A soft, faint light entered the room. It was a low glow of warmth. I blinked slowly as I turned to bury my head into my pillow. As I turned, I caught the sight of soft skin in next to me. Mine? An arm perhaps? No, I could feel the muscular definition of the ripples at his abdomen and the small slope of his pectorals. My blurred vision caught his smiling lips and bright eyes. He licked his lips briefly. “Sleep well?”
I jolted and sat up instantly. The warmth of the sunlight fell across my cheeks. But, aside from the small light entering the room, it was void of anything and anyone but me. I put my hand to my head and blinked slowly. But.... It was so vivid.... Perhaps, I had dreamed that I had visited Mount Olympus and sat at the feet of my blond God. A nameless face. No, a perfect dream. Isn’t that called a mirage? Something you can see, but can’t touch. Most Gods are like that, aren’t they? They are worshiped from afar, not in close vicinity of their being. Yet, yesterday seemed almost dreamlike.
Face to face with the blond God.... The image of perfection. In the guise of a knight in shining armor, he had saved me from the brutal demon who destroyed my faithful steed. And he had brought me to the castle of wonders where we drank from goblets and...... I was getting ahead of myself. I was a romance novelist after all, not a fantasy novelist. But, with material like this, perhaps I should dabble in that genre. I shook my head quickly and peeled back the covers from their hovering position above me. They were almost like silk. I caressed them lightly as I put my hand to my head once more. A knight in shining armor... He seemed more like a drug than that, after all, he caused me to see visions of him in the early hours of the morning. And, even after just meeting him, I wanted more. But, at this point in time, that was dangerous. Get a GRIP, Candy! I had to tell myself over and over, what I wouldn’t have given for a subliminal message tape to listen to while I slept, then it could have repeated it constantly. But, even when I closed my eyes, I saw his face.
Was it normal to be so infatuated with a person you had only just met? Love at first sight.... That’s what everyone called it. For many years past it has been, and will continue to be until the end of time, a major plot line of romance novels. The characters often mistook it for true love, but then it came to fruition in the end. Not in real life. That never happened to real people. I hugged my shoulders closely, hadn’t I already learned that once? I felt a shiver up my spine and shook it off quickly. I fumbled for my phone on the night stand beside me. 10 AM!!!!!!!!! Hadn’t we agreed to meet at 12:30?
“Damnit” I cursed to myself silently as I stumbled out of bed. Whether he was a blond God, a knight in shining armor, or a human being, for everything he had done for me, I at least owed it to him to be on time. I attempted to run from the room toward the bathroom, but despite my shock, I was truly still half asleep. So, as an alternative, I managed to stagger into it as I dragged my feet. A warm shower would wake me up, at least; it always did.
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I checked my phone for the time once more. Noon exactly. I was a genius. How did I manage to get ready for a hot date in just two hours? As far as I’m concerned, it was because I am wonderful, amazing, smart, and a whole list of other praise-filled adjectives. As far as everyone else is concerned, it probably was because it wasn’t really going to be a hot date.
True, I wanted the image in my bed this morning to be a reality, not a mirage. But my point in going was merely to thank him for helping me so much in the past... I wanted to say day, but it hadn’t been even twelve hours yet. Maybe that made it more impressive, a man had rescued me from an ocean of perils in the last eleven hours or so....
Now that was an impressive novel, perhaps I ought to write down these ideas and save them for a fictionalized biography of sorts. I chuckled quietly to myself as I examined my dress once more. I wore a short black dress with a halter style neckline. The bottom of the dress hit my leg about midway down my thigh, or maybe just midway down my upper thigh.... A bronze medallion rested at my collarbone, holding the straps of my halter closely. I checked the knot once more. The last thing I needed was for that to fall down.
