Animate Me (52 page)

“Do you like it? See…you’re on top of the world.”

“I love it!” she says happily. “Can I have it? I’m going to frame it.”

“Sure,” I respond happily, handing it to her.

She kisses my neck and hugs me. “So is B-Girl always alone? Does she have a special someone?”

“Funny you should ask,” I reply. “She does. She has a boyfriend that I’m introducing in the next book.”

She grins. “Oh good…a boyfriend! So what are his special powers?”

“He’s a mere mortal.”

“Really?” The look on her face is priceless. “So she’s open-minded about such things?”

“Yes, B-Girl’s brilliant. She knows that sometimes you find the best things in life where you least expect them.”

“Are they happy?” she asks.

“Supremely happy,” I assure her. “He worships his B-Girl and would do anything for her.”

“I see. And does she worship him?”

“I think so…I hope so.”

“I bet she does,” she whispers before she swivels me in my drafting chair until I’m facing her. “If he’s anything like you, then she worships him completely.”

She must know by know what those words do to me.
I take a deep breath and try to control my overwhelming desire to push the drawings aside and take her on my drafting table.

Slow, Nathan. Go slow…

I wrap my hands around her hips and slide my chair closer to kiss her, gently at first but then the passion builds. As I reach up and cup her breasts, I remember the first time I held her like this. Just like now, she moaned as I pleasured her, yet my heart was insecure. I didn’t know back then if she merely pitied me, or if her lust was genuine.

So now as she chants my name and presses her hand over me through my jeans, there is no question of her true desire. My fingers slide under her skirt, stroking her thighs higher and higher until they slip under her panties. She rocks into my tender touch.

“Take me here, Nathan,” she whispers huskily, as she leans back against the table full of drawings.

A low growl escapes out of my tight chest. My dream’s coming true… my studio’s about to be set on fire by Brooke and her magic ways. I help her pull off her skirt and panties before lifting her up in my arms.

I can’t help smiling inwardly.
How many times did I fantasize about taking Brooke on this table where I draw her every night?

In the frenzy, the Wonder Woman figurine face plants on the credenza while Monkey Man’s demise scatters over the floor. The room smells like sweet naked Brooke and lusty sex.

I love it…every part of it. My Toontown office will never be the same.

• • •

Late that night as we crawl into bed she brings the sketchbook with her. I try to contain my anticipation as she cuddles up to me.

“Do you want to see what I drew?” she asks sweetly.

“Sure.”

“You know when I thought about what I wanted the final drawing to be, I knew I didn’t want it to be about work or our careers. All I cared about was that we’d be together…the rest is secondary.”

I smile, realizing how much thought she put into this.

“So I closed my eyes and listened to your suggestion… where would we be in the future—like in ten years…and this is what I saw.”

She slowly opens the cover and sorts through the pages until she gets to the back of the book. “Here we are.” She carefully flips the pages over the spiral and sets the pad down on my lap. “I hope you like it.”

I lift the pad and study it. I can tell she’s watching intently for my reaction, and I don’t even have to perform. My grin is natural and heartfelt. The drawing is charmingly amateur, but she’s clearly put a lot of thought and effort into it.

Brooke and I are on the beach holding hands. She’s wearing a B-Girl style swimsuit. There are two small people and something that resembles a dog gathered together, just in front of us at the shore.

“Did you know how much I love the beach? Where is this?” I ask her, avoiding the bigger points of interest.

“Hawaii,” she replies. “I want to go there with you. It’d be really romantic.”

I make a mental note to call Mom’s travel agent tomorrow. “And your swimsuit…it looks B-Girl inspired,” I point out.

“Nice touch, huh?” she asks, watching for my reaction.

“Yes. I love that. And who’s this?” I ask, pointing to three small figures near the shore.”

She carefully gestures as she explains. “These are our children: Walt and Mary, and that’s our dog, Pixar.”

Pixar.

“We took our dog with us to Hawaii?”

