Take Two: An Erotic Romance (Book 1) (4 page)

BOOK: Take Two: An Erotic Romance (Book 1)
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“Hardly; an accountant and a hedge fund manager don’t have much in
common,” Mathis said, and I felt as if his comment had punctured a hole in my
lung. “I suppose we’d better start from the beginning. You at least know the
major investments you are now in control of?”

 

I found myself reeling off a long list of investments, not daring
to look Mathis in the eye – the downturn of his firm mouth was enough to show
that he had no interest in someone as ignorant as me.

 

“I’m glad you’ve retained at least that much,” said Mathis. “If
you can memorize half of what I teach you, this won’t all be uphill work.”

 

“I am not an idiot!” I snapped, finally tired of Mathis’s superior
manner. There was no reason for him to be acting like a dick. “I know that I’m
only an accountant and you’re worth millions of dollars, but I work hard. Uncle
Andy knew that, and you know it too. I’ll learn everything you have to teach
me, and it will
not
be uphill work.”

 

There was a glimmer of something in Mathis’s eyes as my outburst
stuttered to a close. It may have been anger or contempt, but whatever it was,
it was more like the Mathis I remembered than this cold, arrogant businessman
in front of me.

“The first lesson, Amanda, is that actions speak louder than
words,” he said. I blushed, embarrassed at my show of emotion. “You work as an
accountant? Are you planning to continue your work? Your uncle left you no
small
amount of money.”

 

“For the time being, yes, I’ll be continuing my work,” I said.
Once again my mind flashed to writing – but Mathis was right. Actions did speak
louder than words. Even though I fantasized about being a great writer, the
truth was, I didn’t know if I had it in me. What if I failed? What if I simply
couldn’t do it? Then I’d just be a rich, silly woman with nothing better to do
than go out to lunches and boast about the novel that I had been writing for
the last decade that still wasn’t close to being finished.

 

“Very well,” Mathis said, showing no surprise at my decision.
“I’ve created a schedule which won’t interfere with your working hours. Make
sure you don’t miss an appointment – my time is valuable and these tutoring
sessions will be taking up a good deal of it over the next few weeks.”

 

“I’m not the sort of person who shows up late,” I said, with a
little more emphasis on the words than was perhaps polite.

 

“Excellent. We’ll begin in two days’ time.”

 

Rising from his chair, Mathis went to his desk and picked up a
plain manila folder. He held it out to me, and I reached my hand out to take
it. For a moment, our hands touched. A bolt of lightning ripped through me at
the familiarity. We both tore our hands away, and I looked up at Mathis in
amazement, but he was looking away from me, his expression unreadable.

 

“That’s everything for today,” he said. “Goodbye, Miss Taylor.”

 

“Bye,” I said timidly. “Mathis,” I added under my breath as I
closed the door.

Chapter 5

 

I was 15 years old the summer I met Mathis. It was the first time
that I had gone to stay at Uncle Andy’s mansion for a whole summer, and I was
anticipating it gleefully. It was well away from the city, an enormous ranch
surrounded by acres and acres of land, thick with woods and perfect for a young
girl to explore and run wild after being cooped up too long in the city.

 

I was practically bouncing up and down in my seat as the trees gave
way to a view of the stone mansion, its elegant exterior promising a change of
scene and a summer full of exploration and freedom. Excitement was building up
inside me as we pulled up the long gravel driveway in front of the house. It
had been over a year since I had been here, and I was dying to get out of the
car and greet my favorite uncle.

 

As soon as the car had rolled to a stop in front of the spiraling
stone steps leading to the heavy oak front door I was racing across the gravel
towards the house. It didn’t take me long to navigate the long, stone-flagged
corridor and find the door of my uncle’s office. I purposely slowed my pace as
I approached the door, my face flushed from my boisterous activity. I tried to
calm down my heavy breathing, tiptoeing to the door and opening it quietly,
hoping to surprise my uncle.

 

Instead, it was I who was surprised as I saw a young man sitting
at my uncle’s desk, his back to me, concentrating hard on whatever was on the
computer screen in front of him. I came to a complete stop, taking in this
stranger’s back. His shoulders were broad, his arms bare and his light brown
hair was tousled, as if he had been running his hands through it.

 

I didn’t know why, but the image of this young man sitting at the
desk stirred a strange feeling in me. I felt suddenly very shy, aware of my own
body, the messiness of my hair, the size of my hands and my feet, the way I
walked. I wondered what his face looked like. Would it be gentle and kind, or
tan and open? Although I could only see his back, I imagined his eyes as an
intense electric blue, full of laughter and energy. His mouth would curve
upwards, and his teeth would be just the tiniest bit crooked. I made an
internal bet with myself that he was handsome, and I just had to see for
myself.

 

Incredibly hesitantly, I took a few silent steps forward and
tapped the stranger on the shoulder, like a mischievous child playing peekaboo.
He turned around suddenly, startled by the unexpected contact, and I jumped
back too, alarmed at having surprised him.

 

Strange electricity seemed to surround us as he took in my face
and my stance. I was enraptured by the way his light blue eyes softened after
his initial surprise, taking in every aspect of my face, from my wide green
eyes and unruly hair to my petal pink lips, open in a little ‘o’ of wonder.
Time seemed to slow as we both took each other in, taking our time to explore
each other’s faces. He was handsome – incredibly so, even more so than I had
imagined. His face was delicately tanned and smooth – he couldn’t be more than
a few years older than me. His mouth was currently set in a look of
concentration, but the slight quirk of his lip showed that he could be
self-deprecating, humorous, even comical. His nose was a perfectly straight
line, and his eyes… his eyes drew me in.

