Take Two: An Erotic Romance (Book 1) Read online

  I took courage from his slightly more friendly tone. “Do you remember when we climbed that old oak tree at Uncle Andy’s house in the country?”

  “Amanda, I don’t—” Mathis started, but I interrupted him.

  “You made a bet with me that you could climb higher than I could. I was so desperate to prove you wrong. I raced you up, climbing on the branches that were too thin for you, the ones that wouldn’t bear your weight. You shouted at me to be careful,” I grinned, remembering the worried look on Mathis’ face as I sped on ahead of him.

  “I remember,” Mathis said, a slight smile quirking his lips, the same smile which had made my heart beat faster when I was fifteen years old. After all this time, that particular effect didn’t seem to have dulled in the slightest. “You wouldn’t listen to a word I said. All you were interested in doing was beating me.”

  “You came up after me to make sure I was okay, though,” I added.

  “And one of those damn branches snapped beneath my weight,” Mathis laughed ruefully. “I fell about ten feet before I caught myself on one of the lower branches. We were quite the risk takers.”

  “It was scary,” I giggled at the memory. “Uncle Andy was so mad when we got back to the house – you were all cut up and bleeding.”

  “So were you,” Mathis chuckled, his eyes crinkling up delightfully as he recalled the incident, his expression almost… fond? “You must have set a world record for how fast you climbed down to check I was okay.”

  I smiled in response to his warm expression, and for a moment we were the Mathis and Amanda of over a decade ago, adventurous and reckless, laughing about all the stupid things we had done together. I felt warm and secure as he looked at me, his face relaxed into a smile and his eyes once again dancing with that impish expression I remembered so well. It made my fingertips tingle and something stir in my belly, as if someone had let loose fireworks inside me. It was a peculiar, heady feeling.

  In an instant, though, Mathis seemed to remember himself. His friendly expression faded back into an impassive mask, his light blue eyes grew cold and hard, and he leaned back, pulling a book off his shelf.

  “You’ll need to read the first five chapters before our next meeting,” he said, his voice as emotionless and lecturing as it had been before. It was as if his brief lapse as we had reminisced about the past had never happened.

  We continued my training as before, with Mathis alternately drilling me and firing questions at me. As he droned on about the different profit types, I remembered the aftermath of the day in the tree.

  “Mathis!” I had cried as I watched the branch crack and his body fall downwards through a canopy of leaves. Before I could pull together a rational thought I was swinging down the thin branches like a monkey, not caring about the scratches and scrapes I received as I went. In a matter of seconds I was down by his side, on a wide branch about ten feet from the ground. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

  Mathis looked at me in a daze, obviously still processing what had just happened. “How did you get down here so fast?” he asked me with a slight frown. “Did you fall too? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. I took the long route down. Does anything hurt? Did you hit your head?”

  “No, I’m fine – but you’re hurt!” He gestured to a scratch on my arm, which was bleeding slightly.

  “It’s just a scratch,” I insisted. “Now let’s get down from this tree and I’m going to make sure you’re alright. You can count to ten for me and recite the names of the presidents, things like that.”

  “Amanda, I couldn’t recite the names of all the presidents even before I fell out of a tree,” Mathis laughed. “But you’re right – we should go get cleaned up.”

  “I – I’m sorry I made you fall,” I burst out. “I should have been more careful.”

  “No, I should have been more careful,” Mathis replied. “I was so worried about you that I wasn’t paying attention.”

  “Then it is my fault,” I said guiltily.

  “No – it was mine,” Mathis insisted. “I should have known that you could more than take care of yourself. You’re amazing, Amanda – there’s so much more to you than meets the eye. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like you.”

  “Is that a good thing?” I asked uncertainly.

  Mathis just laughed at me. “Let’s get back to the house. Hope your uncle doesn’t see us like this. He’s going to lose his shit.”

  “Amanda!” The present-day Mathis interrupted my reverie. “Don’t space out like that! This is important!”

  “Sorry,” I apologized, my face going red. “I was still remembering that day with the tree…” part of me hoped that Mathis would again break through his cold façade, but he just frowned at me.

  “This isn’t the time for daydreaming. Your uncle wanted you to know this and I don’t have all the time in the world to teach you. I’m just doing a favor for your uncle – I owe him that much.”

  The words bit through me like a bitter wind. Of course. Mathis was probably just as upset as I was about Uncle Andy, if not more so. It must be painful for him to be reminded about it day after day by my presence. Maybe that was why he was acting so coldly towards me? Or maybe, as he had said, he was just doing a favor to my uncle. I was less than nothing to him.