“We take him everywhere. He’s a dog with super powers…he protects and babysits the kids.”

I laugh. “I see…but just two kids?”

“Well, I went from a firm zero to two with you, baby…so I wouldn’t push it.”

I take the book and prop it up on the nightstand so it faces us, before pulling her into my arms. “It’s perfect. I love your drawing, and I love you.”

She looks at me intently. “Really? You don’t mind if we only have two kids?”

“As long as I’m with you, I’ll be happy with anything that comes our way.” But then a thought occurs to me so I pick up the sketchbook again and examine the drawing more closely. “We had kids without being married?” I ask, feigning concern.

“What? Of course, we’re married. Why did you assume that?”

I hand the pad back to her. “Well, where are our rings?”

She rolls her eyes. “I see you’re a detail man. Do you have a pencil here, or do I need to get up and find one.”

“Open the drawer next to you,” I instruct.

She finds a pen, and with her tongue peeking out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrates, she carefully enhances her drawing by adding a tiny ring to each of our ring fingers.

“There,” she says, satisfied.

“That’s better,” I agree.

She studies the figures by the shore, and lightly runs her fingers over Walt and Mary. “I’m not sure I’ll be a good Mom,” she admits. “But you make me want babies, Nathan. You make me want a friggin picket fence and meatloaf on Sundays.”

“I make you want meatloaf on Sundays?”

“Yeah, she says, curling into me. “I wanna be your woo-man.” She giggles at her joke. “And I don’t know how good I’ll be at trying to balance having a career and being a mom one day, but I want to try.”

She has no idea what this is doing to me. I trail kisses across her cheek and pull her closer. “You’ll be great,” I say with confidence. “And we’ll do it together. We’ll be a team.”

“The dynamic duo,” she agrees.

“Anything else you want?” I ask.

“I want you to hold me tight. You have a way of making me feel like I’m all that matters.”

“Because…” I push her to continue.

“I
am
all that matters.”

“By George, I think you’ve got it.”

We’re wrapped in each other’s arms about to doze off when I’m compelled to bring up something that’s bothering me. “Brooke,” I whisper.

“Mmmm?” she responds, winding her arm even tighter around me.

“Walt Evans?” I ask, as I stroke her shoulder.

“Don’t forget his sister, Mary Blair Evans,” she insists.

“Mary Blair? The famous illustrator that worked for Disney?”

“Yes,” she replies, grinning.

I almost laugh out loud. She’s so damn cute…she’s killing me with this. “Brooke, love…those are great names. Grand, noble names, but…”

“Yes?” she says, I feel her body tense against me.

“I’m a Looney Tunes guy, Brooke. When you throw in Pixar, we got three for Disney, and a big fat zero for Warner Bros. It’s just not right.”

“That’s true…Disney acquired Pixar,” she responds thoughtfully. “Well, what do you suggest?”

“There’s a lot of greats of animation at Warner Bros.,” I point out.

“For the record, although I love their work, I’m not a fan of the name Friz…nor Chuck for that matter,” she huffs.

“Well, there’s Carl, or Leon…or how about Robert? There are two Roberts, Clampett and McKimson.”

“I like the name Robert,” she agrees. “Robert Walter Evans. I like the sound of that.”

I grin.
She still got the Walt in there.
“Those are some pretty big shoes for that little guy to fill,” I warn her.

“Yeah,” she sighs. “But he’ll have our toon-genes baby, and all our love to help him along.”

“And don’t forget Mary. She very well may outdo us all,” I point out.

“Mary’s going to kick ass,” she agrees. “She’ll be our little Power Puff Girl.”

“Anything else?” I ask. “As long as we’re sorting this all out.”

“Let’s see,” she says, thinking out loud. “We’ve got the love nest with the picket fence.”

“Check,” I respond.

“Two kidlets, Mary and Robert.”

“Check.”

“A Golden Retriever named Pixar.”

“Golden Retriever? I like those…check.”

