Merrick was staring at her feet. They were small with high arches and tiny toes. As he watched her tiptoeing around among Max’s paintings he entertained several fantasies involving her bare feet.
Willa pointed to the huge canvas Max had painted on commission for Oleg Cantwell. “Of course, we’ll take this one.”
He tilted the canvas onto its back and proceeded to build a simple frame of ebony stained one-by-fours around it. When the frame was completed, Willa helped him stretch plastic over it, stapling it onto the back. The depth of the frame kept the plastic suspended over the paint.
She grinned at him in approval. “You do good work.”
She laughed. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were flirting with me, Merrick.”
“And why wouldn’t I be flirting with you? You know you’re a beautiful woman.”
He lifted the framed and plastic-wrapped canvas back to its place against the wall close to the door. “You’re still a pest,” he said. “But you seem to be bothering me in a different way than you used to.”
“That’s a start,” she said.
“We have nothing in common.” When he turned around he found her standing way too close. He inhaled the fragrance of her perfume, something warm and spicy.
“I have no desire to be your clone, Merrick. We can be different and still appreciate each other.”
“If we start something,” he said, “it’s bound to end in disaster.”
“You’re not my type.”
Willa shrugged, glancing at him over her shoulder. “If things don’t work out, we’ll both be hurt.” She skewered him with a sharp glance. “But I know what you mean. I suppose we could see each other casually and not tell Max right away.”
“Not tell Max?”
“She has her hands full with the show and Jon.” Willa quirked an eyebrow at him. “I don’t think she’s going to notice what you’re doing unless you bring it to her attention.”
Merrick felt strange stirrings, like he was being drawn into a strawberry blonde vortex. “So you’re saying we should see each other casually, not tell Max and see where things go?”
“Yes,” she said. “We’ll take it one step at a time.”
He nodded his head, feeling like a king-sized bobble-head. “Okay. We’ll go slow.”
“Fine.” She turned and selected another painting. “This one’s completely dry.”
She lifted his tee-shirt and pressed her breasts against his chest. A surge of lust roiled through him as her warm softness melted against his work-hardened muscles.
He pulled off his shirt and carried her to the futon. She was grinning. When he placed her on the surface, she unzipped her shorts.
“Let me help you with that.” He reached to pull them off but allowed his fingertips to trail down her thighs. He felt a strangling sensation in his throat when he saw what she was wearing for underwear. A tiny wisp of silky fabric encircled her hips and took a side trip between her legs. “You call this thing panties?” he croaked out.
“No, silly. It’s not a thing. It’s a thong.” She lifted her hips, her expression taunting him.
Merrick swallowed and drew a breath before reaching out a hand to stroke the silky skin. Clumsily, he slid the strip of fabric down her thighs, his gaze fastened on the triangle of red-gold she offered up to him. He tossed the thong on the floor and turned back to Willa. If she wanted a secret fling, he would give her one to remember. He gazed into her eyes and stroked his fingers over her flesh, starting at her shoulder, caressing her breast, sliding over her ribs down to her hipbone. Her stomach was so flat it was almost concave. He lowered his mouth and kissed her just below her navel.
“Oh, Merrick! You are a very talented men.”
“Not quite yet.” She pointed to her shorts and he passed them to her. She groped in the pocket and produced a condom.
“So you planned to seduce me?”
“Oh, yes, Merrick.” She reached for him, pulling him down to her. She stroked the side of his face and kissed his lips with exceptional tenderness. “I planned on seducing you since I hit puberty.”
He kissed her again. “Well, you hit the jackpot, kid. You got me.”
They made love, long and hard, as though they’d invented the act. She wrapped her thighs around him and lifted her hips to meet every stroke. He lost track of how many times she reached an orgasm. When he sensed she was tiring he joined her in climax. Afterward, they lay tangled in each other’s limbs, perspiring, exhausted and gasping for breath.
Merrick brushed her hair away from her damp forehead. She was flushed and grinning. It had pleased him to please her and to please himself. He caressed her skin, sweeping his palm down her firm body from shoulder to buttocks.
He figured he’d probably regret this, but not now. Now he just wanted to keep her close to him. He hoped Max wouldn’t come home too soon and he hoped she wouldn’t discover that he’d made love to her best female friend on her futon.
“Do you like dogs?” he asked.
“You have some really romantic love talk, Merrick.”
She’s the one.
Like Max Foster. Jon still wasn’t comfortable with Millie’s relationship with Max. Why hadn’t she introduced him to Max yet? Millie always seemed evasive when he asked about the man. He didn’t want to think she was involved with Max, but there was definitely something wrong with the picture.
He turned out the lights with the remote and listened to the even respirations of the woman he loved, her breath warm against his neck. He covered the hand she rested on his chest with his own.
“We have to leave immediately!” Willa searched frantically among the hurriedly shed articles of clothing. “We have to go right now. Max might be home any minute and she can’t know any of this.”
“Why aren’t you hurrying?” she demanded.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “It’s like going to get your teeth cleaned. You’re not too enthusiastic going into it but afterwards, you feel pretty good.”
“You’re comparing me to a visit with a dental hygienist?” She paused, hands on hips, to give him a less than favorable glare.
“I’m kidding!” He scooped her up into his arms. “It was much more like a full blown root canal.”
She shook her head, her curls bouncing in counterpoint. “Merrick, I don’t understand you at all. We shared a moment that was very special to me and now you’re minimizing it.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Making love to you was the last thing I expected tonight. It was wonderful. I’m not handling it well.”
