Pieces of Rhys

Pieces of Rhys

© 2012 L.D. Davis

This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and situations are entirely a result of the author's over active imagination. Any resemblance to persons living or deceased is coincidental. No part of this novel may be reproduced without written permission from the author.

www.amazon.com/author/lddaviswrites

             
             
             
             
             
http://www.goodreads.com/LDDavisReads

Meanergirl78@Twitter

Other Titles by L.D. Davis

Accidentally
on Purpose

Acknowledgements

THANK YOU, Lorien Vanover, for taking the time to edit this work - all night, with nothing to show for it but a numb butt. Thank you for your years of friendship and tolerating my yammering.

An enormous THANKS to Evelyn "Evie" Erndt for her awesome play on words, thus creating the title of this book. Thank you for always listening to me go off about crazy stuff!

Chapter One

I sat in my car, scooted down in my seat so that I could barely see over the steering wheel. I was trying to be inconspicuous while I watched Rhys a few spaces ahead of me. He was talking to a group of our coworkers, cracking jokes and laughing.

I watched the way his hard body leaned against his car, casual, nonchalant. I had a feeling that he knew he was a stud. It seems like he was always standing, sitting, walking, and breathing like a Calvin Klein model. His light brown hair always looked perfect and his light brown eyes had specks of gold in them that left a girl mesmerized. He was a little over six feet and in great shape. I often dreamed of eating chocolate off of his abs. I like chocolate and I like Rhys's abs, so it was all good.

The group cleared away. Rhys took his phone from his pocket. It looked like he was texting. Probably some gorgeous woman that was as much in love with him as I was. Okay, I wasn't
in love
, but if he asked me to be, he wouldn't have to twist my arm or anything. Rhys had a smooth way of talking that gave me instant creamed panties. Seriously.

Oh, if only I could have a piece of Rhys.

And his name is pronounced Reese, like as in Witherspoon, except he's not, or like the candy, but he's not. Okay, so maybe he is candy. Eye candy. 

He put his phone away, opened his car door, and looked up for a moment. He started to get inside, but then looked up again and right at me. Oh shit, does he see me watching him? Nah! No way. Oh, but here he comes.

I didn't even have enough sense to sit up straight and pretend I was on my phone or playing with the radio by the time he leaned on my door and poked his head into my window.

"Lindsey. What are you doing over here?" He asked with his slow, smooth smile.

I didn't have a decent lie prepared and I wasn't going to tell him the truth!

"Uh..." Was all I could manage. Damn he smelled good.

He chuckled. "You watching me?" He asked, pushing further inside and turning his head to see what I saw. "You are, aren't you?"

"Pshhh...no," I rolled my eyes dramatically.

He laughed again and then tapped my nose before going back to his car.

I thunked my head on the steering wheel and then drove away. I had to go home and change my panties.

Chapter Two

At home, I found my ex-husband in my kitchen, rifling through my cookware. I was still so distracted by Rhys, I didn't notice Gary's car outside.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded.

"Getting my cookware."

"
Your
cookware? Hey!" I ran over and snatched a pot from him. "I use that pot all of the time. No way are you taking it."

"It's part of the Farberware set. I'm taking it," he looked at me pointedly before throwing two smaller pots into a box.

"We've been divorced for a year, Gary. Why do you suddenly feel the need to break into my house and take my Farberware?"

"I want to cook for this girl I've been seeing, except I have only one small frying pan and one little pot."

Gary has been living off of fast food and his mother's cooking since he moved out a year and a half ago. I was amused that he was going to try to cook to impress a girl. For his sake, I hoped that their entire relationship wasn't hanging on his cooking skills. Not that I would care if she broke his heart, so maybe it was good if their entire relationship was hanging on his cooking skills.

"Go buy your own pots and pans, Gary," I grumbled.

"My mother gave us this set," he objected. "In a way, it's more mine than yours."

I looked down at my pot.

"Your mother? I thought this set came from my cousin Yvonne."

"No, it came from my mother, and you're holding the last piece I need."

