Fantasy Lover

Unbidden, her hand reached out for it, and as she touched the soft leather, she could almost swear she felt something brush her cheek.

That was ridiculous.

You don't believe in this stuff.

Grace ran her hand over the smooth, perfect leather, noting that no lettering or title appeared anywhere on it. She opened the cover.

This was the strangest book she'd ever seen. The pages looked as if they'd once been some kind of scroll or something that had later been bound into book form.

The bleached parchment crinkled under her fingers as she turned to the first page and saw an intricate emblem of painted scrollwork that had three intersecting triangles and a beguiling image of three women united by swords.

Frowning, Grace vaguely recalled it as some sort of ancient Greek symbol.

Even more intrigued than before, she flipped through the book only to find it was completely empty except for the three pages…

How weird.

It must have been some sort of sketchbook for an artist or a sculptor, she decided. That would be the only explanation for why the pages were left blank. Something must have happened before the artist had a chance to add anything more to the book.

But that didn't really explain why the pages looked a whole lot older than the binding…

Flipping back to the drawing of the man, she studied the writing across the page from him but couldn't make any of it out. Unlike Selena, she'd avoided language classes in college like they were poison, and if not for Selena, she would never have passed that part of her core curriculum at all.

"It's definitely Greek to me," she said under her breath, then she returned her attention to the man.

He was amazing. So very perfect and inviting.

So incredibly sexy.

Completely captivated by him, she wondered how long it would take to make a drawing so perfect. Someone must have spent years on it, because the guy literally looked as if he could step right off the page and into her house.

Selena paused in the doorway as she watched Grace staring at Julian. In all the years she'd known Grace, she'd never seen her so enthralled.

Good.

Maybe Julian could help her.

Four years was really too long.

But then Paul had been an inconsiderate, self-centered pig. His callousness for Grace's feelings had even made her cry the night he'd taken her virginity.

And no woman deserved to cry. Especially not while she was with someone who had told her he cared about her.

Julian would definitely be good for Grace. A month with him and Grace would forget all about Paul. And once Grace tasted what real, mutual sex was like, then she would be free of Paul's cruelty forever.

But first Selena had to get her stubborn chum to be a little more compliant.

"Did you order the pizza?" Selena asked, handing her a full glass of wine.

Grace absently took it. For some reason, she couldn't quite take her eyes off the picture.

"Grade?"

Blinking, she forced herself to look up. "Hmm?"

"Caught you looking," Selena teased.

Grace cleared her throat. "Oh, please, it's just a little black-and-white drawing."

"Hon, there ain't nothing little in that drawing."

"You're bad, Selena."

"True enough. More wine?"

As if on cue, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Selena said, setting the wine down on the end table, then heading to the foyer.

A few minutes later Selena returned to the room. Grace let the wonderful aroma of a large pepperoni pizza drag her thoughts away from the book. And the man who seemed to have branded his image on her subconscious.

But it wasn't easy.

In fact, it seemed to get harder by the minute.

What the heck was wrong with her? She was the Ice Queen. Not even Brad Pitt or Brendan Fraser made her lustful. And they were in full, living color.

What was it about that drawing?

About him?

Grace took a careful bite of the pizza and defiantly moved to an armchair across the room. There. She'd show that book and Selena that she was in control.

Four pieces of pizza, two Hostess cupcakes, four glasses of wine, and a full movie later, she and Selena were lying on the floor draped over stacked sofa cushions while they laughed at Sixteen Candles.

" 'You say it's your birthday,' " Selena started singing as she pounded the floor like a bongo drum. " 'It's my birthday, too.'"

Grace swiped her head with a cushion, then giggled as her head buzzed from the wine.

"Grade?" Selena asked, her voice full of mirth. "Are you tipsy?"

She giggled again. "Maybe just comfortably toasty. Pop-Tart toasty."

Selena laughed at Grace, and pulled the band from Grace's hair. "Then are you willing to try a little experiment?"

"No!" Grace said emphatically, brushing her loose hair behind her ears. "I don't want to Ouija, or do the pendulum thing, and I swear if I see one tarot card or rune stone I'll yack cupcake all over you."

Biting her lower lip, Selena pulled the book off the table and flipped it open.

Five minutes to midnight.

She held the picture up for Grace's inspection and pointed to the incredible form. "What about him?"

Grace looked at it and smiled. "He is yummy, isn't he?"

Well, that was definitely progress. Selena couldn't remember the last time Grace had complimented a guy's looks. She waved the book teasingly before Grace's face.

"C'mon, Grade. Admit it You want this handsome guy."

"If I said I wouldn't toss him out of my bed for eating crackers, would you leave me alone?"

"Maybe. What else wouldn't you toss him out of bed for?"

She rolled her eyes and laid her head down on the pillow. "Eating greasy grimy gopher guts?"

"Now I think I'm going to yack."

"Watch the movie."

"Only if you'll try this one itty-bitty chant."

Grace raised her head and sighed. She knew better than to argue with Selena-she had that look. And nothing short of a meteorite crashing through the house would make her stop until she got her way.

Besides, what was the harm? She'd learned years ago that nothing ever came of Selena's silly chants and spells. "All right. If it'll ease your pain, I'll do it."

"Yay!" Selena said, grabbing her arm and pulling her to her feet. "We need to go out to the deck."

"Fine, but I'm not ripping the head off a voodoo chicken or drinking anything disgusting."

Feeling like a kid at a sleepover who had lost a truth-or-dare contest, Grace allowed Selena to pull her outside her sliding glass door. The damp air filled her lungs as crickets chirped, and a thousand stars twinkled above them. Grace supposed it was a beautiful night to summon a love-slave.

She snickered at the thought.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked Selena. "Wish on some planet?"

Shaking her head, Selena moved her to stand in the circle of moonlight where it fell over the eaves of her roof. Selena handed her the opened book. "Hold this to your breast."

"Oh, baby," Grace said in mock desire as she cuddled the book to her chest like a lover. "You make me so hot and horny. I just can't wait to sink my teeth into that wonderful body of yours."

Selena laughed. "Stop it. This is serious!"

"Serious? Please. I'm standing out here on my twenty-ninth birthday, barefoot and in jeans my mother would bum, holding a stupid book to my chest in an effort to summon a Greek love-slave from the great beyond." She looked at Selena. "I only know one way to make this even more ridiculous…"

Grace held the book in one hand, opened her arms wide, tipped her head back, and implored the dark sky above, "Oh, take me, great gorgeous love-slave and have your wicked way with me. I command you to rise" she said, wagging her eyebrows.