Fantasy Lover

foyer. She tossed her handful of mail onto the antique drop-leaf table by her staircase before she shut and locked the door behind her, then dropped the keys next to the mail.

As she pulled off her black high heels, silence rang in her ears and a lump settled deep in her chest. Every night she followed the same innocuous routine. Come home to an empty house, drop her mail on the table, trudge upstairs to change, eat a small meal, sort the mail, read a book, call Selena, check with her answering service, then go to bed.

Selena was right, Grace's life was a short, boring study in monotony.

And at twenty-nine, Grace was tired of it.

Heck, even Jamie the nose-picker was starting to look good.

Well, maybe not Jamie, and most especially not Jamie's nose, but surely there was someone out there somewhere who wasn't a cretin.

Wasn't there?

As Grace headed up the stairs, she decided living by herself wasn't so terribly awful. At least she had plenty of time to devote to her hobbies.

Or to develop some hobbies, she thought as she walked down the hallway toward her bedroom. One day, she really was going to get herself a hobby.

She crossed her bedroom and dropped her shoes by the bed, then quickly changed.

She'd just finished pulling her hair into a ponytail when the doorbell rang.

Heading back downstairs, she went to let Selena in.

As soon as the door opened, Selena huffed, 'You're not wearing that tonight, are you?'

Grace looked down at the holes in her jeans and her oversized T-shirt. 'Since when did you start caring about what I look like?'

Then she saw it in the huge wicker bag Selena used to carry her groceries. 'Ugh, not that book again.'

Looking a bit peeved, Selena said, 'You know what your problem is, Gracie?'

Grace looked up at the ceiling, seeking heavenly help. Unfortunately, none was forthcoming. 'What? That I don't go moon-crazy and toss my freckled, fat self at every guy I meet?'

'That you don't know just how adorable you really are.'

While Grace stood dumbfounded by such an uncharacteristic remark, Selena took the book into her living room, and set it on the coffee table. Next, Selena removed the wine from her bag, and headed for the kitchen.

Grace didn't bother to follow after her. She'd called for pizza before she left work, and she knew Selena was just getting wine glasses.

As if pulled by an unseen hand, Grace felt herself drawn toward the coffee table and the book.

Unbidden, her hand reached out for it, and as she touched the soft leather, she could almost swear she felt something brush her cheek.

That was ridiculous.

You don't believe in this stuff.

Grace ran her hand over the smooth, perfect leather, noting that no lettering or title appeared anywhere on it. She opened the cover.

This was the strangest book she'd ever seen. The pages looked as if they'd once been some kind of scroll or something that had later been bound into book form.

The bleached parchment crinkled under her fingers as she turned to the first page and saw an intricate emblem of painted scrollwork that had three intersecting triangles and a beguiling image of three women united by swords.

Frowning, Grace vaguely recalled it as some sort of ancient Greek symbol.

Even more intrigued than before, she flipped through the book only to find it was completely empty except for the three pages…

How weird.

It must have been some sort of sketchbook for an artist or a sculptor, she decided. That would be the only explanation for why the pages were left blank. Something must have happened before the artist had a chance to add anything more to the book.

But that didn't really explain why the pages looked a whole lot older than the binding…

Flipping back to the drawing of the man, she studied the writing across the page from him but couldn't make any of it out. Unlike Selena, she'd avoided language classes in college like they were poison, and if not for Selena, she would never have passed that part of her core curriculum at all.

'It's definitely Greek to me,' she said under her breath, then she returned her attention to the man.

He was amazing. So very perfect and inviting.

So incredibly sexy.

Completely captivated by him, she wondered how long it would take to make a drawing so perfect. Someone must have spent years on it, because the guy literally looked as if he could step right off the page and into her house.

Selena paused in the doorway as she watched Grace staring at Julian. In all the years she'd known Grace, she'd never seen her so enthralled.

Good.

Maybe Julian could help her.

Four years was really too long.

But then Paul had been an inconsiderate, self-centered pig. His callousness for Grace's feelings had even made her cry the night he'd taken her virginity.

And no woman deserved to cry. Especially not while she was with someone who had told her he cared about her.

Julian would definitely be good for Grace. A month with him and Grace would forget all about Paul. And once Grace tasted what real, mutual sex was like, then she would be free of Paul's cruelty forever.

But first Selena had to get her stubborn chum to be a little more compliant.

'Did you order the pizza?' Selena asked, handing her a full glass of wine.

Grace absently took it. For some reason, she couldn't quite take her eyes off the picture.

'Grade?'

Blinking, she forced herself to look up. 'Hmm?'

'Caught you looking,' Selena teased.

Grace cleared her throat. 'Oh, please, it's just a little black-and-white drawing.'

'Hon, there ain't nothing little in that drawing.'

'You're bad, Selena.'

'True enough. More wine?'

As if on cue, the doorbell rang. 'I'll get it,' Selena said, setting the wine down on the end table, then heading to the foyer.

A few minutes later Selena returned to the room. Grace let the wonderful aroma of a large pepperoni pizza drag her thoughts away from the book. And the man who seemed to have branded his image on her subconscious.

But it wasn't easy.

In fact, it seemed to get harder by the minute.

What the heck was wrong with her? She was the Ice Queen. Not even Brad Pitt or Brendan Fraser made her lustful. And they were in full, living color.

What was it about that drawing?

About him?

Grace took a careful bite of the pizza and defiantly moved to an armchair across the room. There. She'd show that book and Selena that she was in control.

Four pieces of pizza, two Hostess cupcakes, four glasses of wine, and a full movie later, she and Selena were lying on the floor draped over stacked sofa cushions while they laughed at Sixteen