Deeper (The Real Fling) (17 page)

Adriana wiped her eyes and smiled up at Val. He walked her as far as he was allowed and embraced her. She buried her nose into his chest, memorizing his scent.

“This is not goodbye,” he whispered into her hair.

“No.”

“I will see you in a couple of weeks, when I come home for Easter. We’ll meet each other’s family.”

She cringed. “Three sisters and your mom?”

“They will love you.” He kissed her cheek. “Have I been wrong yet?

“Cocksure.” She bit her lip.

Nodding once, he smiled. “Works well since I have to give it my all and see what I have got, yeah?” He kissed her again. “In the meantime, I put a copy of my sponsorships and all the papers my dad took care of in your backpack. Will you look at them for me?”

“Yes, but first I better figure out who you are.”

He crinkled his nose. “Do not believe everything you read.”

“Uh-oh.”

“It’s fluff. Not real. All that
Val the Annihilator
crap. Marketing. The art of the spin.” He frowned. “You and I are real.”

She closed her eyes as he grazed her lips with his.

His voice softened. “I need you to help me, if I do this.” He rubbed her back.

She tried to negotiate the lump in her throat. “When. But I don’t know if I can do it.”

“You can do anything you set your mind to.” His kiss branded her soul. “I love you, Adriana.” He brushed her cheeks, longing glazed his eyes. “I do not know how I am going to breathe without you.”

Val.
Adriana’s stomach fluttered. She smoothed her hand over his chest and kissed his heart. “I love you too.” What she wouldn’t give for another day or even an hour alone. “A couple of weeks,” she whispered. “Remember, deeper than you’ve ever gone before.” Her lips twitched sensually, and she winked at him. “It’s the only way I’ll have it.”

He closed his eyes briefly and kissed her once more slowly, as if they were the only two people on Earth. “Call me when you land.”

“I will.”

Adriana walked into the security line. Threw him a kiss and turned. Her heart ached so fiercely she thought she was having a heart attack. With each step away, she focused on anything but leaving him.

Not goodbye.

They’d be together in a few weeks. She had to tie up loose ends with her old job, find a person to sublet her place, and figure out what Val required. The sports marketing, she probably could handle, but the whole agent thing was another story. How was she going to learn it all? He had such faith in her. She wouldn’t let him down.

They were boarding the plane by the time she got to the gate. Most of the people must have boarded already. She’d need to deal with Jackie the whole ride home, but then she’d be done with her. Stepping onto to the plane, she handed her ticket to the flight attendant.

“Hello, Ms. Gallo. Welcome aboard,” the attendant greeted her warmly. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

“Thank you.” Adriana tried to smile.

“You’re seated right here.” The woman pointed to the first seat on the right.

“There must be some mistake.” Adriana reached for her ticket. “I’m not in first class.”

“You’ve been upgraded. Compliments of Mr. Barinov.”

Adriana relaxed a bit, sat down, and buckled up. The woman came back with a cocktail, a small package of chocolate Kisses, and a note.

Adriana quirked her head. “From Mr. Barinov?”

The flight attendant laughed. “He’s a compelling man. Tenacious and quite explicit in his instructions. This is the best we could do. I hope it’s okay.”

The envelope smelled like him. “Thank you.” Adriana brought the cup to her lips and dipped her tongue in it. A White Russian.

Slowly she opened it:

Adriana,

My printsessa,

Kisses for your sweet mouth until my lips can be with yours.

I love you.

Always yours,

Val

~ The End ~

Hotter

Fleeing Manhattan, after her failed engagement, tightly wound,
Sandrine Tomasson
escapes to a job interview she has no intentions of accepting, in the Big Easy and comes face to face with the only fire to melt her ice.

Nine years after they met on a Katrina relief effort,
Leonce Decoeur
has never forgotten Sandrine. He’s given himself one last chance to win her over and will do everything in his power to convince her to stay but does Sandrine have the courage to let love in?

Love that sears your soul.

Born Armenian American on Long Island’s Gold coast, Lyla has defied convention and morphed too many times to count. Beginning as an engineer, she swiftly made the move to marketeer then drifted to digital design, printing CEO, tarot enchantress, life coach and math/science tutor, collecting stories along the way.

As with her career, Lyla’s passions have also led to many outlets. She’s a high performance race car driver and driving instructor, poker player without the face and loves to shoot pool. She was gifted her first tarot deck during a chance encounter in an elevator. Innately empathic and claircognizant, tarot unlocked the natural witch within. Lyla has taught tarot, pessomancy (reading stones) and reading junk oracles. She’s studied astrology for as long as she can remember but has barely scratched the surface. She’s read tarot, stones and junk professionally for decades and still reads with or without a deck when the moon shines just right.

Swept off her feet by a handsome Greek she met at the race track Lyla finally found her happily ever after as a wife, mother to a spirited, beautiful daughter and writer. They live in the NYC suburbs, loving the fast paced brutal honesty, great restaurants, arts and energy that define NYC and never fail to light a new / full moon candle charmed now by three.

Lyla would love to hear from you. You can get in touch with her at
www.LylaBellatas.com
or follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads and Instagram.