Then again, that stunt might get me into the arms of the blonde God and the blond God into my bed. I shook my head once more as I ran my fingers through my hair. It had to be perfect; this was a blonde God I was dining with, regardless of my intentions. I put one had into my bag and searched for my stiletto sandals. Why did I have such nice clothes for this trip when I had brought a bike as my mode of transportation? Public image was all about appearance, of course. I managed to produce both shoes in a relatively short amount of time. I was about to slip the second shoe on when a knock sounded at the door. I gripped my shoe tightly as I casually walked toward the door. Upon opening the door, I almost had a heart attack as Nick’s muscular form filled my doorway.
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She almost died of shock as she opened the door. It was only 12:15 and the first time I had been early for anything. I’m even rarely on time. Could she read my thoughts? Is that why her jaw dropped as she stared up at me? She was wearing a tight little black dress. Yes, a tight little black dress. It didn’t give any good views, but it gave me a large enough imagination to pretend it did. Which led my imagination to ponder what she would look like lying beneath me.
Or I would have pondered such an idea, except I became very distracted by large high heeled shoe in her hand. Had she thought I was a burglar? Or a pervert? Or worse - a rapist?! I had decided without hesitation, this was the last time I would ever show up anywhere early again! Or maybe....
Maybe she didn’t think any of those things.... Maybe she just liked to throw shoes at people. But did she throw them at people she liked or people she hated? ...... That would be called either domestic abuse or a bad S & M film. Though, I think I’d rather have the S & M film than the abuse, but hey, that’s just me personally. Just as I started thinking about the plot line of that movie... Yeah right, plot line... I had to catch myself to keep from cracking up. Anyway, at that moment, she pulled her foot from the floor and slid the shoe onto it. Oh good, it wasn’t for hitting, it was for wearing.
Wait, didn’t I mean, “Damnit, it wasn’t for hitting, it was for wearing”? Well, let’s just call me remotely relieved and leave it at that.
She put her hand up to her chest. Too bad the dress already covered that spot.... “Nick, you scared me! I didn’t expect you over for another fifteen minutes!”
So being on time scares people.... I knew there was a reason I hadn’t done it all those years. And they told me it was bad manners. Once again it took everything I had not to crack up. They? Yeah, they. You know exactly who I’m talking about. If you don’t, then you’re out of the loop.
She stared at me blankly. Oh God, had I actually started laughing? I shifted in my shoes. Which shoes? The comfy ones, of course. The ones you can shift your weight in and not worry about tripping over your own feet. What do you mean men’s shoes don’t have high heels? Of course they do! They’re fucking one inch tall! Though I do look dashing when I gain height. That’s why the women swoon when they see me at award shows. But that had nothing to do with the present situation.....
“I just wanted to check up on you.” The line came out of my mouth smoothly even though I had stammered through it in my head.
She smiled.
Nice save. See, the truth would have sounded stupid. She would probably think I had ADHD if I told her that the actual reason was because I couldn’t find anything to keep me occupied for another fifteen minutes. Yes. I had left my house at noon. I guess I could have driven slowly. But.... Who drives slow in nice cars? No one! For the very simple reason that nice cars were not made to be driven slow, they were made for people to stare at them as they sped down the highway and make those people jealous of the rich Gods driving those cars. Am I coming off as conceited? Oh well, I’ll apologize later.
But the important thing was, I learned something today. Being early scared people. So, the next time I’m late and someone asks why, I will simply inform them that being early scares people. And when they ask why I wasn’t on time, I will then come up with a lame excuse. Hey, I am chock full of them. I should really teach a class. I think I’ll call it “Lame Excuses to Fool Your Friends and Acquaintances 101.” Then you could get a Master’s degree in it if you could pass “Lame Excuses to Fool Your Teachers.”
But... even I’m not a master at that one, so someone else would have to teach it. The first person who gets a Master’s Degree in it gets a private party attended by yours truly. Then, I’ll show up late and when they ask why, I will give them the best lame excuse ever. I laughed, if only to myself, but her smile brightened.
Wow, she stood there the whole time watching me think? It must be a sight to see. I’d like to see that for myself someday.
