Free Waking Up Gray by R. E. Bradshaw Page B

containers of cheese and crackers. Lizbeth watched silently as Gray’s strong hands removed the wine cork with ease. She poured Lizbeth a glass and then one for herself. Lizbeth thought at that moment, with the way the light was shining on her, Gray was the most beautiful human being, man or woman, she had ever seen. Gray smiled and Lizbeth felt a shock of electricity throughout her entire body.
    Gray held out her glass for a toast, saying, “To magical places.”
    Lizbeth touched her glass to Gray’s and said, “Amen.”
    They watched the sun setting for a few more minutes before Gray spoke. “Now that I’ve been back here a while, I know I could never leave again.”
    Lizbeth looked over at Gray. “It must be thrilling to wake up surrounded by this every day.”
    Gray continued to survey the horizon. “Some folks are just born where they should stay. Wandering around out there in the world won’t make them happy. This is all I need to make me happy,” she said, but there was a melancholy in her voice.
    Lizbeth commented, “Ah, a pirate married to the sea.”
    Gray laughed. She put some cheese on a cracker and handed it to Lizbeth. “Here, try this. One of my clients from Wisconsin sent it to me.”
    Lizbeth felt playful and teased Gray. “One of those married women clients you’re so fond of?”
    Gray grinned at Lizbeth and cocked her head to one side. “Wow, I need to be careful what I discuss on the street when your windows are open.”
    “I wasn’t trying to listen, if that’s what you’re implying,” Lizbeth shot back playfully.
    “Guess I had my beer ears on. Didn’t realize how loud we were talking.”
    Lizbeth had a large glass of wine at the house and she was almost finished with the one Gray had given her. The wine gave her courage to begin her own seduction game, and to her dismay, she did. She lowered her eyes over the top of her wine glass. “Do you do that often? Pick up married women, I mean.”
    The question caught Gray a bit off guard, but then her raffish charm returned. “Just doing my part to keep the tourists happy.”
    Lizbeth snickered. “Well, that particular tourist seemed happy enough when she drove off on her moped.”
    “Were you watching me, too?” Gray asked, still grinning.
    “I got up to see what the noise was and I became intrigued, you might say,” Lizbeth said, holding out her glass for more wine.
    Gray poured the wine and studied Lizbeth. She could feel Gray’s eyes on her. Gray was sizing her up. Lizbeth could almost see the wheels turning behind her eyes. Gray was trying to decide what to do next. Lizbeth’s body was screaming, “Kiss me.” Her brain was trying to talk rationally, but only sounded like a mumbling old woman in the corner. Lizbeth had stopped listening to her. She sipped her wine and watched Gray.
    Gray put more cheese on a cracker and put it in her mouth. She stared out at the water, slowly chewing, and then washed it down with wine, before turning back to Lizbeth, apparently having resolved whatever she had been mulling over. The seductive grin returned to her face.
    “Intrigued? Exactly how intrigued are you?” Gray asked.
    Lizbeth was losing all her inhibitions. She was having an almost out of body experience. She felt as if she was watching herself with no control over her actions. Some unseen force was pushing her to behave in a way that seemed inconceivable to Lizbeth, but she could not resist it. She looked Gray straight in the eyes when she said, softly, “Very.”
    Gray took a sip of wine and turned her body so she was facing Lizbeth. “Lizbeth, I may have misread you, but I didn’t think you were gay.”
    Lizbeth was not a big drinker and the wine was giving her the giggles. She said, “My friend, Molly, says all women are straight until they’re not.” She laughed.
    Gray chuckled at Lizbeth. “I guess she’s got a point there.”
    Lizbeth was nervous, causing the giggles to worsen. She knew exactly where this