Take Two: An Erotic Romance (Book 1) (8 page)

In the next instant, though, I recalled everything that Sharon had
told me, everything which I had witnessed for myself. A playboy like Mathis
would never be truly interested in a woman like me, naïve and plain and
awkward, with nothing to show for her life except her uncle’s good fortune.

Was he just fooling around with me? If I let this go further,
would I just be another one of his conquests? I didn’t want to be this week’s
top flavor before being booted unceremoniously off the menu as soon as another
model or singer turned his head.

Of course, there was no way I could ever be anything more than
that. All I had to show for myself was a low-level accountancy job, while
Mathis had been enormously successful. What could he possibly see in a timid,
boring woman with all the ambition of an overweight house cat, and the same
level of talent to boot. All I could possibly be to him was an easy target – a
silly young thing besotted with his fame and riches and with a skewed,
romanticized memory from her childhood.

As soon as this bleak reality struck me, I knew I had to get out
of there.

“I’ve got to go,” I said abruptly, and I pulled away from Mathis,
breaking into a run in order to cover the few blocks between the building and
my car as quickly as possible.

“Wait!” I heard Mathis shouting behind me. “You’ll get soaked
Amanda, for god’s sake, wait!”

But I didn’t slow down. I just kept running, letting the heavy
rain drown out the sound of Mathis’ frantic voice behind me.

***

I finally reached my car, panting and gasping, soaked to my skin.
I dragged my keys out of my purse, but my fingers were shaking so badly that I
dropped them on the wet ground.

“Crap,” I said, kneeling to grab them and finally managing to
wrench the driver’s door open.

“Amanda!” I almost dropped my keys for a second time as I spun
around to come face to face with Mathis standing on the other side of my car,
his expensive suit and light brown hair both slick with rain.

Reflexively, jumped into my car and slammed the door closed, and I
was torn between driving away, skidding madly to get out of there, and
crumbling into a hysterical heap over my steering wheel. That kiss had brought
up old memories that I had buried away. Mathis had twisted my heart out when he
had just disappeared. An insistent tapping on the passenger side window told me
that Mathis was still there.

I hesitated – I didn’t know if I could act rationally right now,
but on the other hand, I couldn’t just leave him out there in the pouring rain.
After a moment of indecision, I opened the car door.

Moments later, Mathis was in the passenger seat, breathing heavily
from running after me, and blinking the rainwater out of his eyes. I let the
silence drag on for a few moments, and all that could be heard was the panting
of our breath and the drum of heavy rain against the metal roof. Eventually, I
couldn’t bear it any longer.

“Mathis, I—” Before I could get any further, Mathis was kissing me
again. Where before his kiss had been fleeting and sweet, this time it was
dominating, insistent. His tongue forced its way in between my lips, plundering
my mouth and causing stars to dance behind my closed eyelids. I didn’t try to
stop him or push him back. I just let the sensation course through me, like a
forest fire devouring everything in its path and leaving nothing but an
exquisite, breathless blank in its wake.

As he pulled away, he once again pushed my hair gently behind my
ears in a sweet, caring gesture which made me feel warm and content, as if no
harm could come to me whilst Mathis was touching me.

“Amanda,” he said, his voice roughened with emotion and
breathlessness, “do you want to be with me? After what happened, how it ended
last time, I understand if the answer is no, but…don’t say no.” His speech,
spoken with absolute sincerity, sucked all the oxygen from my lungs. It took me
a moment even to register what he said. But even though a part of me was
stunned, somehow I felt peaceful, calm even, like this was a natural sequence
of events.

I opened my mouth to answer, but before any words could even form
on my tongue, two deafening shots rang out in quick succession. We both
stiffened automatically as we heard the first shot, like a firecracker in the
small space in the car. After a moment of deafening silence, a third shot
punched through the windshield narrowly missing the side of my headrest.

I screamed, the fear and shock freezing me to my seat, and Mathis
instinctively ducked down, pulling me with him.  

“Drive!” He yelled, and another shot ricocheted off my car’s side
mirror. With a jerky motion, I turned the key, slammed my foot on the gas and
screeched onto the road, driving as fast as I could. My mind went blank and my
heart raced as the wet city street where the shots had rung blurred into the
background.

Take Two: Book
Two

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