Twisted Desire (The Twisted Series) (28 page)

“You were only little.”

“Yeah, but her diary doesn’t lie.”

“I should have never given that to you.”

“I’m glad you did.”

Harley gathers his daughter in his arms and they share a
moment of forgiveness.  He wants to explore this conversation further, but
he can see that Hannah has already made peace with it.

“Here goes nothing.”

Hannah smiles and gives him a shove.  “Good luck.”

“Thanks.  I have a feeling I’m going to need it.”

Harley leaves the room and plucks his keys from his pants
pocket.  He kicks his bike off its stand and settles on the seat as it
rumbles to life beneath him.  If Hannah thinks he stands a chance at
reconciliation with Aliah, then he has to give it a good shot.  He only
has one chance left.  He’s not going to mess it up this time.

After running a few quick errands, to procrastinate, Harley
pulls up to Aliah’s short paved driveway.  He feels his palms growing
sweaty and loses his nerve.  David H. Gates
never
loses his
nerve.  But he still finds himself pulling back on the accelerator,
shooting himself down the road in a flurry of speed.  He only hopes she
hasn’t caught a glimpse of his embarrassing attempt, as he passes by her house.

He rounds the corner, but knows he has to do this. 
Swallowing his nerve, he takes his final approach.  He forgets about
thinking altogether, as he marches up to her front door.  The doorbell is
right there, but he decides to put his fisted hand to the door instead.

She appears in the doorway instantly, like she’s been
waiting for him to arrive.

“What?”  She peers around the door, as if he’s an
annoying solicitor and she can’t be bothered to open it up for him.

He sighs, disappointed by her reception.  “I need to
make things right, Ally.  Can I come in?”

“No.”

“Will you come out with me?”  His voice pleads his case
rather effectively.

“I really shouldn’t.”  But she looks like she might
actually say yes.

“I’d like to take you somewhere.”  He raises his
eyebrows to her in apology.

“Why?  So you can get me alone and strangle me with
your charm?”

“Yes, Aliah.  That’s it, exactly.  Now, do you
have a blanket?  And grab a jacket.  We’re taking my bike.”

He turns away before she can tell him no.  It’s a
beautiful sunny afternoon made even more memorable when Aliah appears in the
doorway behind him with a blanket tucked under her arm.  The early autumn
breeze sends her dark hair passing over her face.  He watches the way she
pulls a hair from that mouth and smiles.  He still can’t believe she’s
said yes.

He silently follows her to the motorcycle and pulls on his
helmet.  He starts it up, as she slips behind him.  She rests her
forehead on his shoulder, making him wonder if she knows how wretched he still
feels.  He’s sure she feels awful too, but he doesn’t breathe a word of
it.  He’s just happy to have her next to him.

Harley has a destination in mind, but he takes the scenic
route, steering them where he wants to go.  They take an extended cruise,
with her clutched around him, until it feels like they are isolated from
reality, surrounded by the sights and sounds of nature.  Despite her
hesitance, he can still feel the magic shimmering in the atmosphere between
them.

He turns down a long, dirt drive, and veers around the
barricade with the sign marked, “Private property.  Keep out.”

The worn path seems to indicate that few others have made
the trip before them.  He travels farther up the property until he can see
the berm separating the land from the water.  He pulls his bike over,
where the land’s still flat, and parks on a small patch of gravel.  The
grass is tall and the land is overridden with weeds, but Aliah seems to see
past all that, as her eyes train in on the pathway leading to an old, oversized
barn.  The breeze gently rustles the grass to the north, as he drops the
kickstand and waits for Aliah to unwrap herself from his waist.

“We’re stopping?  Here?”  She looks confused, and
it only makes him smile harder.

He reaches for the blanket and retrieves the chilled bottle
of wine he has packed as a surprise.  Then he takes her hand and pulls her
around the rustic, old barn.  The look on her face when she sees the field
of dandelions out back is priceless.  She even stops moving and covers her
mouth with her free hand.

“Oh my gosh!”

“You like it?”

“It’s beautiful.”  She peeks up at him, smiling between
the cracks of her fingers.

He smiles too, appreciating the whimsical feeling in the air
as they transcend the patch of dandelions and leave any reservations about
their relationship behind.  Aliah lets go of his hand and runs into the
field.  She kicks at the dandelions, like a carefree child.  Some of
the older ones blast their seeds into the wind, making it look like Aliah’s
trapped in a magical snow globe.

She lifts her hands in the air and closes her eyes, smiling
up at the sun.

Harley comes up behind her, and brings his chin over her
shoulder to drop a wet kiss on her cheek.  He nuzzles his nose behind her
ear, and then whispers to her.  “You’re beautiful.”

She presses her butt backwards, to knock him away from
her.  “You don’t have to say shit like that.”  Aliah tries to muddle
the moment, acknowledging how intimate it is, but he won’t let her.

“It’s okay to take a compliment, Ally.”

“I know.  But I don’t want you saying things just
because you think you’re supposed to.  You know?”

“Yeah, I do.  But do
you
think I actually do
what I’m supposed to do?”

Aliah’s smile grows three sizes.

“I say what I want to say.  And right now, I want to
say that you look beautiful.  Is that okay with you?”

She presses her lips together, but she can’t supress her
grin.  “I guess so.”

“Good.”  He lifts up the blanket and a breeze catches
it, throwing it in his face.

Aliah starts laughing, but she’s wearing a friendly
smile.  “Need a hand, honey?” she teases.

“I might be a little out of practice here.  I can’t say
I’ve ever had to lay out a blanket before.  Is that a bad thing?”

“It’s okay.  You’re making up for lost time.”

The cheesy smile on her face makes him feel good.  “I
try.”  He sits on the blanket and leans over, until he’s on his side,
resting on an elbow.

