too,” she murmured against my chest.
I hugged her gently, desire coursing through my limbs. Taking a deep breath, I remembered the promise I’d made to myself earlier: dinner first. Then, whatever happens, happens.
She deserved much more than the premature quickie that was trying to lure me in now that she was in my arms again.
“Do you like Italian?” I asked, instead of kissing her. God, I wanted to kiss her. Her lips tasted like home. They felt like falling into a sweet dream and never wanting to wake up. They felt like everything I wanted to feel. And they were right there.
So close.
Smiling.
Calling my name…
“I do,” she replied. It took me a moment to remember what I’d asked, I was so lost in my desire to rush through to the good parts.
But then it hit me.
It’s all good.
The waiting I’d endured until I’d arrived. The anticipation that was making it hard for me to even breathe properly right now. The memory of her kiss and the fantasy of what it would feel like again to feel her touch.
It was all perfect…
“We should go,” I offered, before I took too many steps into her home. Too many steps closer to her bed…
“Let me grab my purse,” she said, leaving me standing in the marble entry way that looked like it was out of a movie set from the fifties. A wide marbled staircase wound up to the top floor, leading to a catwalk type landing that looked out over the two-story windows at the sweeping view of the canyon outside of the front of the house.
Inside, everything was white. The marble floors, the furniture, a huge round table with a massive flower arrangement in the center that made my little bouquet of lilies look like the sad offering of a child.
I turned to take in the view, taking a few deep breaths to try to compose myself. Harley intimidated the hell out of me and I desperately didn’t want to feel that way. I wanted her to see me as a confident man, not some flailing amateur that didn’t know how to act around luxury.
“Ready?” she asked, appearing with a small beaded purse in hand.
I offered her my arm and we walked out to my Porsche. I sent a silent thanks to Daine as I opened the door for her. He’d convinced me to buy this car when we’d first moved here, insisting my old truck needed to be upgraded to match my new lifestyle. The thought of picking Harley up in my old beat-up Ford embarrassed me.
I slid behind the wheel, smiling over at her before starting up the engine. She reached over and put her hand on my knee casually, looking out the window and leaning back in her seat like she belonged there.
My heart cracked wide open when I realized the truth was so clearly spelled out for me right now.
She did belong there.