Horizons by Mickie B. Ashling

a deep mahogany that glistened in the light of the tiki lamps that surrounded the deck. I was fatally attracted to him, like the bugs that were flying around, running into the insect zapper and falling down dead. I was as powerless to resist as they were.
    “I love my garden,” Jody said, breaking through my thoughts. “But, I have no time, and more importantly, no inclination. So I hire someone to take care of it for me.”
    “He does a great job,” I answered, responding on cue, but really only noticing what Jody looked like under this lighting. I’d forgotten the flowers and the question. All I could think of was the man in front of me.
    “Shall we get started?” he asked, moving me toward the table and pulling out a chair.
     
     
    T HEY ’ D been taking turns reading, which seemed to help Clark from wandering off mentally. He read well, only stumbling over a few words, looking up at Jody each time, to see how he’d react. Clark’s voice seemed subdued, and Jody wondered if this was because of nerves or if it was his normal reading voice.
    He reassured him each time he stumbled, reaching across the table and giving his arm a squeeze, nodding his head and urging him on.
    “You have an accent,” Clark said, looking up from the book. His eyes had an upward tilt to them, almost almond-shaped, which was unusual in an obviously Caucasian face. They weren’t blue or green, but more like a combination of both, aquamarine, with a touch of purple underneath all the layers. They reminded Jody of the playing marbles he had as a young boy, except Clark’s eyes were much more fascinating.
    “It’s ’cause I’m from Chicago. Everyone from the Midwest talks like this,” Jody replied, caught in Clark’s gaze. He leaned forward and said huskily, “Has anyone ever told you that your eyes are incredible?”
    “I’ve heard it a few times.” Clark grinned like a kid, completely unaffected, which made him even more beautiful. Jody couldn’t stop staring at him.
    Clark ran his tongue around his mouth and sucked in his lower lip, chewing on it a little, obviously a nervous habit.
    “Does it bother you when I say things like that?”
    “What things?”
    “That you’re beautiful?”
    Clark’s cheeks turned bright pink and he opened his mouth to say something, but must have had second thoughts, because all he did was shake his head and say, “No.”
    “Good… because you are… beyond beautiful.”
    “Jody.”
    “You don’t have to say anything, Clark.”
    He nodded and looked down, the bright spots on his cheeks a testament to his inner thoughts.
    Jody lowered the book and waited. “Would you give me a summary of what you’ve just read?” He thought it best to get back on topic before he did something really stupid, like reach across the table and draw Clark in for a long and torrid kiss.
    “I’ll try.” Clark must have felt like he was being called upon to recite something in front of a class, because he fidgeted and looked even more nervous. Jody touched his arm gently and said, “It’s okay, Clark. It’s just me.”
    “’Kay,” he replied, an embarrassed laugh escaping. “The group of travelers are fed and made comfortable. They’re pretty impressed with the accommodations and everyone seems okay with things, except for the jerk, Mallinson.”
    “The vice-consul.”
    “Right. He keeps badgering for more info, but Chang, the guy who was sitting on the chair, refuses to say any more. So Mallinson freaks and passes out.”
    “Yes.” Jody nodded. “He’s upset because Chang won’t give him a date for when they can leave, and after he passes out, Chang blames it on the altitude.”
    “But the others seem fine with the place, right?”
    “Uh-huh.” God, you are so fucking beautiful….
    “Jody?”
    “What?” Jody had drifted off to fantasyland, imagining what it would be like to kiss the lips that Clark continued to gnaw at. He’d been with good-looking men before, but Clark was in a