Authors: Heather Peters
With a Twist
Red Sage Publishing
www.eredsage.com
Copyright ©2011 by Heather Peters
First published in 2011, 2011
ISBN: 9781603105835; 1603105832 With A Twist Adobe PDF
ISBN: 9781603105866; 1603105867 With A Twist MobiPocket
ISBN: 9781603105873; 1603105875 With A Twist MS Reader
ISBN: 9781603105859; 1603105859 With A Twist HTML
ISBN: 9781603105842; 1603105840 With A Twist ePub
You'll want to read With a Twist because it's based partly, on something that happened to me a long time ago. Being a divorced woman at 42 after 23 years of marriage, I was pretty much in the dark about men; I'd been brought up Catholic, and only had one man in my life: my husband. During my separation, I met a 27 year old handsome guy, a very sweet former Navy jet mechanic, with dark brown bedroom eyes, who helped me program a new computer. He was the cousin of a dear friend, and I fell for his bad boy looks, his tattoos and attitude. But he treated me as if I was on a pedestal. We liked each other a lot, but unfortunately, and to his credit, he wouldn't approach me romantically because I wasn't divorced yet. By the time I did get my divorce many months later, we'd lost touch. I lost that chance of just having maybe one night with this guy. I never forgot him, and it's been 12 years since I've seen him. But I did catch him on Facebook, and friended him; our exchange was polite, but nothing more. I wrote With a Twist to fulfill my fantasy of the older woman and her younger soul mate. Ava Denotti is that woman, and Shane Sullivan is my vision of a love that was never fulfilled.
"Another Caribbean Cosmo with a twist for the birthday girl, and keep them coming."
Shane Sullivan's gaze turned toward the owner of the whiskey-tinged voice as he sat deep in the shadows of the bar, mesmerized by the stunning brunette who'd been at the center of his carnal dreams for the past two years. The dark haired beauty perched on a nearby bar stool with her legs crossed, those ‘fuck me’ stilettos with the ankle straps making him so hard the zipper on his jeans cut into his skin.
Her sexy body created a vision that included all kinds of dark, forbidden intentions. His cock jumped to attention, reminding him of his recent celibate state.
Great, just great
. Ava Denotti was still gorgeous, and he found himself reacting the same way as when he'd first laid eyes on her.
Shane took a long pull from the bottle of cold beer while his eyes drank in every facet of her. A stunning woman from dark brown waves that framed her beautiful face to the crimson dress that left nothing to the imagination and outlined a full-figured body created for pleasuring a man. And he wanted to be that man. Her heels were black as midnight, and visions of those legs wrapped around him while he fucked her all night shot steamy signals to his groin.
His eyes moved upward, and settled on rounded breasts that would fit his hands and then some. A full-lipped mouth, now pouted, would circle and suck his cock until he shot his load down her throat. Shane imagined what it would feel like when, not if, those lovely polished fingers gripped him inside her heat in the midst of some mind blowing sex.
Her right hand was shaking slightly where she held the martini glass. She appeared a little tipsy, which he found hot and seductive.
Shane's eyes continued their journey, slowly sliding from those erotic heels to her shapely calves and up to the tiny opening of her bodice, showing just the hint of flesh. Ava Denotti had no idea how sexy she looked sipping that drink.
How would she react when he tunneled his fingers through her thick hair? How hot would her pussy be after she wrapped her legs around his waist, and that smoky voice begged him to pleasure her?
Slow down, boy. You're getting way ahead of yourself.
In the meantime, he secretly willed her to look his way, and as if she'd read his mind, slowly she turned and settled a pair of moss green eyes on him. A bullet of desire shot right though his solar plexus.
He'd discovered that Ava was celebrating her birthday. That information came from the pretty bartender, Elena, who suggested Shane treat the birthday girl to a drink. He readily agreed. Maybe his dream of finally getting closer to Ava would come to fruition now that she was divorced. He didn't dare approach her two years before, while she was still married to the son of a bitch who ran away with Shane's ex-fiancee, Brittany. Placing the empty bottle on the table, he rose and headed toward her.
Let the games begin.
The birthday girl patiently waited while Elena made liquid magic with the liquor. She mixed the ingredients in a shaker, added shaved ice and blended Ava's favorite drink.
After pouring the completed concoction into a martini glass, Elena added a splash of lime, a twist of lemon and slid the drink in front of Ava.
"Here you go boss, happy fortieth."
"Shit, don't remind me,” Ava muttered. She saluted Elena with the glass and took a generous sip, savoring the delicious blend of fruit and liquor. With any luck at all, a few more of these babies and she wouldn't remember what day it was.
