The Thrill of the Chase (15 page)

Monica began pulling from Kyle
'
s arms.
"
I need to go.
"

"
Not yet.
"
His words were cajoling.

"
I need to go. Your sister needs me.
"

A scowl of frustration hardened his features.
"
Right. Don
'
t go far. I
'
ll be watching you. Don
'
t for one second think I
'
m through with you.
With this
. With us.
"

The rest of the evening flew by quickly for Monica. She walked around in a happy stupor, high on life, high on Kyle, high on the brilliantly happy occasion. Ashley was so blatantly in love with Ryan and he with her, that it brought tears to Monica
'
s eyes several times. In between the toasts, the food, the cake and the crowd, Monica noticed Ryan
'
s eyes searching out and finding his bride. It was as if the newlyweds were connected by a live, electrical current. Monica watched how Ashley would glance around and find Ryan
'
s gaze focused on her. She would smile at him, his features would relax, and then he would continue doing whatever he was doing at the moment. Monica knew without a doubt that Ryan loved Ashley and was right for her. How could she have ever doubted it?

She only hoped she could find the same kind of happiness. A warm thrill went through her when she thought of
the kiss
again. All evening, it was never far from her mind.

The dancing was fun and exhausting, the champagne flowed freely, and in the back of her mind she knew Kyle was waiting on the sidelines of the reception, his eyes on her the entire time.

He came and grabbed her several times for a slow song, and in between times, she saw him being gallant and dancing with the older women in his family, most of whom were widows.
She adored seeing him doing that.

She
'
d always known he was a good guy. The perfect guy. So handsome.
So achingly sexy
.

At one point, she saw him take his cell phone from his inside suit pocket, and frown at whatever he read there.

Moments later, he walked over and spoke to Ashley and Ryan, and then his parents. She watched as he turned toward the door, swing and look around until his eyes found hers. He gave her a disappointed smile, shook his head as if he was missing something, and turned and walked out the door.

His mother glanced over at her and walked swiftly toward her. Mrs. Weldon took Monica
'
s hands in hers.
"
He got called in, sweetie. It
'
s an emergency. A huge fire. He had to go.
"
She gripped Monica
'
s hand tightly and the two women shared a moment together worrying about a man that was never far from either of their minds.

****

Monica was cleaning her almost vacant apartment the next evening when her phone beeped a text message notification. She wiped her hands, plopped on the couch and picked up her cell.

The words she read sent a sharp pang of pleasure through her.
"
Hey pretty girl
.
"

She didn
'
t actually have Kyle
'
s number programmed in her phone, but who else could it be? This
had to be
a good sign. How should she answer? She had to make sure it was Kyle. There was no since getting her hopes up if it wasn
'
t. So she typed,
"
Kyle?
"

"
Yeah
.
"

Her heartbeat accelerated at his confirmation. Her turn. Crap.
"
It was good to see you
.
"

"
It was good to touch you.
"

Oh. My. God.
"
Yeah.
"

"
You agree?
"

"
I agree.
"
Of course she agreed!

"
And you
'
re going to let me touch you again?
"

Wow. Intense. How to answer when the answer was obvious to her?
"
Um. . .
"

"
What kind of answer is that?
"

"
What kind of answer do you want?
"

"
A positive one.
"

"
Where are you?
"

"
Colorado.
"

"
Really?
"

"
Wouldn
'
t lie to you.
"

"
A fire?
"

"
Yeah. A big one
.
"

Fear ran down her spine.
"
Are you being careful?
"

"
I
'
m always careful, babe.
"

"
Where are you staying?
"

"
Hotel. Just chilling. Hard day.
"

"
I
'
m sorry.
"

"
Wish you were here.
"

"
On the bed with you?
"
She couldn
'
t believe she sent that.

"
On the bed under me.
"

Oh. My. God. Her hands began shaking. And she didn
'
t answer back fast enough before he fired another text to her.

"
You understand that
'
s the way it
'
s going to be when I get back?
"

"
Do I have anything to say about it?
"

"
Not really, babe.
"

What did he expect her to say now?
"
Um. . .
"

"
Seriously?
"
She could actually hear the impatience in his voice.

