15
On the lastmorning of their time together in Lake Walnut, they awoke at the crack of dawn and spent the morning lazing around between the sheets, making love then showering together. Larke smiled as she recalled the showering part, being pressed up against the tiles of the shower wall with Chase moving so deep inside her. Showering alone would forever pale in comparison, she decided.
During the drive home, it was hard not to feel sadness at the return to reality. Being around Chase was addicting and it had been all too easy getting used to the feel of him next to her in bed at nights. After he’d dropped her off and helped bring her bags into her apartment, Larke was glad to have found some measure of comfort in his promise that nothing between them had changed because they were back home. They’d see each other again and often too.
“If you ever call me and I don’t pick up right away, it’s not cause I’m ignoring you. Just bad timing.”
Chase had said that an hour ago, right after he’d hauled her against him, kissing the breath right out of her body. She touched her lips, still tasting his kiss. Sighing, Larke looked over at the clock. The reading she’d had scheduled at a local library was in a half an hour. She gave herself a quick once over then grabbed her sweater in case the air conditioning was being blasted inside the building.
“Oh good, you’re here.”
She’d barely stepped through the door of the library before Mrs. Downing, the middle-aged blonde librarian she’d been corresponding with for the past two weeks, pulled her inside.
“Am I late?” Larke checked her watch.
Mrs. Downing shook her head. “No, you’re not. But look over there. I didn’t realize so many children would show up. They’re getting antsy waiting for you to start reading.”
Larke followed the older woman’s gaze to see that the area they’d designated for the reading was pushed even further back to accommodate all the children who had shown up. She gasped in disbelief. “Here I was hoping not to be embarrassed with only one child showing up.”
Mrs. Downing brought her hands together. “Larke. Please, please, please tell me you don’t mind starting early?”
“No not at all,” she assured Mrs. Downing, while taking another glance at the children chattering excitedly. “I still can’t believe this.”
“Well believe it. Your books are popular here. As they should be. You have a fantastic imagination. Now, before it gets rowdier in here. Can you start the reading?”
Larke took her seat in the front of the room. Since becoming a published writer, this was her first time doing a public reading. Her stomach felt nervous and fluttery. It wasn’t only children staring at her, also adults who were probably secretly rolling their eyes. She wasn’t sure if she should be annoyed or thankful for the ones who had their gazes cemented to the screens of their smartphones.
Drawing in a deep breath, she introduced herself and shortly began reading. Halfway through the book, as she paused for dramatic effect–when the badger suddenly found himself in a sticky situation after abandoning his friends–Larke raised her head to notice a well-dressed man staring at her with a smile on his face. Lowering her head, she continued reading. After saying that glorious phrase “The End”, she sank back in her chair. Relief flooded her as the children clapped and started talking to each other about the characters in the book. Shortly after, when the children slowly began piling out and around the library, she felt even lighter.
Whew.She’d done it! And without her voice cracking from nerves. Larke reached for her bag, reminding herself that next time she’d try not to feel so nervous. Although the butterflies inside her stomach finally settled, Larke found herself jumping, startled by a voice behind her.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s fine,” she said. It was the man who had been staring at her during the reading.
“My daughter enjoyed the reading very much. She loves your books, especially this one with the badger’s new friend. We read them often.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Thank you, both for coming out.” She issued him a polite smile then shifted her attention to her bag, expecting him to leave. He didn’t. “This might be forward of me, but you are a very beautiful lady.”
Larke blushed. She felt awkward. The man was handsome, he honestly was. Smooth, patient voice and brown skin with an infectious smile. On outward appearance, he was exactly the type of person she would’ve wanted to date. But…Chase. He was the only man for her. He had her feeling like she was soaring high above the clouds whenever she thought of him. Larke prayed the man beside her wasn’t working up this intro to ask her out.
“You wouldn’t be available to go out with me sometime, would you? I mean, if you can find time away from your busy schedule.”
Oh no. Her palms suddenly moistened with sweat. She’d never had to turn anyone down before. No one decent that was. Larke closed her bag, shaking her head inwardly. For some reason, her heart felt heavy despite this man being a stranger. Like turning him down was wrong on so many levels.
“I can’t,” she murmured, slightly ashamed of herself. “I’m in a relationship.”
He snapped his finger and gave her an exaggerated look of disappointment. “Always too late with the pretty ones.”
She forced a smile to her lips, unsure what to say when dealing with an irrational sense of guilt and shame. She held out her hand then allowed it to fall by her side.
Her shoulders finally relaxed after the man gave a single nod and left without pursuing his interest further. Despite all that, Larke found herself staring at his back. No, she wasn’t attracted to him. Maybe she would have been––at some other point in time, before her connection with Chase. She didn’t know. But attraction wasn’t the root of her unease. Biting her lip, Larke leaned her head against the wall, staring straight ahead, unseeing.
Race Traitor.
That was the only word to describe her. Exactly what she was, Larke silently chastised herself. Oh, she didn’t subscribe to the belief that people had to stick to their own race. For someone like her, however, to choose… No, to be on the verge of falling in love with a man whose body was covered with the symbols of his prejudiced beliefs and hate.Thatwas a betrayal. Surely that made her a dirty race traitor. Didn’t it?
Larke gulped as a wave of self-disgust so strong made her stomach roil and filled her with nausea. But worse than that, not even the horrid wave of guilt was strong enough to quell her desire for Chase or curtail the feelings inside her heart. Either she was a very twisted person or stronger than she’d ever imagined for heeding the natural instincts that told her they belonged together.
