“Open wide,” I demand, but my voice drops. I watch as she wraps her lips around the spoon. She savors the treat a second, holding her mouth closed over the spoon. Her mouth sucks at the cold ice cream, and I imagine it melting against her warm tongue. She leans back, dragging the sweet combination off the silverware, and purrs as the dessert fills her mouth. My dick is as stiff as this utensil.
She did that on purpose.
She doesn’t smile in self-satisfaction. That would be admitting a victory, admitting to something, and she’ll be damned if she does that. Still, she licks those peach-colored lips, swiping any stickiness off those puffy swells before slipping her tongue back into her mouth.
“Good night,” she whispers, breathless and taunting.
“Good night, princess,” I say, knowing I’m totally fucked and in for another night of sexy dreams.
Card 8: Canned Peaches
Fresh water
[Ethan]
Two days later, Pam calls me to check in. I’ve hardly seen Ella in the past forty-eight hours, and it’s weird to think I’m supposed to spend weeks alone with her when she won’t come anywhere near me.
“How’s it going?” Pam asks.
“What kind of freak show did you sign me up for?”
“Don’t be a dick, Ethan. What’s going on?”
“Why didn’t you warn me about the sister? She’s a nightmare,” I snap, tugging my hair back from my forehead. I’m sitting in the living room, watching the window cleaner, which is kind of soothing and ridiculous. It’s a sunny day, and the second they wash a panel, the sun heats the glass, causing streaks. Still, the elderly man seems to know what he’s doing. There’s a woman working with him who reminds me of Nayah, the girl I was buried in when her father, the boss, walked in on us.
“You know, I never thought you’d be so judgmental.”
“How is that judgmental?” I snap.
“Because of her face? Really, Ethan?”
“I’m not talking about her face. I mean, yeah, yikes. It looks like it hurt but whatever happened no one’s telling me anything. I don’t need to know, but her attitude and her damn mouth… Jesus, Pam, you could have warned me.”
Pam chuckles. “What’s the matter, E? A little blink of those long-lashed lids or a stare into those pretty caramel-colored eyes and she hasn’t fallen at your feet?’
“You think I have pretty eyes?” I tease. Flirting with Pam comes too easily, but I’d never go there, mainly because she’d never let me. Then there’s the issue of being practically family. It just wouldn’t ever work. Hell, I don’t deny I had a crush her, but my thoughts lean toward a tall, lanky woman with fiery hair lately and I want to groan. I can’t get her out of my head.
“Honestly, you doing okay over there? I know Jacob can be a bit intense.” Her voice shifts like she knows him well.
“Yeah, about him. Just what is it you do for him?”
“I’m his PA.”
“His what?”
“Personal assistant.”
“If you tell me that involves sexual favors, I’m going to lose it.”
Pam laughs harder. “Hardly. He’s an author, Ethan. He writes horror novels, and I like to read that genre. I blog about
it and we made the connection after…” Her voice drifts. “After he moved here.”
“Do you get paid?”
“Some,” she states vaguely. “The money is my fun money. My someday money.”
“Someday?” I tease.
“Yeah, money for someday when I might travel or purchase something big.” Pam lives in an apartment over the pharmacy in town. It’s strangely appropriate as she was once an EMT but now she manages a garden center.
“Pam, help me understand things here. Tell me something.”
“Look, they’re both damaged people but good at heart. I wouldn’t be near them if I didn’t believe that. I wouldn’t suggest you be there if I thought there was any concern.”
“Is that why you’re in love with him?” I tease, wiggling my brows which she can’t see. I continue to watch the woman cleaning the glass. Stroke left. Stroke right. Wipe the wand clean. It’s a little sexual and I realize I’m imprinting the motions in relation to my frustrated dick. It’s been nights of heavy sex dreams…and no sex.
“I’m not in love with him.”
“Without ever having met him, everyone believes you are in love with him,” I remark. Whenever Pam mentioned Jacob without actually stating his name, she’d blush and stammer, giving away her feelings for this mystery man.
“Anyway, it’s fine here.” I sigh, digging into my hair again as I stare out the window. The young woman has long, straight dark hair and deep midnight eyes. With tan skin, she’s everything opposite Ella, and I marvel at the attraction I feel toward the feisty redhead with alabaster skin. Maybe it is her denial of me that turns me on. Maybe it’s the challenge of her. Maybe I’m just horny.
“Don’t give up on her,” Pam says as though she knows something. I just wish someone would tell me.
I huff in frustration. “I’ll see you on Thursday night.” I worked Thursday evenings into my time off so I could still hang with the family at Town Tavern. It’s a weekly tradition and they’re the only social life I have lately. I can’t go near The Elk without risk of having my dick chopped off.
How many of those resort people were friends anyway, E?
“See you then.”
We hang up and I toss my phone on the coffee table. The living room has two large leather couches in a soft brown color. One faces the window, which is where I sit, and the other faces the rock fireplace which climbs to the second floor. Out the window, beyond the pool is some kind of outhouse structure with glass windows and I’m staring at it, wondering what it’s for when Ella speaks behind me.
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” I jump at the sound of her voice. Tipping my head back on the cushion, I glance over at her a second. Does Pam really think I’m judging Ella because of her face? Is that what Ella thinks of me?
Slowly, I return my attention to the young Native American and answer Ella. “Yes.” Yes, that girl is beautiful, but she doesn’t hold my interest.
I tip my head back again to look at Ella. From this angle, looking at the left side of her face, I don’t see a hint that anything happened to her. But something did happen, something that makes her hard outside and maybe inside as well. She’s definitely closed off from me.
Keeping my voice low, I ask the unmentioned. “What happened to you?”
Ella tsks at me and presses off the back of the couch. I shift to my side and then climb over the cushions, leaping over the back and landing on my feet before her, blocking her retreat.
“Tell me what happened?” I cross my arms, holding my stance.
“Why? So you can understand the freak show?”
I bite the inside of my cheek. “Were you eavesdropping?”
“Well, you weren’t quiet.”
Yeah, but her room is across the house and up a flight of stairs, so where was she?
She steps left, and I shift with her. She moves right, and I block her again. She gasps, lifting her arms to a fighter’s stance as though she’s ready to defend herself.