Glass Towers, Shattered (Glass Towers Trilogy) (26 page)

Oh lord, my loins are on fire! I feel my panties getting soaked at the remembrance of my riding him in the limo. He felt so good moving around, deep inside me.

The depth of my orgasms that night went far beyond anything I had ever
experienced. My loins are now throbbing.

12:41 PM

Me

When will you be back?
Will we get to see each other?

12:42 PM

Harrison Towers

I haven’t confirmed my return trip yet. Yes. I promise you, we will see each other.

12:42 PM

Me

Looking forward to seeing you.

12:43 PM

Harrison Towers

Me too. I’ll touch base later. I love you.

12:43 PM

Me

And I love you!

Just as I turn off my phone, I hear a tap at my door. I look over and see my mom standing there, with her purse in her hand. “Am I interrupting?” I shake my head no. “Good then let’s go have some girl time and head into town. I want to spoil you at the new designer boutique that just opened a few doors down from the gallery.”

“That sounds like fun!
Let’s go!” I love retail therapy with my mom. Her idea of spoiling me is a whole new wardrobe. Not today though, I think I will treat her to something new.

We
make our way to town, parking in the lot behind the gallery. She insists that we go inside, so I can view the works of their latest featured artist. My dad is the one who secures the artists, and he has a great eye for talent. After we spend about an hour in the gallery, mom suggests we move on to shopping. We walk a couple doors down and enter into a lovely shop packed full of stylish options. The eager owner is quite pleasant and helpful. We have armfuls of clothes to try on. While mom is in her dressing room, I slip out of mine and select some items off the rack of lingerie to try. Mom chatters on about one thing or another, while I slip into a one-piece number in emerald green satin, trimmed with black lace. My breasts look supple, while my waist appears tiny and hips slightly curvy. I imagine Harrison will approve, if I ever get a chance to wear this for him. I try on a few more pieces of lingerie and then set my sights on some new jeans. After about two hours in the boutique, we leave with my credit card smoking from the amount I just spent.  Mom and I decide to refresh ourselves.

We stow our purchases in the back of the gallery then head on foot to a quaint little wine bar. Once we are seated
, mom insists that we try a wine flight. We settle on a white selection.

“So honey, how are you
, really?” She gives me her all-knowing ‘mom’ look.

“I am a lot better than
the last time I was here.” Our waiter delivers our first sampling of wine. We start with an Oregon Chardonnay from the Willamette Valley. “I just finished two installs this week, so I have plenty of money in the bank, and I have decided to move.” I blurt out.

She looks surprised.
“Oh baby girl, why are you moving?”

“Honestly mom, it’s kind of complicated.”
Now, I am sounding like Harrison. “I just need a change, and I am not feeling the condo anymore.”

“I see.”
She nods her head and finishes her wine. “Where will you go? Are you looking to rent again, or are you ready to buy?”

“I want to stay in the Pearl or the Northwest Hills.
I am still crazy about my office, so I don’t want to move too far away. I went shopping with Candace for a place on Tuesday, but I didn’t find anything. I think I may just rent again. I’m not ready to purchase just yet.

Our waiter returns with our next tasting
, a Chardonnay from Northern California. I take a sip and taste notes of green apple and ginger.

“Oh
, say, I really like this one. I might have to get a bottle of this for home. So Candace, she was your neighbor when you and Bradley were married right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

She and her husband moved in next door to us about a year after we bought our house. We used to hang out all the time, but when Bradley and I got divorced, we lost touch.

The last
wine of our flight arrives at the table. Mom raises her glass and says, “To my beautiful daughter. I am so proud of you.” Her eyes are misty.

“Oh mom!
Thank you!” I get up from the table to give her a hug. I sit back down and take a good look at my mom. She really is a lovely woman. Mom is a 52-year old knockout, with shoulder-length chestnut brown hair, shining green eyes, a pert nose and full lips. She had an accident with her front teeth, so they are capped and gleaming white. I have a thing for straight white teeth. She is vivacious and I aspire to be as happy as she and dad have always been. Her only flaws are the character lines forming around the corners of her eyes. Others may call them crow’s feet, but that doesn’t suggest growing old gracefully. She is certainly the picture of grace.

My parents are an attractive couple.
My dad is handsome and reminds me of Tom Skerritt, from Picket Fences. He has salt-and-pepper hair, with a tad bit of grow-out and a mustache. Most men look creepy with a mustache, but not my dad, for some reason. It may be that I am just used to it. 

She interrupts my musings. 

“Now, shall we order some dinner?” She smacks her lips.

“Sure
, but what about Daddy?”

“Oh, I left him a plate in the fridge
.  Besides, he is only too happy to be left alone with his TiVo.”

I giggle.
Yes, he was thrilled when he got his TiVo set up. I got several phone calls, giving me updates on the multitude of features, as he discovered them.

“Then
, let’s do it!”

After another wine flight and a delicious dinner, we finally decide to call it a night.
We have not done anything like this in years. It feels wonderful to have quality bonding time with my mom.

On our way to the car
, we stop off at the gallery to get our parcels. Once settled into the car, I look at the time. “Geeze mom, did you see what time it is? It’s nearly 9:00 PM!

“Ye
s, and what is your point? Have to be somewhere, honey?”

