Leather and Lace

~ Dinner Guests ~

The song is Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson... Enjoy!

"Okay I just need to know, why are there more bikers in our house than before?" Grace looked up at Ashe's voice and rolled her eyes at the question. She'd protested several times but her words had fallen on deaf ears as the men got to work. First on the security system, then on her kitchen door and frame. "Our back door was worse off than what was originally thought, they've already fixed the door frame and put in the new door." I couldn't see my best friend's reaction, but I knew she was scowling at me. It was hard to explain it to anyone when they asked, but it was the differences in the air around the person. The heavier the air was, the more negative the emotion was. It was the same with the happier emotions. It was something that developed soon after the accident happened. I never mentioned it to anyone because I didn't want people looking at me like I was crazy.

"Please don't tell me that they also cleaned the house up too. If they did then we're just going to have to marry them." I laughed at Ashe's ridiculous statement. I explained what West had done and who had shown up to help. I still had enough pride to protest accepting help from others, especially when it came from total strangers who I'd just met. But over the years I'd learned to accept help when needed, or in this case, called in. Grateful though I was for the help, I still wasn't pleased by West's high-handed tactics. Ty, he had told you to call him Ty. That annoying little voice piped up from the back of my mind adding in its own two cents. I had to admit that it was an unusual name but it seemed to suit him. I recalled what had happened in the kitchen before the others had shown up had me blushing. 

Never in my life had I been kissed or handled like that. I had boyfriends back in school, but none of them had been able to make me feel like I was being set on fire and burned alive from the inside out from just one kiss. Not to mention the way Ty's beard had scraped against my neck had sent a shiver racing down my back, not to mention the goosebumps that had been left behind in the wake. Because of my size, my boyfriends in the past had treated me like a porcelain doll about to break. Ty on the other hand had picked me up and dropped me on the counter. He hadn't treated me like porcelain, but he hadn't been too rough with me either. It was a thrilling experience for me. Something that I wanted to experience more, the thought sent a flash burn through my body. "--you thinking about that has you so red in the face, hmm?"

I snapped out of my thoughts at the sound of Ashe's voice and brought my hands up to touch my face, and sure enough, my face felt hot beneath my hands. Trying hard not to squirm, I try for a nonchalant shrug. "Nothing, just some program I'd been listening to earlier." Liar. You haven't so much as turned on the TV all day. Ashe made a sound that let me know that she wasn't fooled and didn't believe a single word I'd said. Huffing I threw my hands up in surrender and had quickly told her what had gone on between me and Ty this morning in the kitchen. She listened in silence until I was done speaking. It was several seconds of silence before she burst out laughing and let out an appreciative whoop that echoed through the house. "I have to say that it's about damned time! I don't know whether to punch him in the face or buy him a six-pack of his choice of beer." She broke down in gales of laughter. From the shifting movement of the couch, she was rocking back and forth while she laughed.

My face burning in embarrassment I pick up one of the throw pillows and smack her in the face with it in revenge. "Could you possibly be any louder? They are still here, y'know." This only caused Ashe to laugh harder. She laughed for a full two minutes before it stopped abruptly and the shifting of the couch once again had told me she'd stood up. "I'm going to go get dinner started, why don't you two sit and talk about the first thing that pops up?" With that my best friend's footsteps faded away back towards the kitchen. I frowned at the abrupt behavior and was starting to wonder if I needed to check her into a psyche ward or something when a shadow that I hadn't noticed stepped towards me. I shifted back against the couch automatically at the unexpected movement. The pillow that I was still holding was clutched tightly in my hands as though it was going to ward off whoever the shadow belonged to.