AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Of course.”
Antony was pacing the hallway. He’d done a good job with the drywall repair. As he turned into the living room, he had to sidestep his normal path. He’d rearranged the furniture a little and wasn’t sure if it was going to work or not. A knock on the door caught his attention, and he went to it.
Lesley came in and flung her arms around him as soon as he’d closed the door behind her. She kissed him passionately, and he responded in kind. Those messages he’d left for her had apparently done the trick, he thought with a chuckle.
She broke the kiss. “That was cruel, all that teasing. I expected you to be naked when I got here,” she said, laughing.
“Well, we can make that happen, but I thought we’d have dinner first,” he said.
She looked over his shoulder and saw his furniture placement. “What the hell is this mess?” she asked.
“Don’t like it?”
“No. It’s weird. Why do you have the recliner over there?” she asked, pointing. “And where’s the couch?”
“I’ve been thinking about getting a new one. Come on, dinner’s ready.” Antony took her by the hand and led her to the dining room.
The table was laid out, and he’d lit candles. A small bouquet of fresh wildflowers brought a pop of color to the table. Lesley looked at him, puzzled, but he only smiled and led her to her seat. After dropping a kiss on her cheek, he said, “I’ll be right back with the food.”
Lesley sat and looked around. They never ate in here. What was he up to?
He brought out two plates and set one down in front of her. A metal cloche covered the plate. Sitting on top of the cloche was a smaller plate covered with a napkin. He put the other plate in front of his seat and sat down.
Lesley noticed he was avoiding direct eye contact and lifted the napkin off of her plate. Underneath was a single key. She stared at it for a full minute before looking back up. Antony was staring at her. He took her hand in his.
“I’ve been thinking about this for a while, love,” he started. “Oliver spilled today about his orders, so I just moved up the timeline a little.”
Lesley was quiet. Her eyes were fixed on the key.
“If you want to wait, I understand,” he whispered.
“The couch?” she asked.
Antony shook his head, confused. “Oh! Well, I thought your leather one might go there. It looks good in front of a fireplace.” He smiled at her. She was still staring at the key.
“Les? Honey?”
She stood and moved over to him, facing him and straddling his lap. As she lowered her lips to his, she whispered, “Yes.”
They reheated their dinner much later.