I giggle. “No
, of course not. I am just not used to this free time with my mom. Now let’s go back and see just what dad has found to watch on TiVo. Hope it’s not some boring sports. I have had my fill of that lately.” Ooops, hope she missed that comment. I forget that Albert is not a normal part of my life.

As w
e pull into the driveway, I notice a small, black sports car parked across the street next to a neatly trimmed laurel hedge. It’s dark and the street lights are practically non-existent. We get our bags out of the back of the car. I hit lock on the remote, and take a second glance to see if I can make out the vehicle. It’s not a car that I have seen in this beachfront cluster of homes, until now.

“Honey, you coming?”
Mom says from the front steps. I start to ask if she knows who the car belongs to, but before the words come out, the front door swings open. Dad is standing in the doorway with the most peculiar grin on his face. I have never seen him with such a goofy look on his face.

“What is it dear?”
Mom is looking at him with wide eyes, then she looks back at me with her eyebrows raised.

“Ladies, we have a visitor.”
He steps aside and Harrison appears in the doorway. This is all too familiar.  It’s not the first time that Harrison has appeared randomly in a doorway.

My heart stops when I lay eyes on him.
He looks out the door at my mom and flashes her that panty -dropping smile of his. He advances forward. “Good evening, Mrs. Austen, I am Harrison Towers. He reaches his hand out and takes mom’s hand, bringing it up to his lips.  He presses a quick kiss on the top of her hand.

Even in the dark on the steps
, I can see my mom blushing a thousand different shades of red. I get my hair and eye color from her, as well as my blushing affliction.

Harrison looks over the top of her head and locks eyes with me.
He mouths ‘surprise’. My knees buckle from under me, and I drop one of my bags.  As I reach for the railing to steady myself, I try to make sense of the situation. Really? Why does he have that power over me?

He moves past my parents and comes down the steps to meet me.
I set my bags down and see a twinkle in his eye that I haven’t seen before. He swoops down and picks me up, spinning me around. I am squealing as he spins around again.

When he finally sets me back down, he leans down, and with a hand behind my head, he pulls me in and seals his lips over mine. It is a passionate, but brief, kiss. He pulls away and leans in close to my ear. “I have exciting news Danielle, very exciting news. I just could not wait to tell you.”

“How are you here
, Harrison? Does Marion know that you are here?”

I stop and look up at my parents
, who have both inched their way to the edge of the front porch, straining to hear.

“Guys, do you mind?”

“Oh, sorry honey. I’ll just take our things in.” She takes my bags, hands them to my dad, and they both quickly disappear into the house.

“Harrison, I am so excited to see you
, but I am confused. What is going on? How did you find the house? What is your exciting news?”

“Whoa, slow down
, Danielle. One question at a time. Here let’s go sit in my car.”

He takes my hand and leads me to his sex mobile parked across the street.
I knew that car was out of place. Since it is so dark, I did not recognize it.

Once inside the car, I turn to him and find myself almost brought to tears.
I am so happy to see him.

He once again puts his hand behind my head and pulls my lips to his.
This time, his tongue seeks mine and we have a long, passionate kiss that leaves my loins wanting to feel him buried inside me.

I reach down between his
legs to feel how much his body wants me. He groans, as I rub his hard cock with the palm of my hand. He leans his head back on the headrest and closes his eyes. I keep rubbing, as I feel my panties getting soaked. He reaches his hand over and rests it on my crotch, over my jeans. He turns to me with his cloudy sex eyes, “Danielle, not here.” His voice rasps.

I know he is right
, but I want to feel him so badly. My loins are quivering and throbbing with desire, as my panties are now sopping wet.

Harrison rolls down his window
, and I can hear the crashing of the waves louder now.

Turning to him,
I say, “Okay let’s hear it.”

He laughs and then looks straight
at me.  “Danielle, I went to the board. They know everything. I told them about Marion and her blackmail against me and Garrin.”

“Harrison!
Why? I thought you needed evidence first?”

“I got the evidence
that I needed to be able to go to my father and the board.”

“Well
, don’t keep me in suspense? What did you find out?” I am practically panting. This is the best news that I can possibly imagine.

“We found out that
she has nothing. She lied. There are no accounts or trails that lead to
me
as an embezzler.”

My heart is singing right now.
Could this be for real?

“I had an independent firm conduct a discreet audit of our corporate accounts to confirm whether there was any money missing.
As of right now, all funds are accounted for, where my involvement is concerned. There is evidence of missing funds that she authorized for several capital improvement projects at the Hood River winery. Projects, that I knew nothing about. If she has set up any offshore accounts, we suspect we know where she obtained the funds. I took the findings from the audit to the board and explained to them why I had the independent study of the books conducted.”

“So
, does Marion know you have debunked her claims?”

He shakes his head, “Not yet.
I am going to stick it out for a little longer and see if we can smoke her out. We have a few hunches about where she has stashed the money. We need to get that proof, so we can take it to the authorities.”

“Oh Harrison, can it be true that you are almost rid of her?”
I feel giddy with excitement and something else that is foreign to me. I feel hope and optimism. I have been robbed of these two feelings for a very long time.

He takes my hand and looks in my eyes
,  “Yes, believe it. We are almost through this. We just have a short time left before we can be together for real.”