  It took about twenty more minutes for Mathis to realize that my mind was not entirely there anymore. Although I wanted to impress him with my dedication and focus and prove to him that I was both willing and able to learn, the idea that Mathis was acting so distantly towards me because of my uncle was plaguing me, and it was all I could do to listen to Mathis instead of wondering whether Mathis was afraid of showing his true feelings, or whether he really didn’t have any interest in being around me. Perhaps I was simply a chore to him…

  “Alright, we’ll pick up where we left of in our next session,” Mathis sighed. “Make sure you read those chapters – I will assume you already have a full understanding of all the topics covered in them, so it will be difficult for you if you don’t put in the effort.”

  “I’ll read them,” I stated confidently.

  “Excellent. In that case, you can leave for today.”

  “Wait!” I’d spoken before I’d had time to think it through, and Mathis paused, quirking one eyebrow at me in expectation.

  “You have something else to add?” he asked.

  “Just – why weren’t you there? Why weren’t you at Uncle Andy’s funeral or at his will reading? I looked for you. I just… I guess I thought you’d be there,” I finished lamely. I was going to say ‘I thought you cared about him’, but I didn’t want to say anything so hurtful.

  “I was there,” Mathis said coolly.

  “But – I didn’t see you,” I said, confused. If he had been there, I was certain I couldn’t have missed him. At six foot three, with his imposing stature and piercing blue eyes, I was sure that nobody in the room would have missed him.

  “I was there,” Mathis repeated. “He meant a lot to me – I owe him my success, my fortune, and my life. You, of all people, should know that. I simply did not wish to make myself known.”

  “Oh, okay. Right,” I said. I wondered whether he meant he did not want to make himself known to the other guests – or just to me. I thought about asking him, but his impassive face was discouraging and I felt once again like a silly schoolgirl with a crush – not in the same league as him, and with no right to ask such personal questions.

  “If that is all,” said Mathis. “I’ll see you for our next training session.”

  “Yeah, I’ll see you next time then,” I said.

  “Goodbye, Amanda,” he said, and gave me one of his quirky, charming smiles.

  As I scuttled out of his office and past the pretty secretary, my face was flushed with the intoxicating effect of his smile and my mind was still conflicted. Was Mathis trying to keep his distance from me on purpose? Did he just not care? I couldn’t understand him – and it was so frustrating!
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  Chapter 8

  Our next training session was much less grueling than the first. Perhaps Mathis had realized that firing questions at me was not the best way to make me learn things, because this time he didn’t simply flood me with information but talked in a relaxed, even entertaining manner about some of the experiences he had had as a hedge fund manager. Hearing him talking about some of the pitfalls of the profession made me feel less like an idiot for not knowing anything, and by the end of the training session, I felt much better equipped to navigate the minefield of investing.

  By the time we were done, the sky was already getting dark and the secretary had gone home, leaving the building locked behind her.

  “I guess we got caught up in our work,” I said sheepishly, embarrassed that I had taken up so much of Mathis’ time.

  “It doesn’t matter – come on, I’ll let you out,” Mathis offered.

  “Thanks,” I said. We walked together towards the elevator, and I felt strangely small beside Mathis’ tall, athletic form. My eyes came level with his collarbone, and I couldn’t help noticing how tan his skin was, and how the muscles in his neck moved subtly under his skin. I was getting nervous, and I found myself unable to say anything, even meaningless small talk.

  We rode the elevator in silence and Mathis went ahead of me to unlock the front door of the building.

  The sky was slate gray, just getting ready to go dark, and rain was pounding off the sidewalk, the drumming sound blocking out the rush of traffic.

  “Oh no, it’s really pouring!” I observed, half to myself as I ran up to the glass doors to get a better look.

  “Do you need me to call you a cab?” Mathis asked, standing next to me looking out beyond the glass, with a touch of his old chivalry.

  I started smiling, unable to forget the time when we had both sheltered from the rain together in a small natural cave, just moments before our first kiss. I turned to Mathis, unwilling to keep the memory to myself. Maybe this will make him at least act more natural, like his old self, around me.

  “Doesn’t it remind you of that time in the cave?” I asked him. “We were playing some silly game, right?”

  “You were about to fall into an enchanted sleep,” Mathis said, his mouth settling into a gentle smile as he looked at me, that warmth and spark of mischief back in his eyes again, making my heart skip a beat.

  “Those were fun times,” I said. “We were just kids, acting like kids, making up stories.”

  “As I remember, you were the one who started it,” Mathis remarked. “You told me I wasn’t allowed in your woods without the protection of the fairy queen.”

  “That’s not quite how I remember it,” I said archly, and Mathis let out a short laugh which rippled through me.

  “How do you remember it, then?” he challenged me.

  “I remember that you told me the cave was haunted,” I accused him. “I couldn’t go in there or I would be cursed and fall into an eternal sleep. Truthfully, I always thought you just wanted it to yourself while I had to stay out in the rain.”

  Mathis laughed again, and despite the rain, I felt happy, elated even. It was so good to see this side of him again, the carefree, vivacious man behind the stone mask he had built for himself.