But, I’m getting sidetracked again. The most important thing about today was, I got to go out to lunch with a pretty girl who I had rescued from the horrible bike slaughterer Brent. For once, I, yes me, got to play the knight in shining armor.
I stuck my hands in my pockets, afraid that I would begin to mime my thoughts with them. A slight smile spread across my lips as I looked back at her. Yup, today was my date with Candy and the little black dress. “Are you ready to head out?” I smiled again.
She gave a slight head nod, “Yes, I just need to grab my purse.”
She turned around quickly and fumbled for her purse on the table. It was a smooth move worthy of me, but I got a great shot of her ass, so I’m going to say that it was the most graceful thing I ever saw. Yup, definitely a ten out of ten. Got that judges? A ten out of ten.
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I hope he hadn’t seen me trip. I guess I still wasn’t stable on these stilettos after the entire trauma I’d been through last night.... No, this morning. I turned to face him slightly. He continued to smile. So, he either hadn’t noticed or he was laughing to himself about my clumsiness. I prayed it was the former, but it was probably the latter. If I could have only shown him how skilled I was in other areas, then he’d forget all about that lack of balance. But, I was merely getting ahead of myself.
He was just a nice guy who happened to want to help me out. The thing I kept forgetting was that he looked like the kind of guy who could have any woman he wanted whenever he wanted and get her into bed within two minutes. So, a girl he met simply because his friend trashed her bike is probably not on the top of his list of bedroom candidates. Hadn’t he himself, after all, called me a damsel in distress? So what did it take to get transferred to the bedroom candidates? I turned to face him slowly; he continued to smile.
That meant that he was utterly bored with the present situation. I was surprised he wasn’t tapping his foot. I had to stop messing with my purse before he walked out of the room without me. I turned to face him, clutching my purse tightly as I prayed that he was still there.
He smiled once more, “Okay, let’s go now then.”
His smile was infectious and I couldn’t help but smile right along with him as I nodded.
Was that how all women felt around him? That anything he did, they couldn’t help but mirror? Or were they all preoccupied with their predestined role as bedroom candidates? Though I really wanted a chance to show him my skills. Part of me was happy because I got to enjoy his smile and warmth rather than worry about touching him. The other part wanted just the opposite. He may have been a blond God and a knight in shining armor, but part of him was poison. The more I saw him, the more his image filled my mind, and the more I wanted to see his image in reality. But I of all people had learned long ago that love at first sight and true love were unequivalent. So, for the time being, I would think of him as a beautiful poison. Fine to look at, but untouchable.
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She stood next to me, holding her purse tightly. Once again, I felt like the bad guy, but she smiled up at me and her lips seemed to sparkle. I wanted to hold her close to me and take her lips into mine once more, but I knew that was unwise.
It may have happened after we left the club, but she had said nothing of it yet, no made any action toward it. That meant only one thing, she had forgotten the entire ordeal and I was just a nice guy who came to take her out to lunch. She had, after all, called me her knight in shining armor. Knights in shining armor never get the girl. Why shouldn’t they? They’re flawless in every way and always there when the woman needs them. So, wouldn’t they be her obvious love interest? Of course that would, but one fact remains.
Mainly, the knight in shining armor tends to die while protecting the woman. And then she has to choose a new love. Which sounds stupid, I know, but that’s the way it goes. Still, despite all that, her smile made me want to continue being the knight in shining armor. For the first time in my life, someone had needed me. I was the knight in shining armor. What did it take to make this a full time role?
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here, sweeties, is finally, finally the update!!! We are really sorry for the loooong wait, but we had some force majeure circumstances. But now we're back, alright!
Candy's thoughts are whirled...she wants the knight. But can she? And he wants to be the knight?
I hope you all enjoy this chapter! :) *Rose
Please let me apologize profusely for the wait.~*Dee*
Candy's thoughts are whirled...she wants the knight. But can she? And he wants to be the knight?
I hope you all enjoy this chapter! :) *Rose
Please let me apologize profusely for the wait.~*Dee*
