ONE
Grace
The flicker of my laptop screen cast a dull glow in the dark room as I drummed my fingers on the wooden desk. There was something brewing inside me. An itch for something that defied the confines of my ordinary life. With a glass of red wine at my side, I navigated to the website that held the promise of fulfilling the type of craving that had been clawing at me for too long.
Adventure.
Excitement.
A life more fulfilled.
“Okay, here we go. Let’s see what you’ve got,” I murmured in the room’s silence as I created my profile on the Book Boyfriend Dating Agency website. I began to type, each stroke on the keyboard a strike against my boring, ordinary existence. And it was time for me to do something else. Something bold.
I was nervous about taking this step, but it was time. So, I began typing. “Seeking a man who can match my thirst for adventure. Someone who dares to walk on the wild side.” My lips curved into a smirk. “Someone unafraid to play with fire and handle the heat.” I wasn’t even sure what I was truly hoped to find, but the right person would be intrigued by my words. Right?
As I filled in my details, I omitted the usual platitudes and simple things. No talk of long walks on the beach or cozy nights in. That was all bullshit and not worth mentioning. This was a different game I wanted to play—a dangerous one—and I was all in.
“Grace,” I typed for my username, a name as deceptive as it was true. Innocent on the surface, but anyone smart enough to pay attention would see the glint of steel beneath the softness. At least once they met me.
I mentioned in the ‘About Me’ section that I would not settle for the average encounter. Smirking, I continued typing: “I’m not looking for mundane Sunday morning breakfasts or a picture-perfect suburban lifestyle. Give me thrill, desire, and a life filled with adventure. Reveal to me your deepest secrets that you’ve never shared with anyone else. Show me a world beyond my own, if you’re brave enough.”
With a deep breath, I clicked the ‘Submit’ button and sealed my fate. My profile now existed on a site that promised endless possibilities and connections. It seemed too good to be true, but I was willing to take a chance for the chance at finding something real. Why not? I couldn’t keep waiting in the shadows, hoping that love would find me. I wanted to take control and hold on to it tightly. I craved a connection that would ignite my fantasies and leave me breathless with passion and heat. Even if it only lasted for one night—which I hope it didn’t—I was ready to experience it all.
Being “ordinary” was not something I could ever settle for. I spent too many years trying to fit in, and I was done with that. Others saw me as someone who followed the rules, with a respectable job in marketing at a well-known company. My bills were always paid promptly, and I showed respect to my elders with polite words like ‘please’ and ‘thank you.’ However, that was all just a mask hiding my true self.
My book choices had become a more accurate reflection of the person I yearned to be. The life I wanted to live. Pages teeming with tales of mafia crime families, where men were fiercely protective of their women and had no issue with making people disappear. This was my escape from reality. And with my profile complete on the Book Boyfriend site—which I still approached with caution—I could finally immerse myself in a few chapters of my latest read, eagerly turning each page and losing myself in the world of organized crime and intense love, bordering on obsession.
I relaxed on the comfortable chaise in my bedroom, hungrily consuming every page of the book. My finger swiped furiously across the screen, turning to the next page, eager to see what happened next. I devoured each word as the anti-hero, who had a past full of dark secrets, swept the leading lady off her feet and into a thrilling night filled with danger and passion.
“Damn,” I said to myself, “that’s the kind of man I need. Someone who doesn’t give a fuck about anyone else but his family and woman.”
After reading a few chapters, I closed out of my ereader and put it aside. I imagined the thrill of being involved with a sexy as sin man, caught up in a hot ass affair. In all honesty, I wanted more than just lust, although that would be nice as well. I wanted a man who could match my freak in bed, but also give me some memories to get me through the night when my life returned to normal. Was that even possible?
With a stretch, I reached for my laptop, my pulse quickening as I clicked on the notification tab. There it was—a message waiting for me. His username was ‘Dillon,’ and the mere sight of it sent a ripple of anticipation through me.
“Well, Dillon. I hope you’re who I’m looking for,” I whispered to the screen, my voice laced with interest and a bit of yearning.
His first message was brief and to the point. “Grace, your profile called to me. I couldn’t look away. I don’t usually do this, but I wanted to take a chance.”
His words were brief, lacking any bullshit words that reeked of insincerity. My fingers hovered over the keyboard, my mind racing with what to reply.
“Well then, Dillon,” I murmured to myself with a smirk, “I suppose we’re both taking a chance.” My fingers danced across the keyboard as I responded to him. “We’re either brave or crazy. Hell, maybe a bit of both. Since we both know why we’re here, let’s skip the small talk.”
