Seeking Prince Charming by Terry Towers Page B

stepping out. It’s a date. No big deal. Not even a date really, more like a meet and greet.
    Squaring her shoulders, she kept her chin high, attempting to display much more confidence than she felt as she strode across the parking lot and in the coffee shop front door. As soon as she opened the door, the aroma of coffee and pastries drifted to her nose, causing her stomach to grumble. Skipping breakfast hadn’t been a great idea, but she’d been too nervous to eat, spending most of the morning ensuring every last detail of her appearance was perfection – from ensuring each strand of her long black hair shone to scrutinizing her outfit, making sure it emphasized her breasts while taking focus off the areas of her body that could use some serious time in the gym.
    Upon entering the coffee shop she stood at the entrance and scanned the dining area, spotting him immediately. His head was down and he was frantically texting a message into his phone, so her entire performance had been for nothing.
    Taking a deep breath in, she slowly released it, gathering the last bit of courage she had in her, and walked over to the two-person table at the far corner of the coffee shop. “Excuse me, are you Passionate Romeo?”
    He laughed, tucking his phone away into the inner pocket of his grey wool jacket. “It didn’t sound so ridiculous when I picked it as a screen name, honest.” As he stood, his gaze slowly lifted from her feet, moving up her body and after what Chloe felt was an awkwardly long time, to finally meet her nervous stare.
    They stared at one another for a minute. But it was Chloe who made the discovery before he did. “Reed? Ohmygod… Is that you?”
     
    ~*~*~*~
     
    Reed was beyond shocked as he stared into the green eyes of the young woman who had once been his stepsister. Even after she made the connection and spoke his name, it still took a second to fully register.
    “Chloe?” He chuckled and gave his head a little shake. He’d been jittery most of the morning, anxious to meet the mystery girl who had called herself ShyGirl19 and now that she was standing before him he realized just how silly it had been to be so worked up.
    She shrugged, her cheeks growing warm and hesitation in her eyes. “Guilty. Small world, huh?” She’d been a shy kid growing up; apparently the past seven years hadn’t changed that.
    “So does your former stepbro get a hug, or what?”
    She laughed and stepped into him, slipping her arms around his neck and hugging tight to him. “This is unbelievable.”
    “Very. I wish we’d stayed in touch.” Which was true, he’d wondered about her from time to time, but never went through the effort of hunting her up on Facebook or one of the other social networking sites, mostly because their parents’ divorce was extremely nasty and bitter. So he stayed out of touch, out of respect for his father and her mother. Just the mention of her mother’s name sent his father into an hour-long rant listing all the faults of Susan.
    Wrapping his arms around her waist, Reed pulled her a little tighter. Her perfume, which smelt of roses, tempted his nose, urging him to bury his face into her neck. As her soft, curvy body rubbed against his, an all too familiar stirring began in his jeans. A part of him felt that on some level this was wrong, but rationally he knew that was nonsense. In fact, the part of him that felt it was wrong fuelled the desire he was feeling, that little hint of it may be inappropriate made her all the more appealing. When his eyes took in the curve of her hips and the way her sweater stretched across her breasts, he’d been immediately turned on. It wasn’t until the realization of who she was that it got weird.
    Scared she might feel the rapidly growing erection forming in his pants, he stepped back, holding her at arm’s length, to get one more look at the fully grown Chloe Bennett. “You look…”
    Shit, is there a way to tell her she looks fucking hot without it