Free Straight From The Heart by Janelle Taylor Page A

blush.
    “You look beautiful,” he said after a moment, realizing he was staring.
    “Thank you.” The dress was a white, sleeveless cotton shift that showed off the soft tan she’d achieved before this sudden deluge had hit the Portland area and turned it into water world.
    She waited while he put on a shirt, white also, with the long sleeves rolled up. His forearms were sprinkled with masculine hair, several shades lighter than his own dark brown locks. His skin glowed like burnished copper in the candlelight.
    “As grateful as I was for power, I chose the candles instead,” she stammered, feeling a little foolish at her romanticism.
    “This looks great,” he said, inclining his head toward the meal.
    “I’m not a half-bad cook with a few modern conveniences,” Kim said lightly.
    “You’re not half-bad anyway,” he returned. Then, as if embarrassed, he said, “I checked the phone.”
    “It’s still not working, I know.”
    “I plugged in my cell phone battery charger. It won’t be long before we can get through.”
    “Great!”
    Now why did that feel so forced? Kim asked herself miserably as she toyed with her pasta and nibbled at the fruit. Even the red wine, wonderful as it was, wasn’t doing anything for her. Stephen, too, seemed self-absorbed and lost in his own thoughts.
    “Think we can date when we get back to the real world?”
    Kim stared at Stephen, wondering if she’d actually heard the words or had been hoping to hear them so badly that she’d imagined them. “What?” she asked.
    “I’ll take that as a no,” he remarked, his mouth twisting.
    “No! I mean, yes! That’s what I want.”
    He grinned at her. “Yeah?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Well, lady, let me tell you something. You’re really hard to read sometimes. Maybe I come on too strong, but it just seemed right.”
    “It did seem right, but it was scary. I just need time.”
    “Take all the time you need. All I want is a chance.”
    Kim was positively glowing with joy. One moment everything seemed wrong, then poof! She was granted her every wish. “Are you serious?”
    “Like a heart attack, serious,” he stated strongly. “And I already know we’re not going to sleep together tonight, so don’t worry, I won’t ask.”
    Kim hid a smile behind her wineglass. “You can’t ask, slave,” she told him. “Only the master can ask.”
    “The master has made it quite clear how she feels.”
    “The master just needs to sort through some feelings and figure out where this is going.” Swallowing a sip, she decided to lay her cards on the table. “The master has to make sure the slave is hoping for some kind of long-term relationship, because that’s the only way it works for the master.”
    “The slave doesn’t jump from master to master like some people seem to think he does. The slave would like to hope for something more, too.”
    “Then anything’s possible, slave,” Kim said boldly, meeting his gaze.
    “Don’t tempt me, woman,” he growled.
    “Master,” she corrected.
    “Yeah, well, we’ll see,” he said with pure masculine ego, and they both broke into laughter.
    An hour later they’d finished washing the dishes and put them away when Stephen called Betsy’s number, feeling relaxed and at ease in a way he hadn’t been in what? Years? Kimberly Harden was a pure heaven. He could easily fall in love with her. He was halfway there already.
    “Hey, who’s this?” he asked, when he’d connected. “Chad?”
    Kim reached around him for the phone. He twisted to keep her out of reach, and she wrapped her arms around his waist and tickled.
    “Get your mom, Chad,” Stephen ordered, fighting back laughter. “What?” He went suddenly still. Sensing a crisis, Kim turned around to gaze into his eyes. His suddenly grim expression scared her. “When did they go?” Stephen demanded.
    “Who?” Kim mouthed. “Where?”
    “The emergency room?”
    That did it. On a cry she yanked the phone from his hand. Stephen