Turning of the Stars Ch. 02

Anna barely made it in time to catch the three o'clock bus. She'd gotten caught up writing a paper at the library and didn't realize it was getting so late. Fortunately the driver saw her running and stopped to wait for her because the next bus didn't come for another half hour and she was going to be fifteen minutes late as it was.

The whole way home she was kicking herself, knowing she wouldn't have time to shower or get ready. And she really needed a shower, especially after that sprint for the bus. She wished she had Grant's number so she could at least call and let him know. It wasn't until she was five minutes from home that she remembered he'd put his number in her phone for her.

She quickly searched her contacts, pulled him up, and burst out laughing at the picture he'd taken of himself next to his aquarium making a fish face. She pressed the call button and smiled apologetically at the woman sitting next to her, who clearly thought she was crazy.

"Hi there, gorgeous." His voice washed over her making her feel warm all over. "Running a little behind are we?"

"Crap, I guess that means you're already there. I'm sorry, Grant. I'll be home in five minutes."

"No worries. I'll see you when you get here."

"Alright."

Anna's seat mate was relieved when she finally stopped bouncing her legs nervously and pulled the wire to get the bus to stop. She walked across the lawn, scanning the street for Grant. There was no sign of his car and she wondered if he'd decided to leave and come back later. In that case, she decided, she might have time for a shower before he got back so she hurried inside and unlocked her apartment door. By the time she ran to the bathroom, pulled off her jeans and tank top, and started the shower running she heard a knock on the door.

"Shit," she spat out, grabbing a large towel and wrapping it around herself. She looked out the peephole and saw Grant standing there looking positively edible. "Shit, shit, shit," she whispered and he looked up at the peephole with a knowing grin.

"What was that, sweetheart?" he asked with a laugh.

Anna cracked the door and peeked out. "I'm not ready yet."

"That's alright, I don't mind waiting."

She hesitated and then opened the door, clutching the towel closed tightly at her chest. "I'll just be a minute, I need to hop in the shower real quick."

"Take your time."

She turned and headed toward the bathroom, feeling his eyes on her back. After showering in record time, especially impressive given that she shaved, Anna dried off and looked around the bathroom in dismay, realizing she hadn't brought any clothes in with her. Her apartment was the opposite of large and she knew she would have to walk right past Grant to get to her bedroom. Lord, he'd probably think she did it on purpose. Shaking her head, she wrapped the towel around herself again and stepped bravely out into the living room.

Grant was standing just a few feet away, bent over examining some pictures she had sitting on her bookself. He looked up at her, taking in her rosy cheeks, tangled wet hair, and towel clinging to her damp skin; she watched his eyes darken and narrow.

"I'm sorry, I'll just be another minute. I need to change," she said quickly, pointing past him toward her bedroom.

His gaze slid down and back up her body before meeting her eyes. For a brief moment his eyes seized hers in a predatory stare and she instinctively took a step backward, not breaking eye contact. He moved toward her and her heart pounded in her chest, but she wasn't afraid; she wanted this, she wanted him.

Then he smiled and it broke the spell.

"Changing is probably a good idea. Togas are, like, so 3rd century."

"I don't know, I hear they're all the rage in Rome," she quipped, her voice wavering only slightly.

He chuckled and turned back to the pictures as she walked around behind him toward her bedroom. She glanced over her shoulder, catching his eyes on her again. He grinned and winked, but the shadow of that earlier gaze remained in his eyes and she shivered again as she closed the door behind her.

Anna looked at herself in the mirror, wondering what he'd seen that made him stop. After their little tryst on the phone last night, she'd been confident about his interest in her, but once again he had her on edge wondering what he was thinking.

She never really thought much about her appearance, being comfortable in the cute range and not aspiring for anything more, but something about Grant made her suddenly wish she was closer to the beautiful end of the spectrum.

Dropping her towel she turned sideways, evaluating her flat tummy and small, but perky breasts. Her hips were a bit wide, giving her a slightly pear shape, but she was fairly toned so that never bothered her much. Leaning in she looked at her eyes, bright and brown with only a few tiny laugh lines just beginning to appear. Not too shabby, she thought, but maybe he had different standards. After all, he could have almost any woman he wanted.

