Erik (Arizona Vengeance 2)

So I merely hold the camera out as best I can and take a picture of my groin, smooth as a baby’s butt.

I immediately text it to her and I barely get myself tucked back into my pants before she replies, I can’t believe you did that. I guess I owe you a date.

Yes, she does and I don’t want to leave her any room to get cold feet. Tomorrow. I’ll pick you up at 7 PM.Chapter 8ErikThe drive to pick up Blue for dinner takes me only about twenty-five minutes from my home in Scottsdale. Not surprising, she lives very close to the Cresson in a neighborhood that reminds me a lot of Billy’s group home. Small homes and duplexes in drab-colored stucco and a front yard of mostly dirt with little patches of brown grass. There’s a tiny tree that’s brown and mostly dead.

I park out on the street and follow a straight walkway up to her front door. There’s not much of a porch but on the outer edge is a hanging basket of flowers in pink, blue, yellow, and white. A welcome splotch of color in this otherwise dull environment. I consider the contrast to my own ridiculously expensive house that’s all about color. Rich salmon-colored stucco walls, red-tiled roof, lush grass, and tropical plants of green. A koi pond in the front and a massive pool in the back brings in the blues. My house would be a veritable rainbow next to Blue’s, not to mention it’s about five times as big.

I’m not liking the way I feel about Blue living here in a neighborhood that looks pretty sketchy the more I take it all in.

There’s no doorbell so I rap my knuckles on the door. Flecks of peeling paint get knocked loose and fall to the concrete porch.

“Coming,” I hear Blue yell from inside and I can imagine her plopping in an earring, grabbing her purse, and wondering if she turned the curling iron off. She sounds frazzled and rushed and I can’t wait to fucking see what she looks like when she opens the door.

And there she is.

I told her a little black dress would be proper attire when she asked what to wear for our date but she’s dressed in red. And it’s not little, but it is spectacular. Crimson material conforming to every inch of her body. The neckline of the dress skims just below her collarbone so no skin or cleavage is exposed but it doesn’t matter. The curve of her breasts is beautiful. The narrow waist and flared hips, all cocooned in red is sexy as shit. The hem of her dress comes down below her knees and the dress is so well fitted, I know there has to be a slit up the back so she can walk. She has on a pair of black stiletto heels that lift her up a good four inches but not high enough to put us eye level with each other.

“Holy wow,” I say as I don’t make a secret of my ogling. I let my eyes roam down and then back up again to find her smirking at me.

She’s got a black clutch purse tucked under an arm, with her head leaning to the side so she can put her last earring in, just as I’d imagined. The simple silver hoop earrings look great.

“You look very nice yourself,” she says as she does a much more cursory perusal. I’d worn my best suit tonight in a gray so dark it’s almost black. I went with a lavender shirt and darker shade of lavender tie, and if you look hard enough at the weave my suit, you’ll see lavender pin stripes.

I step back from the door as Blue crosses the threshold. She locks a deadbolt and then the regular lock before tossing her keys in her clutch and turning to face me.

I hold my arm out to her and she curls her fingers in just below my biceps so I can escort her to my car.

“That’s certainly flashy,” she says as she takes in my Vette.

“I have a truck too. Would you have preferred that?”

She gives a low laugh. “Only if we were four-wheeling or moving furniture. Flashy totally has its place and it works tonight.”

“Well, tonight is special,” I tell her as I open the passenger door and hold her hand while she slides in.

“Why is that?” she asks, peering up at me.

I release her hand and prepare to shut the door. “Because this is our first date.”

“You make it sound like there will be others.”

She gets a cocky wink in return. “There will be.”

“We’ll see,” she murmurs with a smile.* * *—

“You know I wasn’t looking to date a hockey player,” Blue says after taking a sip of the wine I’d ordered. “Not at this stage of my life.”