I hit send just as another private message notification pinged on my screen. Before his response came back to me, my heart pounded against my ribs. His words were surprising, sharp-edged but seductive, revealing a man who knew exactly what he wanted—and was more than willing to take it.
“I like your audacity, Grace,” his response read. “You’re right about skipping the small talk. It doesn’t mean anything, anyway. Either you find the person you want to spend time with, or you don’t.”
A genuine smile spread across my face, smudging the line between reality and fantasy even further. In front of me was a man showing a level of interest that had been absent from my life for far too long.
For hours Dillon and I messaged back and forth while I nursed my wine, discussing our likes and dislikes, our expectations and boundaries that could not be crossed. There was something thrilling about laying it all out with a stranger whose existence spanned hundreds of miles away from mine.
Our exchange was a play of words, each sentence weaving a tapestry of illicit promises and unspoken truths. The air around me seemed charged with electricity, the boundaries between fantasy and reality blurring as I lost myself in the world Dillon painted—a world where passion was raw and unrestrained, and where the only rule was to expect the unexpected.
“You’re not what I expected.” The words came up on the chat fast and furious.
“What did you expect me to be?”
“Not sure, but I like it. You intrigue me.”
“Good. That will make things even better,” I typed. A smile came over my face and my teeth caught my lower lip. “So, are you who you claim to be?” I paused, thinking I was pushing a bit too far, but then decided to go all in. “I mean, I just want to make sure I’m getting what I want from this site.”
“If I were you, I would be careful what you ask for.”
What could he mean by that? “I’m ready for whatever comes my way. Are you?” Yes, it was sassy and cheeky and all that, but I wanted to have fun. Dillon, if that was his real name, would either be the one for me or not.
The night wore on and we were still chatting when I noticed the time. “Damn,” I muttered to myself as I glanced at the clock showing 2:00 AM.
Before calling it a night, I sent Dillon one last message. “I’ve enjoyed our chat. Let’s do this again tomorrow?”
His reply came fast. “Looking forward to it, Grace.”
I snapped the laptop shut and lay back on the chaise. My mind was ablaze with images of who Dillon was. “Alright, Grace, you opened this can of worms. I hope you’re ready for what comes next,” I breathed into the stillness of my room.
The next morning, my eyes opened slowly as the vibration of my phone on my nightstand pulled me out of sleep. His message was there, waiting for me to answer. I couldn’t help the smile that lifted my lips. With a flick of my thumb, the encrypted app was open, and his words made me almost giddy. Good thing it was Saturday, and I didn’t have to go to work in the morning.
“Morning Grace. Did you think about me last night?”
“Morning, Dillon. You know, based on everything you’ve told me about yourself, I would think someone like you would be too good for a dating site,” I typed back. That was something I had been thinking since last night.
His response came back within seconds. “I’m looking for something… someone, who can connect with me on a deeper level. It’s difficult for me to meet women in my line of work. So why not try this if it gets me closer to finding my person?”
“Wouldn’t women be drawn to you, especially if you are who you say you are?” I typed with intent, the words flowing fast and furious.
He chose not to answer me. “Question for you, Grace. With a name like yours, why is a nice guy with a nice job who can live with you in a nice house and raise your perfectly nice kids not good enough for you?”
His question got to the heart of the issue and was not unexpected. A perfectly nice life was fine for others, but not for me. “Ordinary is not the life for me,” I confessed. “I crave the rush of adrenaline, the taste of the forbidden. I want to dance on the edge of danger, where one misstep could change my entire life.”
“Careful, sweetheart,” Dillon’s response came back, laced with a dark promise that sent shivers down my spine. “That dark abyss you’re craving can turn on you.”
“Then I’m ready to take the chance,” I fired back, the challenge in my words as palpable as the tension that crackled between us.
“Have you ever tasted true power, Grace?” he typed, his question opening a door I never thought I’d come across.
“Only in my fantasies,” I admitted, leaning closer to the screen as if proximity could bring me into his orbit. “But I’m eager for the real thing.”
“Power’s not something you can nibble on and put aside as if you’ve never tasted it. It’s something that you devour,” Dillon wrote. “Once you’ve had a morsel, nothing else will satisfy you again.”
“Well, then you should know that I’m starving for an experience that will leave me wanting more.”
“Good,” Dillon’s last message came through, a beacon in the growing darkness of my room. “Because what I’m offering isn’t just excitement. Get ready for everything you wanted and more.”