Reader in the Park

by Rachel Maldonado

  Reader in the Park

  Rachel Maldonado

  Copyright © Rachel Maldonado October 2017.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, without the prior written permission of Rachel Maldonado, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a newspaper, magazine, or journal. Please be aware that downloading an e-book from an illegal site is a crime.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Acknowledgments

  I'd like to thank my parents for always being supportive of me in all of my endeavors. I love you Mom and Dad.

  I'd also like to thank my sweet, beautiful wife Vanessa for allowing me the freedom to stay at home and write full-time. Thank you for believing in me. I will love you until the end of time.

  Thank you to my dear friends Becky and Debbie who have always been there when I needed that extra bit of encouragement and support.

  Thank you to Hollie Rhodes. You're always there when I need a listening ear or a shoulder to lean on. You are my friend, my rock, my confidante. You're always in my thoughts and prayers.

  Thank you to all my fans. Without you I am nothing.

  Dedication

  This book is for my wife, Vanessa Snyder. Every book I write is a piece of me. It comes from my mind and my heart. Vanessa is my light, my fire, the one I wake up for every morning. I write so that we may have a better life together.

  Prologue

  “Is that an audio book you're listening to?” asked a curvaceous blonde with long wavy hair. She stood beside the blanket on the grass where Anna was seated in the park beneath a tree. The blonde smiled warmly bearing dimples on either side of her cheeks. It melted Anna's heart, immediately filling her with a joyful glee as she looked up from her laptop and grinned. The sound coming from her laptop was of a woman reading an audio file. Her voice was loud even though the sound was carried away in the summer breeze.

  Anna crossed her legs beneath her nervously. “It is actually. I'm sorry. Am I disturbing you? I forgot my headphones.” Anna turned down the volume on her computer from one-hundred percent down to about half way. The volume number stopped at forty-nine.

  “No, no. You're fine. It's just that I'm reading the same book. I couldn't help but overhear the first chapter as it was being read. I recognized the verbiage.” The pretty stranger held her book up to Anna to display the cover. It was a lesbian romance book. It was, in fact, the same book she had been listening to. It had the black and white image of a house with a large tree beside it. The book was “Lakeville” by R.M. Sullivan.

  Anna smiled realizing that the young woman was a lesbian, or at the very least, curious. “I love lesfic books. Nice to meet you. I'm Anna Kincade.” She held her hand out to shake the young blonde woman's hand.

  “I'm Nicole Bateman. My friend's call me Nikki.” She extended her hand to shake Anna's and noted her soft, delicate skin.

  “Have a seat, Nikki. We can listen to the audio book together.” Anna noticed that Nikki's bookmark was set toward the end of the novel, indicating Nikki had already read most of the book. She was surprised that Nikki took a seat anyway. She plopped down on the blanket and arranged her dress accordingly.

  “I have a better idea,” said Nikki grinning. “How about I read the book to you?”

  Anna smirked. She had never had anyone read to her before. There's a first time for everything, she thought. Plus, how could she resist a gorgeous blonde woman in the park asking to read her a book that she was about to listen to. It had been less than five minutes and Anna had already decided that she liked Nikki. They were both gay, they liked parks, romance books, and the same author. Also, Nikki was incredibly beautiful. How could Anna say no?

  Anna cleared her throat. “Sure. I think I'd like that.” She grinned sheepishly as Nikki sat down beside her and continued to read where the audio had been turned off.

  Chapter One

  As Nikki finished reading the end of the first chapter, she set the book down after marking her place. “What do you think so far?”

  Anna had strewn herself out on the blanket and was staring up at the clouds. She rolled over on the stomach and held herself up on her elbows. “I love it. Don't you just love when you're reading a romance novel and everything between the two women is new and exciting?”

  Nikki giggled. “Meeting new people is always new and exciting. It's how we just met isn't it?”

  “What do you mean? Was reading to me a pick up? I thought you were just being friendly.” Anna smirked. “You mean to tell me you don't go around to everyone in the park and read to them?”

  “I'll have you know that I've never done that before,” stated Nikki matter of factly.

  Anna raised her eyebrows in surprise.“Really?”

  “Honest. Cross my heart and hope to die.” Nikki crossed her heart with her right finger.

  Anna shook her head. “No, no. Don't do that. Never hope to die. I believe you.”

  “You do?” asked Nikki, furrowing her eyebrows.

  “Sure, why wouldn't I?”

  “Oh, I don't know. I guess because I'm a stranger. You don't even know me. For all you know I could talk to all the sexy lesbians and offer to read them lesbian books.”

  Anna laughed. “Well, do you?”

  Nikki smirked as if she wanted to burst into laughter but was trying to keep it inside. “Of course I do. How else am I supposed to meet women?” she asked jokingly.

  Anna laughed. “And here I thought I was special.”

  Nikki grinned. “You are. I told you I've never done that before. I meant it.”

  Anna glanced over at a hot dog vendor and pointed. “You hungry?”

  “No, not really. But I could use a shaved ice. It's warm out.”

  Anna sat up and looked in her wallet. She was relieved to see she had a few twenty dollar bills. “What kind of snow cone would you like?”

