I brought my hand to her face and pushed a few stray hairs off her forehead, smiling at how beautiful she was, how peaceful she looked.
She wasn’t wearing any make-up today, and for the first time I realized that she had light freckles on each of her cheeks, that her long and full eye lashes naturally bowed upwards. And I’d kissed her lips thousands of times, but I’d never noticed the tiny tan mole above her top lip.
Why didn’t I notice her before this year? We had to have crossed paths at least once...
I wasn’t sure what was going on between us, but whatever it was I didn’t want it stop; it was like nothing I’d ever felt before.
The women I’d been with in the past were mostly a means to pass the time, a way to fill my days with something steady until I was bored or driven away by their erratic behavior. But Claire never bored me, never annoyed me—even when she was frustrating the shit out of me.
I trailed my fingertips against her mouth and her eyes fluttered open.
“Hi.”
“Hi...” She blinked and slowly sat up. “Do you get aroused by watching me sleep?”
“No, but if you didn’t snore so much maybe I would.”
She rolled her eyes and tapped her shoulder, her way of saying she was ready for me to put her clothes back on.
I picked her bra up from the floor and clasped it around her back. I stared at it for a few seconds, looking at the black lace that covered the cups, at the red silk that lined the edges. I looked down and realized that her panties were an exact match.
How cute...
“Is this a new bra?” I slid the straps over her shoulder. “I’ve never seen you wear this one before.”
“You think I bought brand new lingerie just for you?”
“Did you?”
“No.” She leaned over and reached for her shirt. “Sorry to break it to you, but you’re not that special...I found this in my closet yesterday while I was cleaning it out, and I—”
I reached around her and gently ripped the small white tag that was hanging from the side. I held it in front of her and smiled. “Next time you happen to find something in your closet, make sure you cut the tag off first.”
Her face turned bright red.
“I love it.” I kissed her right strap and helped her into her shirt. “Would you like to go out to dinner tonight? Anywhere you want—and yes, we can arrange to sit in a private room.”
She didn’t say anything. She just sat there blushing.
“Claire?”
“I can’t...I have to be home by eight tonight. I’m helping the girls make cupcakes for a bake sale.”
“A bake sale? For what?”
“For the cheerleading squad.” She put on her pants. “All twenty of them are going to be there tonight and I need to make sure my house doesn’t burn down.”
“Hmmm. Do your daughters know you’re dating me?”
“Not yet...”
Of course not... “Okay, since we can’t do dinner, let’s make use of what little time we have.”
“How about watching a movie at your place? I think that would get me back in time.”
“No. I have a much better idea.” I stood up and grabbed her blazer off the coat rack. “How do you feel about pizza?”
“Pizza?”
“Yes. It’s a popular dish made from dough, tomato sauce, and cheese. It’s baked in an oven and sold in boxes all over the world.”
She smiled. “You don’t strike me as a take-out pizza type of guy.”
“Who said anything about take-out?”
Claire tossed another ball of dough into the air and smashed it with her hands, making a gust of flour float across the air and fall onto my floor. Then she giggled like a child.
I shook my head. “It doesn’t take much to entertain you does it?”
“I’m not the one who suggested we make pizza from scratch...My mom used to do this with me and my—” She stopped. “She would get all the best stuff from the store and we’d waste a whole Saturday baking five or six huge pizzas.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“It was...”
The oven’s timer went off and I slipped an oven mitt on my hand. I carefully pulled the pepperoni and spinach pizza off the rack and set it down on the island.
I felt Claire moving behind me and turned around. “What are you doing?”
“I was going to pour us both a glass of wine.” She held up the glasses and her eyes met mine. “You don’t want one?”
“Yes...” My heartbeat started to speed up.
“Is red okay with you?”
“It’s perfect...”
We both stood still and stared at each other, not moving, not saying anything. The second alarm for the breadsticks was blaring, but neither of us made an attempt to shut it off.
I closed the gap between us and wrapped an arm around her hips, looking down into her gorgeous green eyes, pretending not to notice how loudly her heart was thumping against her chest.
She reached up and placed her arms around my neck, pressing her body tightly against mine, standing on her toes to reach my lips.
I bent down to kiss her—watching her close her eyes, watching her take a short breath in anticipation, but then I stopped.
Fuck...