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“Rick said you got a car home because you’d been drinking. I just wanted to check on you.”
She smiled. “I’ve had a little wine.” She made her way to her door.
“Do you want more?” She didn’t seem tipsy, but that was Ellie; safe and responsible. Certainly not a woman to tear a man’s heart out and abandon a child.
She stared at me for a moment, and then finally nodded. But she didn’t look happy about it. A feeling of doom fell over me.
“You okay?”
She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her pretty blue eyes. “Yes. Just tired.”
“Well, come in. I was just out on the balcony. Why don’t you go there and I’ll meet you with some wine?”
She nodded and made her way outside. I watched her for a moment, feeling content she was here even though I felt some unease about her strange mood.
“Everything okay with Angela?” I asked when I handed her the wine.
“Rick showed up, as I guess you know.” She had a sweet smile on her face. “It was quite romantic.”
I could be romantic. I shook my head at the thought that came from nowhere. Sure, I could be romantic, but I worked hard not to be. Polite, yes. A gentleman, yes. But romantic, no. Women got strange ideas in their heads in romantic situations.
“Do you think they’ll work it out?” I asked, hoping my voice didn’t reveal the crazy torment in my brain.
“I do. And I’m glad.” She smiled and it was radiant. I wanted to wrap it up and keep it forever.
I leaned forward and gave her a soft, gentle kiss. When I pulled away, her eyes shone with surprise.
“What?” I asked.
“What was that for?”
“It’s not like I’ve never kissed you.” But I knew why she was surprised. I’d never just kissed her. Before, my kissing was always a prelude to sex.
She studied me, and now her eyes expressed confusion. Was she sensing a change in me? I should tell her all the crazy thoughts running around in my head. What would she think? Would she be open to going beyond the friend zone? I wasn’t even sure I wanted that. Yes, you do. Okay, I did. But I wasn’t sure I was brave enough. After all, she had accepted my no-strings terms and hadn’t given any indication that she’d want more.
Fuck. I didn’t know what to do or think.
We stood on the balcony as the waves lapped at the shore. Neither of us spoke.
She finished her wine and then turned to me. “Well, I guess I should be going. I’ll put this in the sink.”
Go? What? No. “Can’t you stay?” A crazy desperate feeling came over me. She looked at me, and I couldn’t read what was going on in those gorgeous eyes. “Is something wrong, Ellie?”
She looked down. “Not wrong, no.”
I narrowed my eyes as I tried to decipher what was up. I reached out to push back a strand of hair that had blown in her face.
“You’re so beautiful, did you know that?”
Her breath hitched, and I wondered if no one had ever told her that. Had I?
It appeared I didn’t want our relationships to be simply about sex, and yet the only way I could really think to share with her how I was feeling was by touching her.
“Come with me.” I took her hand and led her into the condo to my bedroom. I’d never had a woman in there before. My trysts always took place elsewhere. But I didn’t have the time or inclination to get us over to Ellie’s “Let me touch you, Ellie.”
She swallowed and for a moment I thought she was going to say no. But then she nodded. I kissed her hand as I closed the door to my room. I left the light off, but the bright light of the moon lit the room. I opened the window to let the cool night breeze in as well as the sound of the ocean. Romantic.
Then I went to her and kissed her. I didn’t caress her or undress her, I simply kissed her. She sighed into my mouth, and relief that she was here spread over me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me back. She tasted like wine and Ellie, so sweet.
Slowly, I undressed her, until she stood before me completely nude. The moonlight cast her in an ethereal glow that took my breath away.
“So fucking beautiful.” I reached out and held one of her breasts in my hand, watching as the nipple puckered. I leaned forward, and lightly sucked it, loving how she moaned. Ellie never held back her responses to my touch. It was one of the many things I loved about her.
I undressed, and then gently laid her back on my bed. That warning sounded in my brain again about stepping over the bounds. I had a woman in my bed, something that had never happened before. I told my brain to shut up.