  Nikki pressed her lips together. “Mmm. Cherry!”

  “One cherry snow cone coming right up.” Anna walked over to the hot dog vendor first and bought herself a hot dog with mustard and relish, then went over to the nearby shaved ice stand to buy a cherry snow cone. She came back to her blanket with the cold icy treat in one hand and her warm hot dog in the other. She handed Nikki her cherry drink, then sat down.

  “Do you want to read the next chapter?” asked Nikki as she slurped on her snow cone through a red straw that protruded from the mound of ice.

  Anna took a bite of her hot dog, then shook her head. “No, I'm not much of a reader. But you're doing so well, you can continue the story.”

  Nikki grinned. “You like books, but you're not much of a reader?”

  “I like audio books.”

  “So we have a symbiotic relationship then?”

  Anna was beaming. “Relationship? Are we already in a relationship? I mean, we just met.”

  Nikki giggled. “Calm down, Romeo. I'm not ready to U-haul it just yet.”

  Both women shared a laugh before Nikki set her snow cone down and continued to read. Nikki was delighted to reread the story of Shelby Miller, her family, and her friend since childhood, Sheriff Deborah Lee. She hadn't told Anna that she had already read most of the book. But she figured, since she hadn't yet finished it, it would be something that they could share together. The thought seemed romantic to her.

  Anna paused often to ask questions and make conversation. “What do you think of Lee? How do you like the book so far?”

  Often times she stopped to ask questions that didn't pertain to the book at all. “Look at that bird. Where do you th
ink it's going? Do you think this shirt makes me look fat?”

  Nikki often just smiled. She wondered if Anna had attention deficit, or if she was just trying to keep her from reading. She felt as if she couldn't read more than a few pages before she was interrupted. Finally, Nikki laughed, “You don't want me to read this, do you?”

  Anna shook her head. “No, it's not that. I love to hear you read. You have a sultry voice. It's just that I want to get to know you.”

  “That's sweet. I want to get to know you better, too.” Just as Nikki picked up where she had left off and started to read again, Anna interrupted once more.

  “It's not weird reading the book over again from the beginning just for me?”

  Nikki pressed her lips together, then grinned. “Now how did you know that I've read it already?”

  Anna smiled warmly. “I noticed your bookmark was in place toward the end of the book when you first walked over to me. You didn't mention you were nearly done reading it.”

  Nikki flushed a bright red as she blushed. “I thought it would be romantic to read to you, and I could tell you had just started to read it from the beginning. I'm sorry.” Nikki hadn't expected Anna to notice that she was nearly done reading the book. She was clearly embarrassed that she had used the book as a ploy to strike a conversation.

  Anna, too, felt her face become warm as she blushed a bright red hue. “Nothing to be sorry about. I like that, actually. Women as beautiful as you are usually don't talk to me unless I talk to them first.”

  “Beautiful? You think I'm beautiful?” Nikki felt as though her face and ears were suddenly on fire. Her face turned even redder than before-beet red.

  “Well, yeah. I'm sure you must hear that every day. Why are you blushing?”

  Nikki smiled bashfully. “I guess because it's different when you hear things all the time versus when you hear them from someone you're interested in.”

  Anna felt her heart warm. It was a nice change of pace to be pursued, especially by a woman as gorgeous as Nikki.

  “How about a formal date?”

  Nikki set her book down on the blanket. “How formal is formal?”

  “I don't mean formal dress as in a ballroom gown and tuxedo or anything. I mean, how about dinner? I can make you dinner at my place.”

  Nikki grinned. “That's being a bit presumptuous, isn't it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You're assuming that I would go back to your place.”

  Anna glanced down at the blanket. “Oh. I didn't mean anything by it. I wasn't insinuating anything really....”

  Nikki began to giggle. “I'm just giving you a hard time. I'd love to have dinner with you.”

  After having a wonderful first date at the park and agreeing to meet for dinner, the two young women decided to meet at Anna's later that evening for an official date.

  Chapter Two

  Anna was a nervous wreck. She had a lasagna in the oven, wine was chilling, and she had done some last minute cleaning and vacuuming before jumping into the shower. She knew she was running late, but she had to shower before Nikki arrived. She had just stepped into the shower and lathered up the shampoo in her hair when she heard the doorbell.

  “Just a minute!” shouted Anna. She felt flustered. Was it early? Or was she just running so late because of never having cooked much before. She had felt so lost in the kitchen, but wanted so desperately to impress Nikki. A home cooked meal was more personal and heartfelt than any expensive five star dining restaurant ever would be.

  Again the doorbell sounded. She knew Nikki wouldn't be able to hear her through the sound of the water blasting, the closed doors, and being so many rooms away from the front door.

  Anna tried to rinse herself off as quickly as she could, wrapped a robe around herself, then sopping wet, ran to the front door to answer it before Nikki could ring it again.

  “Hi. Glad you made it,” said Anna out of breath.

  Nikki grinned. “I am at the right address, right? The smooth operator that I met at the park lives here?” She looked at the address on the house, then back at Anna in her bathrobe with her soaking wet hair.

