No, it has got to be a mistake.
Ashley Jordan stood ridged at the threshold of the apartment where just now she caught site of her best friend’s boyfriend. Several rapid blinks confirmed what her mind was observing, a tall, bare chested man whose calm gaze took the breath from her lungs.
“Uhm…is there something I can do for you…Miss—”
Nothing formed in Ashley’s mind, mouth hanging open speechless. The pillar of delight waited then he reached out, warm firm fingers sliding up under her chin, closing her mouth shut.
“Might help if you start that way,” he said.
“Thank you,” Ashley blurted out.
Another long pause passed before he finally drew back, eyeing her with some doubt. “And you need directions?” he guessed but stood ready to shut the door if she morphed into some crazy lunatic.
Fighting the flush of warmth building in her lower extremities, Ashley found the sense to press on with her task.
“Yeah, uh, uh…Erin sent me over,” she managed to say.
With that his eyes went wide. “Yes!” he exclaimed. She could see his arms relax making that burn flow steadily upwards through her body. “Erin’s roomie! She always talks about you. Come in, come in, come in!”
He stepped aside gesturing and Ashley mentally directed one leg to move forwards until she made her way into the living room, sitting down.
“I’m Zayden,” he said extending a hand.
She shook it, treasuring firmness and made mental notes about it for future use. “Ashley,” came a low reply smiling back at him. He sat across from her, smoothing the dark tight sweatpants he wore, and Ashley nervously brushed back her short locks trying not to look so doe-eyed at him.
“So, uh, I was expecting Erin to show up here about now. Is she okay?”
Yes, the reason Ashley was there in the first place. It was hard to speak, Zayden’s dark growth of enticing chest hairs calling her name, but she shook it off and continued.
“No, Erin’s alright, but she sent me over to let you know that she is held up at the moment working a bit of overtime.”
Zayden frowned. He thought for a moment and reached back to a table behind the chair taking up his cellphone. Silently, he fingered through his text messages allowing Ashley to take in more of the sights presented before her.
Her mind wandered particularly thinking about the fingers gliding across the screen, how they moved in firm swipes imagining their touch brushing along the front of her chest.
“Odd,” he said, “Why didn’t she just call or text me?”
“Well, where we work it’s not particularly allowed for us to be on our phones,” she answered him.
“Well, that’s a bit of piracy if you ask me,” Zayden said laughing.
His voice only drew Ashley deeper into the moment, wishing somehow Zayden would be dissuaded and open for another form of company.
“Man, and I really wanted to see her right now,” commented Zayden.
Splash!
“She’s really deep into the job. Our Boss thinks she can make a great floor supervisor with more time and…devotion?”
Zayden shot to his feet looking a bit distressed, “No, she can’t be a workaholic now, can she?”
Ashley shrugged, placing her best innocent grin on her face. “She does like to make money, and if opportunity rises, she’ll take it.”
Just like my current opportunity.
He wasn’t put off by the situation and thought again. Suddenly, a devious grin formed. “Ashley, right?”
KER-SPLASH!
“…yes.”
“Let’s go down and surprise her. What’d you say? We can all catch dinner together.”
More time in Zayden’s presence sounded good to her, and with a few extended directions, maybe further inroads could be made here.
“Sure,” replied Ashley.
“Great! Let me take a quick shower and we can book it down to the light-rail and catch her before she leaves.”
In a flash, he went to clean up removing his sweats in one smooth move while darting into the bedroom, a move not missed by Ashley.
Her palpitations subsided, mind leveling out returning from her brief saunter into the fantasy realm. She heard the rush of the shower, the spattering of the water against Zayden’s body and slowly chewed anxiously on the corner of her bottom lip.
Oh…oh this is going to be hard; she thought staring expectantly at the bedroom ready to resume her unexpected encounter of fate.