Anna dressed quickly, thankful she'd laid out an outfit earlier that morning; her favorite flowy blue cotton skirt and a white camisole. She didn't know where they were going or what they were doing, but hopefully she'd be dressed for anything. And he'd been wearing faded jeans and yet another t-shirt, a navy blue v-neck one this time, so she supposed she would do. After a final once over in the mirror she headed back out feeling only slightly self-conscious.

Meanwhile Grant was mentally running through all the presidents in chronological order in an effort to calm himself. He was shaken by his physical response to Anna and was chastising himself for nearly losing control. She'd taken him by surprise suddenly standing there nearly naked and wet and looking at him like she wanted him to just reach out and snatch the towel right off her body so he could drag her to the floor and...

Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Adams, no that wasn't right, he was forgetting someone. He sighed deeply. "Fuck it," he muttered to himself and walked to the window to hopefully find something to distract him.

When she emerged from her room Anna saw Grant standing at the window with his hands in the pockets of his jeans. He turned to look at her and smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes and she could tell he was feeling anxious about something.

"You ready?"

"Look, if I took too long and you need to be somewhere, it's ok. I'd understand."

"What? No, absolutely not. I don't have to be at the club until nine so we have the whole evening."

"Okay. So what do you want to do?"

He smirked and shot her another one of those looks that stopped her in her tracks, but said in a lighter tone, "I haven't been down to the riverfront in ages. We could go down there and walk around if you want."

"Sounds good."

Anna slipped on her sandals and grabbed her purse and sweater and they headed out the door.

"Oh wow! You have a convertible." Anna's delighted smile lit her face. "I've never ridden in one before."

"You rode in this one last night."

"I wasn't paying attention to your car last night," she said, rolling her eyes. "I was too busy trying to stay awake long enough to tell you where I lived. Can we ride with the top down?"

"If you like."

Anna's enthusiasm was infectious and Grant couldn't help smiling back at her as she bounced up and down in anticipation. He planned to just open her door, but at the last second had to lean in for a quick kiss before she sat down. She smelled so good he lingered a moment, lifting his hand to feel her still-damp hair. She smiled shyly at him as she sat down, her skirt sliding up her legs, and he closed her door reluctantly.

"Aren't you worried about your hair?" he asked as he climbed in his side and pressed the button to start the top folding back into itself.

"I pretty much never worry about my hair, why?"

"Well, it gets kind of windy with the top down."

"Oh, I'll just put it up then." She dug a ponytail holder out of her purse and twisted her hair up into a loose bun. Grant just stared at her.

"What?" she asked, suspiciously.

"Nothing," he shook his head. "You're just...you're very different from most of the girls I've known."

"How's that?" she asked.

"You say exactly what you're thinking. You're not trying to be anyone other than yourself. You just took a shower and got dressed in less than twenty minutes. No makeup, no blow dryer, no primping, you look gorgeous without even trying."

Anna blushed and didn't know how to respond. Gorgeous was not an adjective she'd ever heard applied to herself and she wasn't sure whether she believed him.

"Thanks," she finally said, to break the uncomfortable silence.

He just smiled and started the car. Anna buckled her seat belt and sat back for the ride. Her first boyfriend back home had had a poster of a woman riding in a convertible on the wall of his room and she'd wanted to ride in one ever since. The woman in the picture had been half standing in her seat, her hair blowing in the breeze and her arms up in the air with an expression of pure joy on her face. She looked free and Anna had envied that feeling at the time.

"It's kind of loud with the top down, so I'll just turn up the radio if that's alright," Grant looked at her for approval and she nodded. He turned up the volume and music blasted through the speakers.

Anna looked at him, surprised. "You like soul?"

"What did you expect?"

"I don't know. Not Sam Cooke, that's for sure. You're full of surprises."

"You have no idea," he said as he pulled off.

Anna didn't have much time to wonder what he meant, she soon found herself busy wondering how the woman in that poster could possibly have been enjoying herself so much while facing hurricane strength winds and bugs in her teeth. The ride was more pleasant as they got closer to downtown and the traffic slowed, but she was still slightly relieved when they pulled into the parking lot.