Aliah drops to her knees in front of him and leans forward,
on all fours.  He can see right down her shirt, but he forces himself to
keep his eyes off.

“You really are trying, aren’t you?”  She cups his
cheek and he closes his eyes.  Aliah has never been so soft with
him.  Though he enjoys her snappy comebacks, he’s really liking this side
of her.

Her thumb brushes over his lips, so he kisses it.  He’s
shocked when she brings her lips to his and initiates a kiss. 
She
kissed
him
!  And it’s not just any kiss.  It’s the most
amazing kiss he’s ever had.  The kind where you have to stop because you
can’t help but smile.

After taking what he can, he cups her face with a palm.

“You’re kissing me now?”

She shrugs her shoulders.  “If you’re going to such an
effort, I thought I should give it a try too.  Is that okay with you?” she
mocks.

“Come here,” he says, not letting her go.  He pulls her
over top of him, until he’s on his back and she’s straddling his hips. 
Their lips are attached, in a slow, sensual kiss that he feels in his gut.

She parts those beautiful lips for him, so he can sink is
lower lip in between them.  When he does, she grinds her lower body
against him and flattens her breasts against his chest.  He weaves his
fingers into her hair, his other hand skimming over her hip to stroke her
behind.  The way she delivers a provocative lick with each smooch, he
knows she’s thinking what he is.

Time seems to stand still.  Then when he speaks, it’s
like he’s trying to verbally seduce her all over again.  He plans to keep
on doing that too, until she believes every last word of it.

Two weeks pass and not a single night goes by that they
don’t spend together.  Harley will not let anything happen to her, but he
thinks it’s safe to spring a surprise on her.

“I’m taking you out tonight.”

Aliah hands Harley her helmet and smiles.  “You don’t
have to do that.”

When she opens the front door of her house and turns back to
him, he mesmerizes her with a glance.  “I want to.  So quit acting
like you aren’t worth it and go throw something nice on.  I’ve already
made the reservations.”

“What if I’d said no?”  Aliah can’t help but smirk as
she closes the door behind him.

“You didn’t.  Now go.”

She hurries ahead of him and rushes up her stairs with a
smile gracing her lips.  It hasn’t taken them very long at all to get back
on good terms.  After weeks of Harley begging her for forgiveness, and
showering her with love and honesty, she’s finally given it to him.  But
she doesn’t plan to tell him that.  She likes this new thing they have
going on.  Harley aims to please her.  She’s been enjoying that very
much.

Aliah’s already smiled more today than she has in the past
four weeks combined.  She peers back at the man who is responsible for her
upturned lips.  “Where in this City are you taking me that requires
reservations?”

“Armandos,” he states.  “And you’re not getting out of
it this time, so don’t even try.”

She spins away and slips into her bedroom.  She doesn’t
realize Harley’s kept up with her, but when she goes to close her door, his
hand grabs onto it.

“Don’t even think about closing that door.  I plan to
watch this time; make sure you don’t stand me up again.”

Aliah lifts her brows.  She finds the idea of him
watching her dress rather intriguing.  “I’m not going anywhere.  What
about you?  You can’t go dressed like that,” she says, as she shrugs off
her top.

She loves the way he looks in those jeans with a simple
t-shirt strapped across his chest, but they’ll throw him out looking like
that.  At least they can try.

“Don’t you worry about me.”  His eyes remain locked in
place, taking in every naked inch of flesh as she removes her clothes and
replaces them with a sophisticated pair of slacks and a feminine top.  He
watches her choose her sexiest black heels that hike her a good five inches off
the floor.  At first glance, the shoes look a simple black, but the blood
red soles make her feel like a sexy deviant.

She touches up her makeup and returns to the bedroom. 
“Now you,” she says, then dashes for the front door before he rids her of her
freshly pressed clothes and decides to dine in for the evening.  He
chuckles as he slowly follows her out the door.

Harley is ready within minutes after pulling into his
driveway.  Despite the length of time it has taken him to dress, he still
looks stunning.  This man’s body sure knows how to wear a suit.  He
looks perfect, from his angled smile to his shiny black shoes.  He drops a
kiss on her lips and then takes her hand.  He opens the door for her, like
a complete gentleman, and escorts her to the restaurant.

Dinner is amazing.  And Aliah spends the comfortable
silences wondering why she’d ever stood Harley up in the first place.  She
never had a really good reason, except that she was scared of what might come
of it.

Although he’d lied in to her in the beginning, she if anyone
can understand the importance of client confidentiality.  Her heart does
not lie.  Their desire is not something that can be imitated.  It has
taken her this long to recognize that her greatest fears have been realized.

Despite her best efforts to avoid love and all the other
emotions that go along with it, she knows she’s toast.  Not only has she
fallen, but it’s like she’s been slammed over the head with it.  She
wouldn’t be surprised if others could see little cupids spinning around her
head or little heart-shaped bubbles bursting from her eyes every time she
glances at Harley.

She chews on her lip after dinner, wondering if he has it half
as bad for her.  Harley rescues her battered lip, by leaning in close and
softly tugging it into a kiss.

“Thank you for coming to dinner with me,” he growls.

The entire night has felt incredibly intimate, but that
moment trumps it all.  He doesn’t wait for her to respond and, since he’s
already paid, he pulls her to the exit.  While walking down the sidewalk
back toward his SUV, Harley has her giggling, and she allows her her mind to
drift from any serious conversation.

She doesn’t even notice that there’s anyone behind them,
until she sees the look on Harley’s face.  He doesn’t seem to know who it
is, just that maybe he should.  It feels like someone knifes her in the
stomach.  Has Brandie come back to finish her off?  She spins around
and finds Hunter and Maddie standing there.