 

Slowly, as we looked at each other, he reached a hand towards my
face, using his fingers to gently tuck a wayward strand of dark brown hair
behind my ear. It was a small gesture, perhaps meaningless, but it sent a jolt
of electricity through me, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on
end. From any other stranger it would have been intimidating, invasive. From
him, it felt… natural.

 

“I see you two have met,” a dry, pleasant voice interrupted us,
making us both start horribly. We pulled away from each other, and the strange
boy rose from his chair.

 

“Hi Andy – I was just –” he began in a pleasantly deep, warming
voice.

 

“I hope you gave my niece a proper introduction, Mathis,” Andy
said, a note of warning in his voice.

 

“Y-yeah.” Mathis shook his head a little as if trying to clear
water, and then turned to me with a charming smile which made my heart flip
over. “My name is Mathis
Côté. I’m your uncle’s apprentice. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
He held out his hand. I was reminded of the time Uncle Andy also taught me how
to give a proper greeting.

 

I took his hand, my heart thudding to the rhythm of a runaway
train as his warm hand enveloped mine. “H-hi. I’m A-Amanda Taylor,” I
stuttered.

 

“Amanda.” Mathis savored the word in his mouth. “It’s good to
finally meet you.”

 

***

 

It was two weeks before I saw Mathis again for more than a few
minutes at a time without my uncle’s presence. He hadn’t been exaggerating when
he described himself as Uncle Andy’s apprentice; all of his time was devoted to
his work with Uncle Andy, whether it was studying books, helping Uncle Andy
with his investments or poring over pages and pages of information on the
computer. I spent most of my time reading outside in the grounds or lying in the
grass, thinking about what they were doing shut away in the office, what Uncle
Andy was saying to Mathis and vice versa. What was he like? I knew that he was
polite, hard-working and extremely studious, but aside from that, I was deeply
curious. Did he like to run? Did he laugh at the same jokes as me? Did he have
hopes and dreams and interests like mine?

 

“What are you thinking about? You look so serious!”

 

My eyes flashed open and I scrambled up from the very unladylike
position I was in, sprawled over the railing in front of the house, my legs
waving in the air, my chin in my hands.

 

“Mathis! I thought you were inside with my uncle.”

 

“I was. He’s decided to give me a break for today – he has to make
some phone calls and I’m ahead with my studies, so…” he trailed off, shrugging
his broad shoulders. “So, what were you thinking about?”

 

“It was nothing,” I said quickly. “I’m pretty bored, actually.
Uncle Andy’s been more busy than I thought he was going to be.”

 

“Do you want to hang out, then? I’ve been staying here for weeks
and I’ve barely been able to step outside the office,” Mathis said.

 

I nodded eagerly; my heart beating faster. “How about a walk in
the woods?” I suggested. “It’s cooler in the trees, and it’s more fun going in
there with someone else.”

 

“Why’s that? Are you scared?” Mathis teased.

 

“No!” I retorted. “I’ve been in there loads of times.”

 

“Even right to the middle? I hear the woods around here are
enchanted. If you stray off the path, you’ll never find your way out again,”
Mathis said. His tone was serious, but his eyes were dancing with mischief.

 

“I have magical powers, though,” I replied with a mischievous grin
of my own. “I can call on the wood fairies to guide me away from harm.”

“Oh, can you now?” Mathis asked, his face showing every sign of being greatly
impressed, in the same way you would be if a five year old showed you her first
real tooth.

 

“Yep,” I said proudly, “Ever since I was a child the wood fairies
have protected me from all the bad spirits and dangerous creatures in the
wood.”

 

“What about me? Do you think I’ll be alright?” Mathis asked,
looking concerned.

 

“Well,” I said, pretending to toy with the idea, “you should ask
for permission first. Just in case.”

 

“Permission?” Mathis looked uncertain.

 

“You know. From the Queen of the wood fairies.”

 

“Oh, right. Good idea,” said Mathis hastily.

 

“There’s a clearing, just a hundred feet or so into the wood –
that’d be a good place,” I suggested, leaning forward ready for my next move.
“Come on!” I broke into a run, looking over my shoulder to check that Mathis
was running after me. I didn’t let up my pace until we reached the clearing. I
was panting slightly, but Mathis, despite spending most of his time indoors,
didn’t seem out of breath.

 

“Here?” he asked me.

 

“Here,” I confirmed.

 

“Ok – here goes,” he took a deep breath. “O fairy Queen of the
wood, I humbly beg that you grant me permission to walk freely within your
realm, protecting me from-” he looked over at me.

 

“The bad spirits,” I reminded him. “And werewolves.”

 

“I beg that you grant me protection from the black creatures of
this wood,” Mathis finished. He looked at me, grinning an irrepressibly wicked
grin. “How do I know if it worked?”

 

“You’ll just have to walk with me and see if you get attacked,” I
shrugged.

 

Mathis laughed, a deep, pleasant laugh which made me feel warm to
my toes. “I’ll risk it.”

 

“We’ll avoid the middle of the forest today,” I said. “That’s
where all the wicked things gather. Let’s go to the fairy circle – it’s only a
mile or so along this track. That’s where the fairies hold their feasts.”

 

“I thought that if you ate fairy food you’d never be able to
return to the human world,” Mathis teased.

BOOK: Take Two: An Erotic Romance (Book 1)
8.51Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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