Desire: Love and Passion - By Lesia Reid Page 0,2

in his time and she was beautiful, but there was something wild and uninhibited about her, too. Her lips were not as full as he first thought, but not that thin, either. They seemed to curl at the very corners of her mouth. It was as if she was forever laughing at an inside joke. Every visible aspect of her appealed to him on the most basic level. That was not the only unsettling thing. What was most unsettling was that strange sense of familiarity she had.

"I am really sorry about what happened."

"You've said that already," she replied.

"Are you related to John?"

"Sort of," she replied. "I inherited his property. He never told me he had a neighbor like you, though."

"I don't think he knew I lived here."

"Well, your secret is safe with me, Mr. Monroe."

"Please call me James," he corrected. "I think we are a bit beyond the niceties."

He watched as her eyes zeroed in on his scar. Again, he flinched under her gaze. He waited to see the pitying look in her eyes, but it never came. She adjusted her gaze and he thought he saw a blush as she realized he was watching her.

"I didn't mean to stare," she apologized.

"It happens all the time," he replied.

"It's a pity you go to such lengths to hide it," she was referring to the scar. He knew as her gaze shifted from the scar to his eyes then back again. "It reminds us that there are still true heroes. Besides, it looks quite fetching on you."

Her candor surprised him. He was at a loss for words. He’d literally heard it all before. He’d been given all the pity speeches and had caught all the guilty look-aways. He sensed the tension in a lover during a kiss. This, however, was new.

"I'm sorry if I embarrassed you," she said into the silence. "Your man, Larry, has offered to escort me and my belongings to my place in exchange for my silence. I think I'll get going."

"You can ride with me," he said. "I don't mind."

"Please," she said almost comically, "I haven’t been vetted by your security service. Your assistant would have a heart attack. As I said, he is only doing this bit for my silence, which I would have given anyway."

"Larry works for me," he said. "Not the other way around. He’s not allowed to have heart attacks on the job."

She smiled.

"Well, then, how can I refuse, Mr. Monroe?"

"James, please."

Larry did indeed protest. James would hear nothing of it as he climbed into the backseat of a heavily tinted black sedan with Willow. The items from her wrecked car were placed in the backup car in which Larry followed.

"If you don't mind me asking, what is it that you do?" James asked as the car started.

"I'm a photographer for a marketing company," she said.

"Really?" He was surprised.

"Don't worry," she replied. "I do have an office that I disappear to every so often, so you can play stock-car racing on the road all you want."

He blushed.

"Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," he replied though he was thinking about her outfit. "I feel really awful about the accident. I would like to invite you to dinner tomorrow."

"There’s no need. Accidents happen," she said.

"Well, let's say it is a welcome to the neighborhood dinner."

"Then tomorrow sounds perfect."

Chapter 2

James could not get the image of her legs out of his mind. He dreamed about her that night and he woke up feeling lonely and empty. It was the loneliest he’d felt in a really long time.

There was no news of the accident which he took as a good sign. It would be horrible to start the week on the front page with a wrecked Volkswagen. Now he stood over the stove stirring eggs in the frying pan. He should have made a day of the invitation. She had grudgingly given him her number, promising that five o'clock was not too early for dinner.

Impulsively, he reached for the phone and dialed her number. She picked up on the first ring.

"Hello." She really had a bedroom voice, the sound of which sent images of his dreams racing through his mind.

"Good morning," he said. "It's James."

"Oh," she sounded disappointed.

"Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"If you have a few extra fuses hanging around no, otherwise, yes."

"I'll see what I can do. Have you had breakfast?"

"What is that?"

"I'll see you in a bit."

He turned off the stove and emptied the overcooked eggs into a garbage bin. He packed a few