Free Coercion by Lux Zakari Page B

night with Daniel to end like this. Still, she couldn’t ignore the fact Michael Vartanian currently sat in her living room, waiting for her. A smile spread over her face, and she took a few deep breaths to try to restrain the intoxicating delight fluttering in her chest. This moment was exactly what she’d been waiting for.
    She returned to the living room, shut the wooden doors behind her and sat on the couch next to Michael, whose legs still bobbed. “You know,” she said after a moment’s pause, “my mom told me once that you shake the luck out of you when you move your leg like that, and when you finally stop, all your luck will be gone.”
    “Too late.” He paused his motions. “So what happens if I never stop shaking my legs? Then I’ll always have luck to lose.”
    Valerie smiled. “I suppose that’s one way of looking at it.” She cleared her throat. “Um, how did you know where I live?”
    “I was just driving around and recognized your mom’s Volvo in the drive,” he said, his tone devoid of emotion. Then he swiveled his head to look at Valerie, his eyes wide. “Your mom’s not here, is she?”
    “Yeah, but she and my dad are already in bed. They always zonk out before ten and sleep like the dead.”
    His shoulders slumped with relief. “Good.”
    Her heart pounded at his reaction as she imagined all the evening’s possibilities. Even though Michael sat on the couch, apparently unaffected by the fact they were essentially alone in the house, it was all she could think about. In fact, being alone with him was all she ever thought about.
    And now here he was, in her living room with Breeze nowhere in sight. Many of her fantasies began with such a scenario, but she didn’t know how the reality of the situation would actually pan out.
    “What brings you here?” she asked, not knowing how to have a conversation with him.
    He ran a hand through his thick hair. “Why? You want me to go?”
    “No. I just...” Valerie trailed off, unable to express how she felt. She hoped he’d acknowledge that him being around her wasn’t an everyday occurrence and offer some kind of explanation.
    He gave her an indolent smile and put his hands behind his head. “I just felt like visiting.” His words were accompanied by a yawn. “I realized we haven’t hung out in awhile.”
    “We’ve never really hung out.”
    “Then what do you call what we did last month?”
    Her face flushed. The way he’d been acting, she hadn’t thought he’d bring it up, but now that he had, she realized she didn’t know what she wanted him to say about it. “I don’t know. But I didn’t consider that ‘hanging out.’”
    Michael chuckled. “I guess it wasn’t.” He studied her for a moment. “Let me rephrase that. I realized we haven’t fooled around in awhile.”
    The fever spreading through her cheeks intensified as she rubbed the backside of her arms. “Well, it hasn’t seemed like you wanted me around.”
    “Sure I have,” he said, clearly unconcerned.
    “Really?” Skepticism laced her words. “But you haven’t spoken to me in weeks.”
    “Be fair. You haven’t talked to me either.” He lowered his hands and leaned into her. “And you know I’m right.”
    Valerie’s mouth went dry from Michael’s nearness as she stared at him wordlessly. A flood of warmth rushed to her most private parts.
    He stared at her, his thick lashes surrounding his dark, penetrating eyes like silky crescents. Then he reached out to her, drawing idle patterns on her arm with his index finger. “You ever think about that day in the parking lot?”
    “All the time.” The words flew out of her before her brain could even process them.
    “Oh, yeah?” A smirk appeared on his face. “Me too.”
    “Really?” she asked, surprised.
    “Mmm-hmm.” His hand moved to her chest, where he traced the underside of her right breast over her t-shirt. “Why does that shock you?”
    “I’m not sure.” Her mind grew foggy as his