They spent the afternoon walking along the riverfront and browsing the little shops and kiosks that dotted First Avenue. As the sun went down the lights of downtown started coming on and the doors of the bars and restaurants started opening, music spilling out into the night.

"Are you hungry?"

"A bit, that ice cream is holding me over."

"We could get a little something. I know a good Italian place near here."

"Okay, let's eat then."

He led her to a small cafe with a few tables out front and along the alley between the buildings. Small oil lamps on each table cast a yellow glow on the scattered couples and small groups seated there. The mouthwatering smell of fresh pizza permeated the air and Anna's stomach rumbled.

"Hungrier than you thought, huh? You're in for a treat. This place has a Margherita pizza that is like a little slice of heaven."

"Sounds delicious," Anna replied and she sat down at one of the alley tables while Grant went inside to order. He came back out with two glasses of ice water, which Anna gratefully took.

"When you said Italian I thought you meant something fancier."

"Oh," he said, taken aback. "We can go somewhere else if you want. I'm sure the pizza's not made yet."

"No!" she protested, putting her hand on his forearm. "No, I didn't mean that at all. I'm kind of relieved actually. One fancy restaurant in a week is enough for me."

His hand covered hers and held it there. Anna gazed at his thumb gently stroking her skin and wondered how such an innocent touch could send electric currents though her entire body.

"You're not a big food person, huh?"

"Hm? Oh, ah, I love to eat. Especially good food, and you had some really good food. But we always ate very simply back home and I guess that's just what I'm used to. I pretty much eat the same things over and over. Beans and rice, scrambled eggs, salads, fruit, easy things like that."

"Are you vegetarian?"

"Not really, but I don't eat meat often, the occasional chicken or fish. I don't cook much in case you hadn't picked up on that."

"I'd love to make you dinner one night. I really enjoy cooking, but I don't actually get to do it much anymore."

"You own a restaurant, but you don't cook?"

"I get in the kitchen at the restaurant maybe once or twice a week to help out, but that's not the same as making a meal at home. I used to do all the cooking there, but it got to be too much. Trying to take care of the business side at the same time distracted me and the food was suffering. Fortunately I hired a phenomenal chef that I knew from culinary school who's been great."

"You went to culinary school?"

"Yeah, several years ago. I wanted to open a restaurant right after I graduated, but my dad, well let's just say he was less than supportive and I was pretty young at the time. He still had a lot of influence over me. So I just never got around to doing anything with it until I opened the club. I was just dabbling, playing around there, but people really liked it, so I got more serious about it."

"That's so cool. You had a dream and you went out and did it, even though it took a while."

"Yeah, I guess so." He shifted in his seat, unused to compliments of that nature.

"So what's your favorite thing to cook?"

"Now there's an interesting question." Grant thought for a moment. "I guess I like to work with fruit. It's so simple, but it's fun to come up with new ways to use it. Most of the things I make are pretty simple, actually, I just make them with quality ingredients. I like to surprise people and usually end up surprising myself in the process. Like the star fruit dish I made for the book signing. I was playing around with making different sauces with coconut milk and fruit juices, trying to make a sweet and spicy curry entrée, but it was so good without the spice I ended up using it for a dessert."

"I never thought about food being creative before, but it seems like sort of an art for you."

"That's exactly how it feels sometimes." He smiled at her, pleased that she was able to put her finger on it so quickly. "But enough about me, tell me about school."

"I'm getting my degree in English Literature and a minor in Business Management. I may end up with a double major by the time I'm done, I'm not sure. I've actually been enjoying the business classes a lot more than I expected. I'd love to own my own bookstore one day."

"Sounds like you have a dream, too. You'll get there eventually."

"I hope so. Its slow going doing it all part time, but every little bit is progress."

They were interrupted by the arrival of the pizza, which turned out to be just as good as promised. They lingered over dinner, talking and laughing. Anna finally got a chance to look closer at the tattoo on his arm, leaning in and tracing the lines with her finger. It turned out there were images and words hidden in the lines, he told her he added to it periodically when significant things happened in his life that he wanted to commemorate.

