A Matter of Trust by Radclyffe & Radclyffe

Author:Radclyffe & Radclyffe [Radclyffe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781602822627
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
Published: 2006-10-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

The phone rang in Michael’s office at 6:45 Monday morning. She glanced at it distractedly, a prospectus in one hand, her eyes barely moving from the columns of figures. Ordinarily, she wouldn’t have answered her own phone, but it was too early yet for Angela to be in.

“Lassiter,” she said abruptly.

“Michael, it’s Sloan,” the now-familiar smoky voice announced.

Michael drew a sharp breath, laid down the folder, and stared across the room at her office door, almost expecting it to open and Sloan to step through. Her heart quickened with anticipation even as she chided herself for the reaction. It had been over forty-eight hours since Sloan had walked out of her hotel room, and she had spent most of that time trying to avoid thinking about what had happened between them.

Usually, her work was something that could distract her from everything else in her life. She had only to pick up a sketchpad, or doodle on the corner of an envelope, or lean back with her eyes closed, and she would be instantly absorbed in constructing something or other out of her imagination. That was the beauty of design—it could result in a tangible product or merely a concept that someone else brought to fruition. Her mind was fluid yet enormously disciplined; she lived by her thoughts, and they had always been her greatest panacea for worry, uncertainty, and fear.

For some reason, this cherished routine hadn’t worked during the past weekend. Her thoughts had been elusive, streaking through her mind like fast-forwarded images on an old-time movie reel. She hadn’t been able to concentrate, primarily because she couldn’t stop thinking about the way Sloan’s lips had felt against hers. It was true that she had very little sexual experience with anyone other than Nicholas, but she certainly had not been isolated from the realities of physical relationships. What she had experienced with Sloan went far beyond anything she had previously known or even imagined.

That such a simple kiss could set every cell in her body tingling defied her understanding. She had no frame of reference for the way she’d felt in Sloan’s embrace, recalling that slight inner trembling that seemed to magnify as it approached the surface of her skin until she feared she might literally shake apart. Being in Sloan’s arms was like watching the sun break through the clouds after a week of gray skies and cold rain. Like when that first brief flash of golden heat suddenly makes you feel alive...and then you realize that until that moment, you had merely existed.

She thought she understood the difference now between going through the motions and truly living, but she dared not contemplate whether that sensation was borne only on this one woman’s kiss.

“Michael?” Sloan said into the silence.

“Yes?” Michael replied, more sharply than she intended. “I’m sorry, I was working.”

“Then I’m sorry to disturb you,” Sloan said somewhat stiffly. “I actually intended just to leave a message. I didn’t expect you to be there.”

She hadn’t wanted to

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