Tell Me What Is Priceless (Siren Publishing Classic) (3 page)

Blaze was impressed with his choice of hobbies. “The tank sounds interesting. Toys? What kind of toys?”

“If I told you, you would probably slap me, so tell me about the dragons.”

I’m very picky in what I collect. The dragons are not evil looking, but are not cute either. I think of them as gothic because they remind me of something mystical.”

“Sounds interesting. So what kind of books do you write?”

“I write somewhat gothic medieval fantasy. Dragons and swords mixed with adult playtime.”

“Adult as in sexually oriented?”

“Some books have adult sexual scenes and language in them.”

He tilted his head, examining her through one eye as he squinted the other dramatically. “I’ll fish. Are they real scenes or impossible ones?”

“Most of them are doable, I suppose. Some are cloaked in magic and would be hard to recreate, others are not.”

“Give me an example.”

“Um…” Blaze could feel her face reddening from the question. “I write. I don’t like to discuss what I write.”

“Why not?”

Her mind retorted, “
Because I’m a bit shy about discussing my sexual fantasies with a stranger.
” Out loud, she replied, “Because when I am writing I’m alone. I don’t have to wonder if anyone is finding my words incorrigible or kinky as they look me in the eyes.”

“I wonder more if I could take them as encouraging, and by whose standard of kinky?”

“Don’t get your hopes up, and probably my mother’s.”

He chuckled. “Okay. Do you like to dance?”

“Not really. I have two left feet. Tell me about your computer games.”

Zar stroked his hair back from his face. “My games are a combination of fighting and mind skill. Parents like them because they are violent enough to keep the teen occupied, without being gory to excess. Gaming adults like them for the engaging action. You don’t necessarily need to cut an opponent in half to get them to die. Some of my creations need to be dispatched through thinking skills. The games are hard enough to be challenging, without being impossible. I have different levels of play for different intelligence levels. My female characters are pretty and smart without being R-rated
Playboy
models in leather bikinis. Fights are gory, but not where blood splatters on the screen.”

Blaze stuck her tongue out and gagged dramatically. “My husband David used to play games like that. It was grotesque to watch the man slam through the course with chain saws and axes that left blood running down the inside of the computer screen.”

“Husband and used to? Why?”

“David was my husband. He died eleven months ago.”

Zar nodded slowly in sympathy. “I’m sorry to hear that. How long were you married?”

“Just over nineteen years, and to answer your next question of addition, I’m forty-one.”

“I am humbled,” he said with a bow of his head. “I don’t know many women that stay married that long, or any as young looking as you. I would have guessed more like twenty-seven to thirty-two.”

“So I have been told. It doesn’t change my age, and I am not going to lie about it.”

“Why should you? I have never understood that theory of why a number is so important. Age is the acquisition of knowledge, or it should be.”

“How old are you, Zar? I am guessing between twenty-nine and thirty-two.”

“I am thirty-one. You are not old enough to be my mother, and in all honesty, I don’t care if a woman is older than me. Are you a Fras fan?”

“No, the girl sitting on the edge of the stage with the red hair is a friend. She also lives in my basement and helps with my dogs. The lead singer is her boyfriend, and she has been bugging me to do something besides write and sell things. If you want the honest truth, she is convinced that I need a man to warm my bed.” Blaze had meant the comment as amusing, but the moment it left her mouth she regretted it. She had just turned Zar down, and what she had just said sounded too much like a proposition.

“Do you?”

She tried to quickly skirt the question but honestly didn’t want to. Zar was extremely enticing, and if there was a man in the bar that had a chance of spending more time with her, it was he. “Maybe. Are you always so direct in conversation when you first meet someone?”

“Only when they really interest me. I like a woman who can mentally keep up with me. Intensity of mind often reflects the same in a person’s personality. Don’t change the subject.”

“Why not? I don’t have an exact answer to the question.”

He reconsidered and then asked, “If it were an offer, would you take me up on it?”

“Not at the moment.”

“Okay,” he said, taking a sip of his drink and gazing at her thoughtfully. “That was a leading reply, which means that I need another chance to ask again. Are you busy tomorrow? Could I interest you in a ride on my hog?”

Blaze laughed at his mischievous smile. “Sounds like fun. It has been a long time since I was on a motorcycle. I can’t promise that I will sleep with you at the end of the road.”

“Crush my fantasy before it gets rolling.”

Blaze blushed, hanging her head to hide behind her bangs. Zar laughed and leaned across to push her hair back. “You are beet red. Am I embarrassing you?”

“A little. I am shocking myself by being so brazen.”

“I tend to bring out the best in people. If it helps, I find you amazingly attractive. Do you return the sentiment?”

“Nothing like openly fishing for compliments.”

“Sorry, I’m not known for being coy,” he replied with a shrug.

Blaze laughed. “Good play on words. Yes, you caught my attention when you walked in. There is something very intense in your body language. I also have a thing for soulful blue eyes and long, well-kept hair. You have both and a personality to go with it. Miracles never cease. If I didn’t know better, I would say that you were casting a spell over me.”

“A spell, huh? Why?”

“I’m not accustomed to having such open and leading conversations with someone I just met.” It was the truth, and Blaze realized that she had done a total turnaround since her self-demeaning conversation with Nancy. Her reluctance to enter into a new relationship had disappeared in the short time since Zar had asked to sit down. She hadn’t had enough wine to blame it on the alcohol. He was just amazingly sexy and interesting.

“Is it possible that we just connected? Maybe you just feel at ease with me. Is that so bad?”

“No, just unusual. In retrospect of my comments, I sound kind of trampy.”

“Tramps don’t blush. Want to play a game of questions?”