"What does the one on your chest say?"

"It says, 'human folly does not impede the turning of the stars.' To remind me that no matter how bad I screw up, in the grand scheme of things it's not so big a deal."

"Tom Robbins," Anna said with a smile.

"You know him? I wasn't sure if you'd stumbled on his stuff yet."

"I love his books. Claud turned me on to him a while back."

"That's from Skinny Legs and All, it was the first of his books that I read. Once I read it I couldn't stop until I'd read them all."

"I was the same way. I love his catchy little one-liners. That's how I recognized it, I used that exact phrase on our quote of the day board at the book shop a few months ago."

"Oh yeah?"

They talked books for a while and Anna was impressed that he was able to keep up with her. She smiled to herself, thinking how wrong her first impression of Grant had been. For some reason she'd assumed he was more of a video game guy than a book guy and she'd been willing to overlook it because she liked him otherwise. But once again she had to admit to herself that she'd made unfair assumptions about him.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"I'm realizing what a snob I am."

"Believe me, I know a snob when I see one and you are far from it," he said wryly.

Before she could ask him what he meant their check arrived and they got up to go.

"We have time to walk down by the river again if you want."

"That sounds nice."

They headed back toward the river and strolled along the walkway a while before pausing at a landing overlooking the water. The lights of the city danced on the surface of the water, turning what was normally a brown muddy mess into something beautiful. Anna stepped up on the bottom rail and leaned way over, trying to see how far up the river she could see. She felt his hands close on her waist and turned her head around to smile at him.

"Am I making you nervous?" she teased.

"You should get down."

"I'm holding on. I'm not going to fall."

"Come on, Anna."

She turned in his grasp, carefully placing her feet so she was facing him standing on the rail, his head level with her chest. His hands tightened on her waist and his face was tense.

"Seriously? Am I freaking you out?"

"No, I just...wish you would come down."

Anna took one hand off the rail and brushed a curl back behind his ear, leaving her hand resting on his neck.

"Are you afraid of heights?"

"Maybe a little."

Anna giggled and leaned toward him, waiting until she felt his arms tighten around her before stepping down off the rail and sliding slowly down his body. He held her close, the tightness around his eyes and mouth relaxing.

"Full of surprises," Anna murmered.

In reply he dropped his head down and kissed her fiercely, his tongue relentlessly invading her mouth. She kissed him back just as aggressively, confident that this time it would lead to more. He backed her up against the railing and pressed himself against her, one hand tangling itself in her hair.

He gently pulled her head back and lowered his mouth to her neck, placing wet kisses along the soft underside of her jawbone. She slid one hand down into the back pocket of his jeans, finally getting her hands on the ass she'd been longing to squeeze since she first looked up at it from the floor in the grocery store.

Turning her head toward him she caught his ear lobe, sucking it into her mouth, nibbling and licking. His sharp intake of breath encouraged her to bring her knee up between his legs, resting her foot on the bottom rail and rubbing her thigh against his obvious erection. She felt him make a low noise in his throat and suddenly he stepped back, breathing heavily. He held her at arms length, his hands on her upper arms and his head down. Finally he looked up at her.

"We should head back to the car," he said in a hoarse voice. "I need to get to work soon."

"Come home with me before work."

"I can't be late."

"Okay. You could come over after," she said, almost embarrassed at her own boldness, but he seemed to want her as much as she wanted him so she went for it.

Grant's jaw clenched and he shook his head. "I can't. Not tonight."

Anna didn't speak, just nodded. She was afraid she'd either burst into tears or scream in frustration if she opened her mouth, so she just let him take her hand and lead her back toward the parking lot. They walked in silence, tension lying like a lead blanket between them.

"You're mad at me," he said, more statement than question.

"No, I'm not mad."

"What then? I can tell it's something."

"Well, I'm embarrassed that I keep making an idiot of myself throwing myself at you. And I'm confused. I mean, you're sending some pretty mixed signals. One minute you act like you want me and the next-"

Before she knew what was happening Grant yanked her off the sidewalk into a dark recessed doorway. He stepped up so close she could feel his chest brushing the tips of her nipples and looked straight into her eyes as he spoke.