The Girl in the Comfortable Quiet (29 page)

My afternoon? There
is something. I’m sure of that, but I suddenly can’t remember a single thing.

“What do you have
in mind?”

“I want to show you
where I’ve been living. What I’ve been doing. I think you’ll find it
interesting.”

Interesting? Why
would I find it interesting?

“So do you think
you can cut out for a few hours?” he asks, watching me expectantly.

I focus my gaze on
the table, wondering if I should go, wondering why I debate this, and what the
heck I have on the calendar that I can’t remember. God this is weird, familiar
and distant at once, and I haven’t a clue what I should do here.

I stare at his
hand, so close to mine, on the table. Whoever thought it would be so
uncomfortable
not
to touch a guy? It doesn’t feel natural, this space we
hold between us, spiced with the kind of talk people have who know each other
intimately. What would he do if I touched him?

His fingers cover
mine and he gives me a friendly squeeze. The feel of him runs through my body
with remembered sweetness.

Suddenly, nothing
in my life is as important as spending the afternoon with Bobby, and for the
first time in a very long time, I don’t feel like a disjointed collection of
uncomfortably fitting parts. I feel at ease inside myself being with Bobby.

I stop trying to
access my mental calendar and smile up at Bobby. “I’ve got as much time as you
need.”

Bobby chuckles and
his hand slips back from me. He rises and tosses some bills on the table. “Just
a few hours, Kaley. I’ll have you back before the end of the day.”

I rise from my
chair and think
not if I figure out fast how not to blow this
.

Or enjoy the first novel in the Perfect Forever Novels:
The Signature.
Available Now. Please enjoy the following excerpt
from The Signature:

She became aware
all at once how utterly delightful it felt to be here with him, alone on the
quay, with the erotic nearness of his body.

She closed her
eyes. “Listen to the quiet. There are times when I lie here and it feels like
there is no one else in the world.”

“No one else in the
world? Would that be a good thing?” he asked thoughtfully.

“No. But the
illusion is grand, don’t you think?” she whispered.

Krystal turned her
head to the side, lifting her lids to find Devon’s gaze sparkling as he studied
her. He shook his head lazily. “No. The illusion wouldn’t be grand at all. It
would mean I wasn’t here with you.”

It all changed at
once, yet again, and so quickly that Krystal couldn’t stop it. The ticklish
feeling stirred in her limbs. Devon’s words, as well as the closeness of their
bodies, should have sent her into active retreat, and instead she felt herself
wanting to curl into him.
What would it feel like if he kissed me? Would I
still feel this delicious inside? Or would that old panic and fear return?

Laughing softly,
Devon said, “I’m not used to relaxing. Can you tell?”

“I wasn’t used to
it before Coos Bay either. There is a different pace of life here. At first I
thought there was no sound. That’s how quiet it seemed to me. Then I realized
that there is music, beautiful music in this quiet.”

After a long pause,
he murmured, “You’ll have to bring me here every Saturday until I learn to hear
music in the quiet.”

Krystal smiled.
“Once you hear the music it’s perfect.”

“It’s perfect now
to me.” His voice was a husky, sensual whisper.

He was on his side
facing her.
When had that happened?
An inadvertent thrill ran through
her flesh, and she could see it in his eyes—the supplication, the want, and an
unexplainable reluctance to indulge either.

Devon was no longer
smiling, his eyes had become brighter and more diffuse. His fingertips started
to trace her face with such exquisite lightness that her insides shook. For the
first time in a very long time, she felt completely a woman, and wanting.

Was it possible?
Had she finally healed internally as her flesh had done so long ago? Was she
finally past the legacy of Nick? Was what she was now feeling real? Should she
seek the answer with Devon? Or was it better to leave it unexplored?

“You are a very
beautiful woman,” he whispered.

She watched with
sleepy movements as his mouth lowered to her. It came first as a touch on her
cheek, feather soft between the play of his fingers. Her breath caught,
followed by a pleasant quickening of her pulse. She was unprepared for the
sweetness of his lips and the rushing sensations that ran through her body. His
thumb traced the lines of her mouth as his kiss moved sweetly, gently there.

His breath became
rapid in a way that matched her own, and his mouth grew fuller and more
searching. The fingertips curving her chin were like a gentle embrace, but
their mouths were eager and demanding. Flashes of desire rocketed through her
powerfully. Urgency sang through her flesh, a forgotten melody, now in vibrant
notes. She found herself wanting to twist into him. Reality begged her to twist
back.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Susan Ward is a native of Santa Barbara, California, where she
currently lives in a house on the side of a mountain, overlooking the Pacific
Ocean. She doesn’t believe she makes sense anywhere except near the sea. She
attended the University of California Santa Barbara and earned a degree in
Business Administration from California State University Sacramento. She works
as a Government Relations Consultant, focusing on issues of air quality and
global warming. The mother of grown daughters, she lives a quiet life with her
husband and her dog, Emma. She can be found most often walking at Hendry’s
Beach, where she writes most of her storylines in her head while watching Emma
play in the surf.

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