Donnie snuggled up next to her and stroked her hair before holding her like a cuddly teddy bear and kissing on the side of her head. “Just let it sit for now, boo. We’ll sleep on it and figure everything out in the morning.”
She sniffed. “Yeah.” Even after agreeing, she didn’t have much confidence she would be able to do any such thing.
After thirty minutes passed, Holden figured he had given the wrong answer but hoped Mary Allison would call him again. Hearing from her had raised his heart rate and zapped the remaining nervous energy out of him, allowing him to finally drift off for a few hours of sleep.
Chapter Seven
After giving Holden full access between her legs only to have him back down before the grand finale, Mary Allison found the prospect of seeing him in person or even hearing his voice over the phone far too humiliating to endure. She had not texted him again since she broke her phone, and when she returned to work Monday morning, she devised a system to put the brakes on the need for contact between the two of them. To prevent him from badgering her about deadlines, she sent a preemptive email, spelling out her daily goals and indicating she would let him know of any problems. For the rest of the week, Mary Allison worked hard to stay on top of her self-imposed schedule. She planned to send Holden a status report on Friday morning, keeping the correspondence brief and professional. Maybe I should unfriend him on Facebook too. Nah, that would be admitting he still affected me.
Throwing herself into her work did little to quench Mary Allison’s thirst for her editor. As much as she wanted to forget everything that happened between them, she couldn’t get him out of her mind. Every damn morning when she got her workstation set up, she found herself mumbling about what a complete prick he was, but she knew if she really felt that way, she wouldn’t be so bothered.
She stared at the picture of her heroine she’d been shading, but her mind wandered. She fantasized about what it would be like to strip Holden naked, lick his nipples, and ride on top of him. She’d never had the pleasure of seeing him without a shirt so she imagined if he had a six-pack or a thinner torso with slightly corrugated abdominals. Ugghh, looks like my shower nozzle’s going to be performing double duty again. She held her head in her hands, her nipples tightening into beads. After placing her hand on her breast over her shirt, she shook her head. No…no, nope. I have to stay on schedule.
Working through lunch had Mary Allison’s tummy growling, so she pushed away from her chair before kicking around the kitchen, looking for something to eat. She stared inside the frig. Cooking something seemed like way too much trouble but she didn’t want a sandwich or to graze through junk food. Rooting around the offerings produced a few odds and ends she could use, most notably some leftover grilled shrimp from some kabobs she and Donnie made Sunday evening. Feeding him was her thing. He sewed for her and she cooked for him—they were each other’s family. A pint of leftover steamed rice from the last time she ordered Chinese food, an avocado, some rice wine vinegar, and a few spices helped her parlay the leftover shrimp into a passable stir-fry.
As she sat down to eat, she perused her email and checked her Facebook page. She read another reminder about her high school reunion and then saw an interesting comment from her old crush, Redmond Lowry: I’m looking forward to seeing you again.
The implication would be that Redmond had seen her before, but if he did, Mary Allison had never known it. He certainly had plenty of opportunities to see her. They had been in the same grade, had classes together, rode the same bus, and had even lived only a couple of blocks from each other. However, going solely by their interactions during high school, Mary Allison never would have guessed Redmond even knew they inhabited the same planet. He was a major heartthrob but his knockout looks weren’t what drew Mary Allison to him. Redmond had straddled the line between jock and hipster. He had been known for being the football team’s star quarterback, but he didn’t mind taking a little flack if it meant he got to perform in the school plays. He had sung in the choir too, but what had impressed her the most was how he treated Donnie.
When they began high school, Donnie’s sexual preference remained under wraps and he had been on the football and baseball teams. He had managed to keep his secret until their tenth-grade year when he had a short-lived fling with one of his so-called friends, David Terry. Things had progressed to the point of oral sex before Terry informed Donnie he had been playing him. The bastard even took pictures. Once he decided the game was over, David forced Donnie out of the closet to everyone. All the football and baseball players, who had once accepted him as one of their own, turned their backs on him. Most of them wouldn’t even speak to him with Redmond being the sole exception. He wasn’t close friends with Donnie but unlike the others, Redmond had never been cruel and always had a nod or smile for Donnie. The gestures weren’t a lot but they had meant a lot to her best friend.
Well, this is promising. Mary Allison smiled. Judging from his picture, Redmond was still tall, toned, and very good-looking with reddish-blond hair and blue eyes. According to his profile, he was in the entertainment business. Not bad…I could use a distraction.
After copying Redmond’s message, she