“That depends on the questions.” Blaze took another sip of her wine.

“General nonsexual questions that usually give one insight into another’s likes and dislikes.”

“Sounds like a game that I used to play as a teenager, but try me.”

Zar grinned, and she rolled her hazel eyes. “Okay. Favorite food?”

“That’s a tough one. In what category?”

“How about dinner, main course?”

“I like all kinds of shellfish and pasta, angel hair, lasagna, etc. Add a nice salad, and some good Italian pastry or high-grade chocolates, and you have the perfect meal. You?”

“I like shellfish and pasta.”

“Have you ever had venison or moose?” she asked, wondering how willing he was to try adventurous foods.

“Both, and I like them. “What is your favorite color?”

“I think for colors I like red with black, blues, and natural shades of rich, dark wood. You?”

“The same,” replied Blaze. “If nothing else, this game lets us know what we have in common.”

Zar’s phone chimed, and he pulled it from his pocket, flipping it open. “What? I’m off for the weekend. Why are you bothering me?” He listened and then replied, “Oh, Mason, I’m sorry. Get him to the hospital, and I will be there in a few minutes.”

Zar shut the phone and pulled out a piece of paper. “Write down your phone number, and I will call you in the morning. Please? I am going riding in upstate Connecticut, and I would love to spend more time with you. It will be a great ride. The sights are amazing this time of year. A friend’s son just fell and got hurt. He is highly claustrophobic and crowded places make him crazy. I told him I would go to the hospital with him.”

Blaze jotted down her phone number and handed it to him. “As I said, I would like to go for a ride, but don’t get your hopes up for any extracurricular activities.”

Zar leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I won’t. Thank you. It has been a pleasure, Blaze. I will call in the morning. Good night.”

Blaze waited until he was gone and then went to find Nancy. She tapped her on the shoulder. “I’m going to head home. I’ll call a cab. I’m tired, and I have had enough.”

“But the night has just gotten started. What is his name? Is he meeting you somewhere?”

“His name is Zackery Andrew Russ, and he is going to the hospital to help a friend. I am going home to bed. It’s been a long day.”

Nancy rolled her eyes. “You sound like an old lady.”

“I am an old lady, and he is going to call me in the morning to go for a motorcycle ride. I want to be well rested.”

Nancy grinned and handed Blaze her car key. “Nicky will bring me home. Good night, old lady.”

* * * *

Blaze was dead asleep when Nancy shook her. She opened her eyes groggily. “What time is it, Nan?”

“It is three a.m. I want you to look at this. You hit it big time.”

“What are you talking about?”

Nancy plopped down next to her and read, “Zackery Andrew Russ, alias Zar Russ. Owner of Russ Construction, zoned in all northeastern states. Russ is known to have done well with stock investments and mutual funds. He pays taxes on a regular basis and is a member of the Young Millionaires Club. Donates large contributions to children’s charities. Also an active financial member of D.E.L.T.A. animal rescue. Don’t you give to that, Blaze?”

“Yeah, I do. It is a great cause, and they don’t put the animals to sleep. What are you reading?”

“I sent my aunt in Washington an e-mail. When I meet a guy I am unsure of, she checks him out for me. This guy checks out great. I think you should fuck the shit out of him.”

Blaze dropped back onto the bed and pulled the blanket up over her head. “Go to bed, Nan.”

“I am leaving the file in your headboard if you want to read it. Good night. Have wet dreams.”

Blaze threw a pillow at her as Nancy hurried toward the door. She was laughing as she flipped off the light.

Choey woke Blaze early, and she staggered out of bed, turning on the coffeepot as she headed to the door.

Choey raced outside, bounding across the small fenced-in area after some invisible prey. Blaze laughed at her and went back inside to open up the doggie door. She stopped to pet Moosey and then went to take a shower.

When Nan wandered upstairs, Blaze was sitting on the sofa reading Zar’s file. Nan grinned. “Interesting, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he sounds like a saint. Aren’t these the kind of men who are usually serial killers or something?”

“Oh, please. He’s not a killer. He’s just a nice guy with a lot of money.”

“Nan, I don’t need money. I have my own.”

“I know that, but it means that he doesn’t need yours either,” Nan said, bending over to pet Choey as the dog weaved her way between Nancy’s legs for attention. “Face it, you hit a home run.”

“Yeah, and he probably won’t call me.”

“Blaze, not everyone gets up at six thirty in the morning. I have to take a shower.” Nancy patted Choey and headed into the bathroom.

Blaze got up and set the file on the kitchen table before going to turn the computer on. She brought up her seller files and was scrolling through them, looking at site hits, when the phone rang. She let the answering machine pick up, and when she heard Zar’s voice, she grabbed the handset. “Good morning.”

“Good morning. Did I wake you?”

“No, I have been up for two hours. How is the child?”

“His arm is broken, but he will be fine. Thank you for asking. Do you still want to go for a ride?”

“Yes, I would love to.”

“Where do you live?”

Blaze gave him directions, and they agreed on 9:30 a.m. The moment she hung up the phone, Nan said in a teasing tone, “He called, huh? Miracles never cease.”

“Oh, shut up, Nan,” Blaze replied with a grin.

“Have a good time. I’ll take care of the dogs if you don’t come home tonight. Just call me.”

“I’ll be home. I’m not sleeping with a man I just met.”

“Don’t be a prude, Blaze. He’s buff, and you obviously like him.”

“Yes, I do. But it doesn’t mean I’m going to jump into bed with him.”

“Oh, all right. If that’s how you want it. Just make sure he wears a condom. You can never be too careful.” Nan laughed and scurried through the basement door before Blaze could throw something at her.