  “And then?” he asked, his expression suddenly more serious again, his eyes looking intensely into mine. “Do you remember how I saved you from going into that eternal sleep?”

  Mathis’ face was so close to mine that I could feel the warmth of his breath on my cheek. Against the rushing of the rain, the only other sound I could make out was my heart, beating like an angry fist inside my chest, desperate to get out. Slowly, Mathis reached out his hand and gently brushed my hair behind my ear. For an instant, I was catapulted back in time to our very first meeting, where he had just as gently repeated the same motion, his entire being focused on taking in every detail of my face.

  My cheeks flooded with color as Mathis withdrew his hand from my face and placed it on my shoulder. For a moment I couldn’t speak or move. Was he going to kiss me?

  But, just as it had happened back in the cave, Mathis hesitated, just for a moment, and suddenly the spell of stillness was broken and I pulled back.

  “I should really get going,” I said quickly. “What with all this rain there will probably be a ton of traffic, and I said I’d call my friend when I got back, and—”

  I was cut off by the sudden impact of soft lips on mine, firm but gentle, pressing against my mouth with just the right amount of pressure. Heat flooded through me, and the sound of the rain, the growing dampness and the coolness of the evening air all disappeared in a flash. There was nothing but me and Mathis. Part of me wanted to press up against him, feel his warm body flush against mine. I was tempted to deepen the kiss, pressing our lips together with as much force as I could muster, seeking entrance into the hot, delicious cavern of his mouth. Another part of me knew I should pull away, get out of this dangerous situation – but I couldn’t!

  The kiss was over before I could put either of these plans into motion. Mathis drew away as suddenly as he had swept into me, and I was left breathless and warm, the ghost of Mathis’ lips still present on my own.

  “You always did talk too much,” Mathis said quietly.

  I just looked at him, unable to speak. The kiss had been… incredible. I had never felt so much with one brief kiss from any other man. Even a hot and heavy make out session couldn’t make me feel this alive. I could feel the blood rushing through my veins as if it were liquid fire, sending all my senses into overdrive.

  In the next instant, though, I recalled everything that Sharon had told me, everything which I had witnessed for myself. A playboy like Mathis would never be truly interested in a woman like me, naïve and plain and awkward, with nothing to show for her life except her uncle’s good fortune.

  Was he just fooling around with me? If I let this go further, would I just be another one of his conquests? I didn’t want to be this week’s top flavor before being booted unceremoniously off the menu as soon as another model or singer turned his head.

  Of course, there was no way I could ever be anything more than that. All I had to show for myself was a low-level accountancy job, while Mathis had been enormously successful. What could he possibly see in a timid, boring woman with all the ambition of an overweight house cat, and the same level of talent to boot. All I could possibly be to him was an easy target – a silly young thing besotted with his fame and riches and with a skewed, romanticized memory from her childhood.

  As soon as this bleak reality struck me, I knew I had to get out of there.

  “I’ve got to go,” I said abruptly, and I pulled away from Mathis, breaking into a run in order to cover the few blocks between the building and my car as quickly as possible.

  “Wait!” I heard Mathis shouting behind me. “You’ll get soaked Amanda, for god’s sake, wait!”

  But I didn’t slow down. I just kept running, letting the heavy rain drown out the sound of Mathis’ frantic voice behind me.

  ***

  I finally reached my car, panting and gasping, soaked to my skin. I dragged my keys out of my purse, but my fingers were shaking so badly that I dropped them on the wet ground.

  “Crap,” I said, kneeling to grab them and finally managing to wrench the driver’s door open.

  “Amanda!” I almost dropped my keys for a second time as I spun around to come face to face with Mathis standing on the other side of my car, his expensive suit and light brown hair both slick with rain.

  Reflexively, jumped into my car and slammed the door closed, and I was torn between driving away, skidding madly to get out of there, and crumbling into a hysterical heap over my steering wheel. That kiss had brought up old memories that I had buried away. Mathis had twisted my heart out when he had just disappeared. An insistent tapping on the passenger side window told me that Mathis was still there.

  I hesitated – I didn’t know if I could act rationally right now
, but on the other hand, I couldn’t just leave him out there in the pouring rain. After a moment of indecision, I opened the car door.

  Moments later, Mathis was in the passenger seat, breathing heavily from running after me, and blinking the rainwater out of his eyes. I let the silence drag on for a few moments, and all that could be heard was the panting of our breath and the drum of heavy rain against the metal roof. Eventually, I couldn’t bear it any longer.

  “Mathis, I—” Before I could get any further, Mathis was kissing me again. Where before his kiss had been fleeting and sweet, this time it was dominating, insistent. His tongue forced its way in between my lips, plundering my mouth and causing stars to dance behind my closed eyelids. I didn’t try to stop him or push him back. I just let the sensation course through me, like a forest fire devouring everything in its path and leaving nothing but an exquisite, breathless blank in its wake.