If it came from his mother, he could have it. I felt my stomach churn at the thought that I had been eating from a pot that was gifted by Maura Hallinger. I tossed the pot to him.

"While you're here, take back anything else your vile mother gave us," I said and started up the stairs. "And when I come out of the shower, you'd better be gone. I'm changing the locks first thing tomorrow morning!"

In the shower, I thought about Rhys. Don't get excited, nothing too kinky. I've worked with Rhys for nearly three years, but it's only been the last six months or so that I really took notice of him. I remember one day in particular that seemed to be the turning point.

I was having a craptastic day. I woke up late, I realized too late that I was out of body wash, and I got toothpaste on my shirt (but didn't find it there until I was already at work). The highway was a parking lot, the parking lot at work was a parking lot - I had to park in what I called Oz, the furthest corner of the lot. The elevator was being maintenanced so I had to take the stairs. Out of shape and a little over weight, I got to the third floor with my lungs and heart crying out
Why! Why!

My boss was cool about me being late, but once you're late, it's hard to get your shit together. I felt lost in the sauce all morning and before lunch I started getting snappy. Rhys always joked around with me, but this time I wasn't in a joking mood and I snapped at him, too before turning to stomp away, but he gently took hold of my arm to stop me.

"Don't be like that," he said softly, his voice and tone smooth as butter. I never paid attention to it before. I always took it as a patronizing tone, but he was still holding my arm, slowly stroking my hand with his other hand. He was leaning in close enough for me to feel his breath on my face.

I looked down at his hands on me. The stroking of my hand was sending a strange sensation up my arm and through the rest of my body. I looked up to his face as he continued speaking in that smooth voice.

"You don't really want to talk to me like that," he said. "You're too pretty to be getting all upset in here."

He just kept smiling and stroking and I felt myself getting red in the face and wet in the pants.

I was deep in my memory of that day when the shower curtain was suddenly wrenched away. The pole was torn away with it, and I heard myself scream.

Standing in the middle of the bathroom, holding my shower curtain with the pole still attached, was Gary.

"My mother gave us the shower curtain, too," he said and walked out of the bathroom.

Chapter Three

After mopping all of the water up in the bathroom and rinsing shampoo out of my hair in the kitchen sink, I got dressed and headed to Wal-Mart. What a cool kid I was, hanging at Wally World on a Friday night.

I was standing in the shower curtain isle, trying to decide on a new shower curtain and rod. I was disturbed that I had been showering behind a shower curtain that Maura Hallinger had given to me and her idiot son. No wonder I never felt clean.

I heard a familiar voice from a couple of isles away. I knew it was Rhys, because my body temperature skyrocketed and parts of my body hardened and moistened simultaneously. I walked to the end of my isle and cautiously peeked between shelves of towels. There he was, standing a couple of isles down, talking to a girl I recognized from the accounting department at work.

I wasn't about to get caught staring again, but I just wanted to take in one good look before sneaking away. A normal person would have stepped into the isle and said "Hey, Rhys! What's up?" But when I was anywhere near this guy, normalcy went out the window and got ran over by a truck.

I swear, I was just beginning to back away when he looked right at me. Okay, maybe he's just looking at the pretty towels, but would his face look like
that
? Would he have that "I caught you" look on his face?

Oh boy. Here he comes.

I ran back to the middle of the isle and pretended to be busy choosing a shower curtain. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him coming towards me.

"What's up?" He asked.

I feigned surprise when I looked over at him.

"Hey, Rhys," I smiled.

"Yeah, don't hey Rhys me. I saw you watching me."

"Say what?"

"You were watching me through those towels."

"I was looking
at
towels. Were you near the towels?" I tilted my head like a confused puppy.

He grinned and shook his head. "You're something else."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I was comparing shower curtains to towels. You know, looking for a good color scheme."

He looked in my cart and raised his eyebrows at me.

"Interesting array of items you have."

I had picked up two sets of doorknobs, a cookware set, ice-cream that was now a carton of mush, three pairs of cute panties, and a Will Ferrell movie.

Rhys picked up the panties, inspected them.