I take a step back into my room and turn slightly to try and hide the situation in my pants. “Okay. So I’ll be ready in a few. Could you let Ollie outside?” I close my bedroom door before she can answer and lean my forehead against it with a mental groan. This visceral reaction to Kelly is nothing new, but it’s unexpected at the moment, and I’m definitely not sure how to handle it. Especially when I have no clue where she stands on things.
Thingsbeing, us.
The mature course of action would be to have a reasonable, rational, adult conversation about it. But that scares the shit out of me. I’ve recently had my marriage fall apart, and I’m not super keen on having my best friendship also fall apart because I try to push us into something that she doesn’t want. And I’m not exactly looking for another dose of rejection. Divorce was bad enough, thank you kindly.
Just like that, my mood sours. Thoughts of my ex and the cold, loveless relationship we had at the end always does this to me. And that’s definitely not the energy I want to have tonight. Kelly deserves better.
“This is just dinner between friends,” I mutter to myself as I do one final check in the mirror. Grey shirt was a good choice. Good to go, I grab my keys off the dresser and head to the kitchen to find Kelly. She’s just feeding Oliver when I get there, and I shamelessly watch her as she stands, only downgrading my look from an outright ogle to just a friendly glance when she turns to face me.
“Ready to go?” she asks brightly. Any awkwardness I thought might be there after the zipper situation is gone.
“Yup, all set.” I stuff my hands in my pockets, unable to stop staring. “You look beautiful, Kell.”
A blush steals across her cheeks as her pink-tinted lips curl up. “Thanks. You clean up pretty nice yourself.”
After a minute of just standing there, smiling at each other like fools, we lock up and walk to my car, where I go to her side and open the door.
“You’ve never done that before,” Kelly comments, an impressed look on her face.
“I’ve never taken you on a pretend date before.”
Her throaty chuckle as she slides into the car hits me hard. I quickly make my way to the driver’s side, and soon we’re driving the short distance to Insignia, the steakhouse she suggested.
“I found a couple of apartments over on the south side of town I wanted to check out. Interested in coming with me?” I ask after a few minutes of easy silence.
“Well, duh, who else is going to make sure you don’t end up in some disgusting pit of an apartment?”
“I do have standards, Kell,” I reply drily.
“I know you do.” She shrugs and my eyes catch the delicate slope of her shoulders. Goddamn, that dress should be illegal. “But a second opinion is never a bad thing.”
“No, it’s not. But come on, your opinion is gonna be less of a suggestion, and more of a command.”
She turns an impish smile my way. “Someone’s gotta keep you and Oliver in line.”
“Yeah, yeah, my dog already likes you more than he does me,” I grumble under my breath, but her peal of laughter is exactly what I was hoping for. God, I missed her all these years.
Dinner was, as predicted, delicious. And fun. I forgot about Kelly’s habit of making up background stories for strangers around her, but over dinner, she had me laughing nonstop as she adopted various voices and created imaginary histories for the other diners. We shared a dessert of chocolate crème brulee that had Kelly making noises that made me wonder if I could get her to make those sounds in the bedroom, too. Because somewhere over our second glass of wine, I realized that’s how I wanted this night to end. With Kelly in my bed. Ideally, naked and underneath me.
But only if she wants that, too. And I’m still not certain she does.
Which is why I keep things light and friendly the entire drive home, only stealing the odd touch when I not so accidentally brush my hand against her leg, or let my fingers linger on her shoulder when I stretch my arm across the back of her seat as I reverse out of the parking spot. I’m pretty damn sure I didn’t imagine the way she leaned into my touch, or the twitch of her lips, but I’m moving slow. Glacial, in fact.
When we get back to her house, I quickly jog around to Kelly’s car door and hold it open for her.
“Such a gentleman,” she murmurs, giving me a soft smile as I close the door behind her. My hand finds the small of her back as we walk up to the front door. Once inside, our coats hung up and shoes kicked off, I deal with Oliver while she puts the kettle on for her usual evening routine of a cup of herbal tea.
“Chamomile tea?” She holds up two packets. “Or peppermint?”
“Chamomile, please.” I walk over to her and place my hands on the counter, framing her in. “You know, there’s one more part of a date we haven’t practiced yet.” My breath catches in my throat. This is it.
Kelly slowly turns in my arms. “Oh yeah? What’s that?” she asks, but the coy look in her eyes belies the innocence of her words.
“The kiss goodnight.” Those three words come out gravelly with desire, and I know she hears it. Thank fuck, I see an answering desire written all over her face.
“You’re right, we should make sure you know how to do that right.”
“Trust me, I know how.”