"
Seriously, what?
"

"
Seriously, you want to argue about it?
"

"
No.
"

"
Then what is the
'
um
'
about?
"

"
I don
'
t know what to say to you.
"

"
Say yes. I want to see you when I get back to town and I want you to want that, too.
"

"
I want that, too.
"
With all her heart. She
'
d wanted it a long, long time.

"
Good.
"

"
When will you be home?
"

"
The fire should be contained by the weekend. Be ready.
"

"
Okay.
"

"
Night, babe.
"

"
Night. Be safe.
"

Monica put her phone down and wrapped her arms around herself. She closed her eyes and felt a huge grin encompass her face
. Could wishes really come true?
God, she hoped so. Although she loved Ashley and Julie enormously, and she was absolutely thrilled they had found the guys of their dreams, it had been a little hard when deep in her heart she had always known that only one guy would ever do for her.

And now she had a chance at him! Finally.

She hugged the reality of the text exchange to herself for a few blissful minutes, then jumped up and began cleaning with a vengeance.

****

Monday night she
'
d been home from her job at the bank for a few hours and was settling down to some chill time in front of the television when her phone went off again.
Please, please, please.

She picked it up and read the display. It was Kyle again, and pleasure surged through her. She slid the bar across and read his text.
"
What are you wearing?
"

She laughed out loud. Were they going to play this game? Could be fun.
"
Nothing. What are you wearing?
"

"
Don
'
t give me a heart attack. Just need a visual.
"

She looked down at her old, stained sleep shirt.
No way
. She had to lie. Or not. She looked down at her bare legs and had an evil idea. She slipped off her Sponge Bob slippers and knocked them to the floor. Her feet looked good. She
'
d pampered and painted them the night before. She lifted her shirt to the tops of her thighs, crossed one bare leg over the other, and shot a picture of her legs from the top of her thighs to her pink painted toes.

She attached it the text and pressed the send button. And waited. And waited.
And waited
.

Finally, her phone vibrated and she grinned and opened the message.
"
You
'
re going to pay for that in a big way.
"

She laughed again. This was fun!
"
Aren
'
t you going to return the favor?
"

"
Not now. Another.
"

"
Another what?
"

"
Send another picture.
"

A sharp thrill of pleasure ran through her and landed in a pool of wet heat on her panties. He was so fine!
"
You want another picture?
"

"
Now, Monica.
"

Oh. Wow. Okay. She thought for a moment. She
'
d never sent anybody a naked picture of herself, and besides, they hadn
'
t even slept with each other.
Yet
. No, she didn
'
t have the nerve. And surely he didn
'
t expect that? What would he like that she dared to do? Her breath came faster as she realized it was arousing her to think about this, to do this. She lifted up her shirt and glanced down at her torso. Her panties were pretty. Pink and lacy. But she didn
'
t even think she could do that. Not before they knew each other intimately.

She leaned back, sucked in her stomach to make it appear more concave, held her shirt just under her breasts, and took a picture of her naked stomach down to where the top lace of her bikini panties were showing. She snapped four pictures, chose the best one, and before she could talk herself out of it, pressed the send button.

She bit her lip and waited. Her nerves shot up while she waited. That picture was okay, wasn
'
t it? It was just her stomach. She showed her stomach all the time. At the pool. At the beach.

She didn
'
t have long to wait. He texted back immediately.
"
That
'
s good. You
'
re gorgeous. Now I want the panties.
"

She felt the blush spread across her cheeks and crawl down her chest. She texted him back
"
No way.
"

"
Yes. Now.
"

"
No.
"

"
I
'
ll be home Friday. Things will be easier on you if you do what I say now.
"

Oh my. That sounded like a threat. A sexual threat. An awesome, exciting,
cream your panties
sexual threat.

Monica slipped her panties off, jumped up and grabbed a wine glass and filled it with water for effect, arranged the items on the coffee table and snapped a picture.

She pressed send and waited.

"
Very pretty but not what I meant. Are you drinking?
"