“Idiot! I’ve been crazy about you for years.” She pulled away from him. “It was a big deal to me and I don’t expect you to feel the same way, but don’t act like it was nothing.” She grabbed her handbag and left the loft. “Lock up,” she directed.
He heard her heels click-clacking down the stairwell. Feeling a sense of loss and confusion, he sighed and pulled on his tee shirt before gathering his tools.
He’d first met Willa when she was five and he was seven. She’d come to Max’s fifth birthday party. She’d been the smallest girl at the party but she’d played like a wild creature, throwing herself into every game.
Merrick picked up the duvet on Max’s futon and pressed his face into it, relishing the smell of Willa and sex. He didn’t want his baby sister to sleep with the coverlet where he and Willa had been together.
Willa said it was a big deal to her and Merrick was feeling more and more that it was a big deal to him.
“Oh,” she’d uttered, sitting bolt upright in bed. No matter what he’d said, she’d been hell-bent on getting out of his apartment as quickly as possible.
“Don’t get any ideas,” she’d warned. “You invaded my bath so turn about is fair play.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” he’d said, passing the shampoo.
He leaned down to kiss her and it deepened. Her arms slid around his neck and he lifted her, held her against the smooth blue glass shower tiles.
“You are so beautiful,” he said. “A work of art.”
Jon wrapped a towel around his hips and enveloped her in his voluminous brown velour robe. She dried her hair as he shaved. He handed her a toothbrush covered in plastic.
“You just happen to have spare toothbrushes for overnight guests?” Max’s denim blue eyes glinted with a flash of anger. She squeezed too much toothpaste onto the offending instrument and attacked her teeth.
He let out an apprehensive sigh. “Yes.”
“It’s not like that,” he said, but she turned and left the bathroom. By the time he’d finished shaving, she was dressed and waiting by the door.
“Millie, I’m not going away,” he said. “You know how I feel about you. Sooner or later you’re going to have to deal with me.”
“Later,” she said.
Something was wrong. She realized her duvet was missing.
She drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. She hadn’t intended for it to happen but she couldn’t help herself. If it had been Jon’s intention to seduce her, then he’d achieved his objective. She suspected that she was yet another easy conquest in a long line of seductions. How could any woman resist?
She’d been such a fool for Malcolm, the first grown man to pay attention to her after graduation. He’d owned a gallery in Austin, where her parents lived and he was a well-known working artist. He’d played Henry Higgins to her Eliza and she’d fallen under his spell, believing he loved her, not dreaming he’d use her...
“Max? Are you in there?”
“I washed it for you.” He tossed it on the futon. “I was hot and sweaty when I lay on it last night.”
“I could have washed it,” she said.
“Good,” Max said. “I was thinking she might not have found enough good ones for the show.”
“That wasn’t it,” he said, frowning. Abruptly, he turned to the door. “I’m going to bring up my tools.”
Merrick laughed, his dark mood gone. “No science experiments, please.”
“Are you Foster?” he asked. At Merrick’s nod, he stepped forward to shake hands. “I’m Jon Donnell.”
“I thought so,” Merrick said. “What do you think?” He gestured to the paintings lining the wall.
“These paintings are genius. Amazing talent,” Jon said. “The show should be standing room only. I’ve invited half the city.”
“I’m brand new at this,” Merrick said. “Is there anything else we need to do to make it successful?”
“I have a delivery truck and personnel available for transport. Just make sure these paintings are well prepared for shipment. I noticed some are still wet.”
“That’s what I’m doing today,” Merrick said. “Willa gave me my orders.” He smiled when he said her name.
“Willa knows what to do,” Jon said. “Just show up and let Willa lead you to the big money clients. They’ll want to meet you.”
“Absolutely,” Jon said. “But you don’t have to do anything except be there.”
“Okay.” Merrick lowered the miter saw, spewing a film of sawdust into the air.
Max poured orange juice into her jelly glasses and set them on the stool beside her futon. She accepted the filled plates Willa handed her and gave one to Merrick.
“I’m glad you came in time to make breakfast, Willa,” Max said. “It wouldn’t have been so good if I’d made it.”
“I have many hidden talents.” Willa swept Merrick with a cool glance.
“Indeed you do,” he said under his breath. Merrick took his plate and juice, sliding to the floor across from the futon where Max and Willa sat. He leaned against the wall, silently poking food in his mouth as he watched the two women in his life interact and ignore him.
He caught up with her in the stairwell. “Wait up, Willa.” He loped down the stairs to stand beside her.
“You’re damned right.” He cut her off, barring her path. “I was a jerk. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings last night.”
“Too late.” Her direct gaze held Merrick captive.
He reached for her hand, prying her fingers from the handrail, to brush her palm with his lips. “No, it’s not too late. I’m apologizing to you and I would appreciate it if you can forgive me.”
“C’mon, baby,” Merrick said. “Give me another chance to get this right.” He lifted her chin and leaned toward her, connecting for a brief kiss.
She sighed, impaling him with her somber gaze. “Alright. I’ll give you one chance, but don’t take my feelings lightly.”
Merrick felt a wave of relief wash over him. He realized he’d come close to losing something precious. Something he hadn’t known existed. Something he hadn’t known he possessed. “Never again,” he promised. He kissed her more tenderly this time. He linked arms with her. “I’ll walk you to your car.”