Erotic Fantasy Romance
ISBN #: 978-0-9859300-2-8
Word Count: 12,900
Cost: $0.99
After years of fruitless searching, Laurel finally went to an internet dating site to look for Mr. Right. What she found was her own personal superhero.
Warning: Contains lasagna and mild bondage.
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****
"Excuse me."
"Sorry." She automatically
stepped aside to let the customer enter the restaurant, then realized the person
didn't move once she'd retreated. Laurel
glanced up to see a warm smile and a pair of dancing green eyes watching
her. The face was instantly
recognizable, as he looked exactly like his photo.
"Trent!"
He laughed
as they hugged briefly. Despite its
brevity, she could tell the man was in prime physical condition. Hugging him had been like hugging a marble
statue, only better.
"Have you
been waiting long?" he asked as they entered the restaurant.
"No. Not long."
She
discovered that Trent had made reservations. They were quickly seated and left with
menus. Without looking at the contents,
they both set the menus aside, then realized what they'd done, bringing about
more laughter.
"I take it
you come here frequently?" Trent asked.
"As
frequently as time and my bank account will allow," Laurel said. In the soft glare of the candlelight on the
table between them, she was amazed by how handsome the man was. It brought a fresh wave of fear and
self-doubt, and she wondered how the date would end. The photo she'd sent him had been done at one
of those makeup studios that glamorize the customer before taking pictures. Tonight, she looked nothing like that
photo. If anything, after a hard day at
work, she probably looked even less like her usual self.
How did
Trent feel about dating homely looking women?
"What?"
"Huh?"
He brushed
at something on his cheek. There was
just the right amount of early evening shadow covering his lower face. It made him appear even more studly, if that
was possible. He flashed her an
uncomfortable grin. "You were staring at my face like I had something on
it."
"Oh, I'm
sorry. I was..." She gave an embarrassed giggle. "I was marveling at how much you look just
like your picture."
"So do
you."
She
instantly dismissed it. "No, I don't.
That photo was taken last year, and I had three people work on me for an
hour in order to look like that. Trust
me, it was a once-in-a-lifetime photo shoot."
To her
surprise, he reached over and covered her hand that was nervously fingering the
stem of her empty wine glass. "Trust me,
Laurel. You look exactly like your
photo, especially in this light. Your
face glows, and you have the most incredible blue eyes I've ever seen. In fact, right this minute, I prefer the way
you look now, with your dark hair disheveled and the bright spots of color on
your cheek. You look real and
natural. Makes me think this is the way
you'd appear when you first get up in the morning."
The shock
of his statement washed through her, leaving her speechless. His honesty was irrefutable. Before she could
respond, they were interrupted by the waiter arriving to take their order. Once he left, Laurel opened her napkin to
give her time to think up a response.
Finally, the best one seemed to be the simplest one.
"Thank
you."
Trent
grinned. Or rather, one corner of his
mouth turned upward. "I take it you're
not accustomed to being complimented."
"N-no. Yelled at, yes. Ordered about, yes. But kind words?" She gave a weak shrug. She started to reach for her water glass when
she stopped. The water's surface was
quivering. Trent looked down to see what
held her attention.
"What?"
"The
water," she told him. "Look. It's moving."
"It's just
a small earthquake," he smiled. "We get
tremors like this all the time. Are you
new to California?"
Laurel
shook her head. "No. It's just that something like that is often a
precursor to a bigger one."
Trent's
smile widened. "Don't worry. I'll make sure nothing happens to you."
The sound
of sirens overrode the restaurant's music, and several emergency vehicles sped
by. At the same time a beeping noise
came from Trent's watch. He glanced at
it and frowned.
"Oh,
jeez. They would call me in."
"They?"
"Uhh, my
bosses. They probably want me to follow
that fire truck and see if I can lend a hand.
I told them this was my night off, but does that matter? Excuse me for a moment." He pulled his cell phone from out of his
pants pocket and punched a number.
"Yes. Uh-huh. Over on the north side, near Blaylock. Got it.
Look, I'm tied up at the moment, but I'll get over there as soon as I
can. Uh-huh. Okay.
Okay. 'Bye."
"Is it
serious?" she finally ventured to ask.
"Apparently
a gas line ruptured during the tremor.
Came up through the street and caused a pile-up. Police are on the scene,
and ambulance and fire department are on their way."
"Think The
Champion will show up?"
Trent
grinned again. "You never know. This is just the sort of thing a superhero
like The Champion is good at. Saving the
world one person at a time."
Realizing
Trent was staying a while longer, Laurel reached over to the basket just
delivered onto the table and grabbed a breadstick. "Can you imagine what real life might be like
for a person like The Champion?"
"What? You mean private life?"
"Any sort
of life outside of fighting crime and all."
"Gee, I
never of thought of it, but I'd guess it would be pretty bleak. I mean, you'd have to be like Superman and
have a secret identity just so you could have friends and go out on a
date." He winced. "A love life would be very dangerous for your
partner, which would mean your sex life would pretty much suck."
"Wouldn't
you think that after a while, though, the loneliness and emptiness would get to
be too unbearable?" she wondered aloud.
"Oh,
yeah. I've no doubt it would." He laughed so softly she almost didn't hear
it. "Wouldn't it be funny if The
Champion turned to a dating service like the one we did?"
"Actually,
I think it might be a perfect solution.
Using the dating service to find someone who is so much like you that
when a call goes out for The Champion to help, the other person understands and
waits for you without question or reservation."
"It would
be a dream come true, in a way." He
continued to stare out the front window.
Laurel
noticed how antsy he was quickly becoming.
"Trent, listen, if you have to leave to go tend to that accident, I
understand."
"No. No, I promised you a nice dinner at a
restaurant, and I'm a man of my word.
The emergency crews can get along without me." He started to say more,
when her own phone went off. Rather than
answer it, she took note of the number, then put the cell on vibrate and stuck
it back in her purse.
"Aren't you
going to answer it?" he asked.
"No. I know who it is, and I can probably guess
what he wants. I'll call him back
later."
"What was
that ring tone? It sounded
familiar."
"'Fly Me to
the Moon'. It was a Sinatra hit many
years ago," she said.
"Ah,
right. Now I remember it. Odd that it would be your choice."
"Why?"
"My default
ring is 'Come Fly With Me'."
"Really? Why that one?"
"Because I
have a love of flying, just like you do."
Laurel
smiled as she took a sip of water. She
was comfortable with the guy even in person.
Their easy banter came so naturally, it was refreshing.
He could
be the one. My own personal
superhero. My lifesaver. The possibility made her heart speed up,
and she could feel the heat building between her legs.