  Anna laughed. “I'm sorry. I was running a bit late with baking and clean up. I just jumped in the shower when you got here. Smooth operator? If I remember correctly, you're the one that hit on me.”

  Nikki, who had been so bold at the park in approaching Anna in the first place, suddenly felt awkward and embarrassed. She glanced down shyly at the ground. She chose not to comment on Anna's statement. “I'm sorry. I'm a few minutes early. I know we agreed at seven, but I wasn't sure if I'd find the house, and I didn't want to be late.”

  Anna was dripping water on her hardwood floors. “You're fine. It's my fault for making homemade lasagna. It took more prep time and clean up time than I thought it would. I usually just buy the frozen kind. Come on in.”

  Nikki walked in and Anna caught a whiff of her perfume as she walked by. She looked stunning in her evening attire and dressed to impress. She wore a red dress that hugged her body with matching red heels that clicked softly on the hardwood flooring as she entered.

  “You have a nice place,” remarked Nikki as she glanced around. She noted the expensive art on the walls and high quality leather furniture. The room barely looked lived in.

  In all the years of living alone, Anna had never taken the time to cook for anyone. It was always business meetings, fine dining and wine with clients, or else the woman she was dating would make her dinner. When it came to cooking for herself, it was usually just making a sandwich, TV dinner, or some other type of frozen food. It was something Anna failed to mention, since she, too, was trying hard to impress by cooking. She only wished she had chosen something with less ingredients and less prep time.

  “Thank you,” said Anna. “I really have to say that you look gorgeous tonight. You look so radiant in that red gown.”

  Nikki grinned. “Thank you.” It had been a wow factor that she was going for, and she was glad to see that it worked. She filled her dress out with all her bodacious curves, and although it was low-cut enough to reveal cleavage, it wasn't too risque.

  “Please, make yourself at home while I run back in the shower. I'll try to hurry.”

  “Oh, don't hurry on my account. Take your time. Be sure to scrub all the nooks and crannies.” Nikki smiled broadly, and Anna suddenly felt nervous and unsteady as though she was going to fall through a trap door at any moment. She felt her face flush with warmth and knew she was turning red. Nikki's comment caught her off guard and off balance. She nearly slipped with the water she had tracked on the floor as she walked toward her bedroom.

  “Pardon me,” she said awkwardly. Her face was still flush from embarrassment. “I'll be right back.”

  Nikki smiled brightly as she walked toward the sofa to make herself at home. She knew she was making Anna nervous, and she was loving every minute of it.

  Not long after Nikki settled down on the sofa, a large burst of smoke puffed and bellowed out of the kitchen.

  “Good Heavens!” she shrieked, running into the kitchen to turn off the oven. She covered her mouth and nose with her hand to try to keep from inhaling the smoke, but it was useless. The kitchen was completely engulfed with a thick, gray suffocating smoke. She opened the windows and the front door just as the smoke detector on the kitchen ceiling went off. Nikki was coughing when Anna ran out of the bathroom in her bathrobe in a panic at the beeping sound of the smoke alarm.

  “Shit!” shouted Anna. “I forgot to turn the oven off!”

  Nikki, who was now standing in front of the open front door trying to breath some fresh air, pressed her lips together to try to keep from smiling. “I appreciate that you tried to cook for me. I really do. But how about we order pizza?” She walked out onto the front porch and sat down on the steps. Anna followed her outside not caring that she was only wrapped in her bathrobe. Her hair was still sopping wet and dripping all over.

  “I'm so incredibly
embarrassed! I was going to try to make it a perfect date with white wine and lasagna and a salad, and I ruined everything!” Anna was nearly in tears with frustration.

  “Don't be so hard on yourself,” offered Nikki. “It's not a total loss. It could've been worse.”

  Anna plopped down beside Nikki and dropped her head in her hands.“Oh gosh, worse? How could it get any worse?”

  “The house could've burned down.”

  Anna looked up from her hands before jokingly adding, “Geezus, don't say that. We haven't had a second date yet. I'm sure if we keep dating, there will be plenty more chances for more kitchen faux pas.”

  Nikki burst into laughter. “It was an honest mistake. Don't worry about it. We can still have salad, right? With our pizza?”

  Anna groaned and hid her face in her hands once more.

  “There is a salad, right? Didn't you say you made a salad?” probed Nikki.

  Anna groaned with her face still hidden. “Not exactly.”

  “I'm waiting,” replied Nikki as she paused for a response.

  Anna briefly looked up as she replied, but her face was still bright red. “I forgot to buy the lettuce. I bought croutons, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots...basically everything for the salad and the lasagna that was on my grocery list, then I paid and came home forgetting to buy the lettuce.”

  Nikki giggled. “Well, was it on the list?”

  Anna groaned once more, burying her face in her hands again, but said nothing.

  Nikki still couldn't wipe the smile from her face. “I take it that it wasn't on the list.”

  “I'm an idiot,” replied Anna. When she looked up again at Nikki to make eye contact there were tears in Anna's eyes. Her breathing was slightly labored and her chest was heaving as she tried to hold back her tears, but she was getting choked up as she spoke. “I wanted our first real date to be special.”