Ah, too late. How could she forget the day she officially turned into a cliche? Forty, the big 4-0, she mused. Perched on a corner bar stool, she wondered why on earth she'd dressed up to sit in her own bar. True, she loved her stunning black lace number that did little to hide her generous curves. Maybe she'd worn it because her ex-husband, Richard, or Dick the Prick as she now called him, told her the dress was too tight because of the extra weight she'd packed on since the divorce.
Screw the cheating sack of shit.
She struggled to fight the ugly memory of Richard, her asshole of a husband. Swallowing another sip, she hoped she'd be too drunk by the end of the evening to care about much of anything. So she allowed the exotic drink to do its job, closed her eyes and waited. Ah, here it comes, she thought with a smile, and welcomed the sensation as the alcohol induced buzz she'd hoped for finally made its appearance.
She attempted to forget the humiliation that lingered from Dick's infidelity. The extra weight continued to haunt her, even after her ex had run away with his assistant, the bleached blonde, busty bimbo, Brittany. Ava scoffed at the ridiculous alliteration. The twenty something assistant having the illicit affair with the forty-something married boss. Talk about a cliche.
And the wife is always the last to know.
Swallowing a deep sigh, Ava spun around to face the crowd at the bar she owned with her younger brother, A.J. She sipped and smiled, savoring the laughter and conversation taking place in their small, yet thriving establishment.
With a Twist
enjoyed a steady and faithful clientele. They not only served alcohol, but A.J. always managed to cook up appetizers so innovative and tasty that customers came to the bar just to sample his original fare. Ava always said her baby brother was a frustrated chef. They hired local bands to play on the weekends to attract the college crowd. Business was good. Her personal life was in shambles.
Several ceiling fans whirred lazily while the jukebox in the corner played the Black Eyed Peas. Nearly all ten tables were still occupied even at this late hour, and Ava could hardly hear herself think from the noise, but she loved it. She'd grown used to the sounds of people gathering at this place for a long time. Thankfully,
With a Twist
was the one thing her ex hadn't been able to steal from her when he left.
When her parents retired to Florida, it was A.J. who took charge of the business and assured Ava they would continue to make the bar a success. Besides being a great brother and clever businessman, he was a charmer with the ladies. Tall and handsome with a boyish smile and warm personality, he attracted some of the women who came to the bar like bees to honey.
Glasses clinked and laughter filled the air as Ava observed the flow and mix of humanity much as an audience member enjoyed an interesting play. She observed the young newlywed couple, Rich and Kelly, as they huddled at the other end of the bar, sharing kisses and whispers. Or Amanda, the young woman who stood alone at the front entrance, probably waiting for a date who would never appear. Ava's colorful friends, Jay and Chad, looked well groomed, buff and handsome as always. Discretely the men held hands under their table. Others sat alone, nursing their drinks in an obvious attempt to forget their troubles.
Ava swallowed a last sip and placed her glass on the cocktail napkin covering the mahogany horseshoe surface. She dreaded the short walk to the tiny apartment above the bar where she'd been living since the divorce. She'd since purchased a small condo nearby and would be moving in soon. Alone, forty, divorced, overweight and drunk was definitely not the way to remember this milestone
.
After all, forty was the new thirty, so she was told.
If this is the new thirty, it's so overrated.
Some of the Saturday night crowd began to thin out and head toward the exit, some bound for greener pastures. A.J. had already called cabs for some of the more inebriated regulars. Others went their separate ways. Some would get lucky tonight. Others would go home alone and wake up with a bitch of a hangover.
Time to call it a night, or a decade, Ava thought. She'd made her appearance, downed a few and now it was time to end the pity party. Maybe she could sneak away before Elena targeted her with another ‘you poor thing’ look.
No such luck.
"Did you ever see a dream walking?"
Ava's silent thoughts dimmed when she followed Elena's wide-eyed stare to the young man who walked toward them.
Man wasn't the right word. God, maybe deity or idol was more like it. A young Adonis with bad boy written all over him. Not to mention a gorgeous tattooed sleeve.
He approached with the confident gait of a man secure in his own skin. And boy, she'd bet the farm his skin was sizzling with white hot testosterone. Ink black hair touched his collar and framed a face that housed warm summer blue eyes, a full lower lip that begged to be nipped and a nose that had been broken at least once. These small details had every set of female eyes in the bar turned toward him. Overworked jeans hugged long legs and apparently housed the body of an athlete. Ava's breath hitched and her tummy did somersaults when his crooked smile took aim and pierced her like an arrow.
