Brushed by Stal Lionne Page B

wouldn’t want that. See you at home. I love you.”
    “See you later,” he said. “You should take care of dinner for the kids. I’ll grab something at the office.”
    He hung up the phone without saying I love you. It wasn’t crushing to Piper, because she already knew that the steam and passion were gone when she had the second child. At least she could still draw the looks from men passing by wondering what was going on under her skirt. She looked down at her shoes and enjoyed the way they hugged her feet, then snuck a look at the pink soles, and decided she needed that motion on her legs again, so she finished her cappuccino and headed back onto the cobblestones, where the rain had let up and the sun was just starting to peek through the clouds, exposing the colors of her favorite part of town.
    She walked halfway down Mercer Street, smiling at the secret pleasure when the muscles and points that got touched by wearing such a high heel, until she reached the address she had been looking for. There was no sign on the front of the building, only names on the apartment buzzers. She pushed the one that read Finn Maddox Paint Supplies . A voice came over the speaker and said “ 4 th floor ” followed by a buzz that allowed Piper to open the graffiti covered door and enter the building.
    The inside was such a contrast to the rough exterior of the building. Everything was remodeled but not done so in an ostentatious way. Exposed brick and finished oak lined the hallways while the floor was done in a classic black and white checked pattern. The only thing that was left alone was the old freight elevator that moved people between the floors. She walked slowly so that she could hear her new heels echo in the hallway.
    Piper lifted the wood gate, then pulled the steel door open, hit the 4 th floor button, and slid it close, triggering the slow rise of the elevator. How amazing would it have been to be trapped in the elevator with her husband right now – no cell phones or computers, just his hands moving forcefully and wildly up her skirt and under her blouse. She imagined his member up between her cheeks while he reached under her panties to move small circles around her clitoris like he use do to do get her aroused. Maybe he’d smell his fingertips for the next two days to remind himself of how sweet she was.
    She pressed her hand up against the steel wall of the elevator as it rose, aroused by the thoughts of what could have been, even allowing her own hand to slightly mimic the motions she wished her husband was doing in the moment. The elevator stopped its slow crawl ; she lifted up the wooded gate, then took a deep breath before she slid open the steel door.
    As she peeled it back, her eyes were filled with instant pleasure. Canvas after canvas, decorated with the most amazing colors, shapes, figures and motion lay all over the huge loft space. The windows let in light, and showed that the rain had started up again, hitting up against the glass and providing enough background noise so that there was no need for any extra music.
    In the middle of the room, putting the finishing touches on a 30 x 30 canvas, was the man she had made an appointment to see, Finn Maddox, but he didn’t look like what she pictured him to be. He turned when she entered, and she could see him slowly taking in her entire body with his hazel eyes. He couldn’t have been more than 25 – if that, his body was lean and tight, and his V neck shirt covered in paint hung just over the belt line of his camouflage army pants, though when he moved, the raised muscle just below his belly button peeked out. He smiled genuine when he reached her eyes.
    “Hello,” he said, a little nervous. “Did you have an appointment today?”
    “Yes,” she replied, still looking around at all the artwork that covered every inch of the loft. “But I think I may have made a mistake. I needed a house painter to do a simple kitchen job. I think I may have misread