“Meatloaf on Sundays.”

I laugh. “Check.”

She pauses.

“Anything else?” I ask as I pull her up over me. All this talk is making me wild. I want her again…badly.

The good news is I think she wants me again, too. She spreads her thighs and lifts up so she’s straddling me. “You,” she whispers.

“Me? Oh, you’ve always had me.”

She nods, then leans over and kisses her way up my neck. “Yes, most definitely you,” she chants; her expression loving as her breasts graze my chest. I reach up and fill my hands with her softness.

“Are you sure?” I challenge playfully, as I give her my love.

The heat is radiating off her. She swivels her hips provocatively.

Oh, Brooke…

She nods, certainty in her big blue eyes.

“You.”

The End

My first support team for my writing efforts was my spirited daughter Alex, my sweet sister Cheri and dear friend Lisa Fortunato, who cheered me on before I’d even found a single reader. They always made me feel that my efforts were worthwhile-that it wasn’t insane to be writing late at night after working long days. I love you guys for that and so much more.

I appreciate that my husband and daughter put up with me as I got lost in the world of my characters. I often forgot about things like dinner and that my Mac didn’t always have to be perched on my lap.

I will forever be indebted to the fan fiction community, who welcomed and inspired me as a reader and writer. The amount of creativity, artistry and support I found there changed my life in many ways. I have made friends from all over the world and had incredible experiences I would’ve never imagined. There are so many wonderful readers who reviewed, blogged and tweeted about my stories and inspired me to keep writing. I’m too afraid to miss someone to list everyone’s names, but know that I adore and am thankful to all of you.

In the fanfic community I also found my story support team when I was joined by four exceptionally bright and talented women who pre-read and helped me edit my stories. Love and endless gratitude to my fic sister Azucena Sandoval, Laura Edmonston, Jenn Miller and Kathy Wallace. I’ve also been lucky to work with Jada D’Lee, a terrific designer, who rendered magic creating promotional banners and trailers for my stories. Elli Reid continually supplied me with amazing imagery to inspire my writing. The generosity of all of your time and support, my friends, will never be forgotten.

When I made the decision to publish a new cycle of editing began. Many thanks to Angela Borda, Susi Prescott, Aviva Layton, Melanie Mueller and Judy Marks who took my hand as we traveled down the tough road of editing for publication. I have learned so much from each of you and I’m very grateful.

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love the artists in the animation and comic world. Words cannot express how much I appreciate the incredible talent and heart of gold of brilliant artist Juan Ortiz, who illustrated all but two of Animate Me’s illustrations, including the cover drawing. He went above and beyond what I had hoped for my story and brought a charm to the drawings that made me unbelievably happy.

I am so lucky to have Juan and the terrific men in my life who have helped and encouraged me to chase my dreams. Thank you to Tad Marburg, Michael Senich, my brother, Rob Clampett, David Johnston, Niall Leonard, Vince Musacchia, Alex Costa, Jack Morrisey and Erik Odom.

Hugs to my team at Clampett Studio Collections: Susan Avendano, Susan Barrett, John Murphy and Michelle Smart who welcomed with great enthusiasm and support the news that I’d be publishing fiction. I don’t know what I’d do without you guys.

And continuing the theme that it takes a village to self-publish a book, thanks again to Juan Ortiz for the wonderful cover character drawing and Jada D’Lee for the perfect book cover design, both made me cry tears of joy. Many thanks to David Johnston for his flawless cover photography, Skye Moorhead for her photoshop work and Erik Odom and Anais Mendoza for contributing their beautiful hands. Thanks to Kirk Mueller for early development art. With the production of the book trailer, thanks goes to David Johnston and Daniel Peacock for cinematography, actors Michael Senich and Anna Koehler for their enthusiasm and great work, and Renegade Animation for bringing the cup art to life. Thank you to
52 Novels
for formatting, and to AToMR and
JeantheBookNerd
guiding me through book blog tours.