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This time, Gage went upstairs to the master bedroom and stood in front of the long antique stand up mirror nestled in the corner of his and his wife’s bedroom. He snapped the pic, then quickly realized that he could have grabbed that off the internet too. Taking the stairs two at a time, he found a piece of paper in the junk drawer next to the dishwasher and wrote, Hi Tilly, on it. Back upstairs, he stood, again, in front of the mirror, but this time holding up the piece of paper. Once he snapped the pic, he looked it over. Not too bad for not being a selfie kind of guy. He sent it without a message attached.
Tilly read his message, grinning at his comment of tucking in his antennas and entertaining the possibility that the man she was joking with was really the man in the picture. Well shit. She couldn’t deny it; the man was fucking hot. She didn’t move until her phone buzzed again. This time, he was standing in front of a mirror with a piece of paper with her name on it, but she was too busy looking at his face and working her eyes down his body. She gulped, then stood and walked away from her phone because it wasn’t just excitement she felt. She was a warm-blooded woman with a pulse, and damn, he was beautiful. She almost didn’t want to send a picture of herself, not after seeing all that he had going on. Her hair was up in a messy knot. Her face was clean of makeup since she’d spent most of the day baking. She was wearing her “We’re All Mad Here” tee and yoga pants. But a deal was a deal. She held out her phone and took a picture, studied it and knew it wasn’t getting any better without time in front of the mirror.
He bet that this Tilly F wasn’t who she said she was because he waited for four minutes and still didn’t get a response, so he typed back.
You there?
I’m here. A deal is a deal, but damn, you’re not even photo shopped.
She sent her picture then walked away from her phone again because she was feeling restless, but it wasn’t an unpleasant sensation.
Her message came up before the image finished loading. Photo shopped, funny. Gage watched the bar as it rose slowly. He felt a sensation move through his gut. One he hadn’t felt in a long time. One he liked. Her picture popped up and he sucked in a breath. She was beautiful. His wife was a stunning woman but there was something about Tilly. A realness to her that drew him in. With a messy bun full of brown hair sitting on top of her head, shining hazel eyes stared back at him. Her skin was flawless, lips pink and full… Gage took a deep breath. And not a stitch of makeup on. Jesus. From the angle, he could tell she wasn’t a skinny woman, had generous curves. Just the way he liked his women.
I should be asking you what you’ve been searching on Google. Damn, you’re gorgeous.
Tilly heard her phone buzz. She read his message and dropped down onto the stool. He thought she was gorgeous? She felt those words, and in a way she knew she probably shouldn’t, considering the man offering them, but she’d be lying to herself if she said it didn’t make her feel something. Maybe it would have been safer if he was an alien.
Your age is showing. Might want to get those eyes checked. ; ) But thank you for saying that. Not going to lie, that felt good.
Gage read the last line. Those seven words let him know that her husband didn’t compliment her the way he should, because his wife was beautiful. He moved his eyes from his phone and looked around the bedroom he shared with his wife. Fuck. What was he doing? He was married, she was married. Yeah, all they did was chat about their families and exchange pictures. But something felt wrong. But that wrong also felt so fucking good.
I’d like it noted that I have perfect vision, ask my eye doctor. ;) And, no need to thank me, I meant every word. It’s after midnight, I should get some sleep.
When was the last time Luke had complimented her? Too long when a simple comment from a stranger could cause a rush of warmth to move through her. She liked how it felt.
Perfect vision...okay. ; ) Your birthday is over. Glad I was able to share a little of it with you. I should get some sleep, too. Good night, Gage.
There was a strong pull inside that Gage was fighting. He didn’t want to end their chat, but it was for the best, so he did just that typing back.
I’m glad you were able to also. Night, Tilly. ;)
Tilly read his message; she couldn’t stop the smile. She shut off the lights, went upstairs and got ready for bed. She slipped into bed next to her husband, but it was thoughts of Gage that she fell asleep to.
Gage backed out of the app, stripped down to his boxers and climbed into a cold empty bed. He closed his eyes and when visions of Tilly skated through his mind, his cock twitched. That sensation had him sitting up. This was a woman he’d just met. What the fuck. One he’d only exchanged a few words with. Okay, more than just a few words, but still. Could the attraction he felt have to do with what he was lacking in his own marriage? Curiosity got the best of him as he reached for his phone on the nightstand. A few seconds later, he tapped on the Open Book icon then began to search for Tilly. He didn’t know her last name, but he scrolled through the Tillians and Tillys. It didn’t take long before he found a Tillian living in West Chester, PA. He touched the small pic. The profile appeared and the small image, now bigger, was a picture of Tilly with what Gage suspected to be her two kids. They were all dressed up, wide smiles on their faces, and standing in front of a school. He noticed that her daughter had the same color hair, and only a few facial similarities of Tilly. Her son had her nose and eyes, but his hair was much darker. His finger started moving the screen. The posts all seemed to be about her kids and recipes or jokes she had reposted. When he wasn’t finding much info about her life, he tapped on photos. Her profile must have had a privacy setting as only a few images popped up. One was of her and a man, her husband? Gage was man enough to say he wasn’t a bad looking guy, but where Gage was rough around the edges, her husband wasn’t. He had more of a clean-cut appearance. What he did notice in that picture was there seemed to be a forced smile on Tilly’s face. She was still gorgeous, but her eyes weren’t shining and her grin wasn’t wide, like both had been when she had sent him a pic. He tapped on the image and saw the date on the picture was from eleven months ago. Had she been suffering in her marriage for that long? Was she just caught off guard by the person snapping the picture? Did it really matter? No. They were bothverymarried. Gage backed out of the app, set his phone on the nightstand and sunk back down into bed. He didn’t find sleep until a while later, and even knowing it was wrong, Tilly was on his mind when he did.
CHAPTER THREE
Gage pushed the last biteof the carrot cake around on his plate. His wife and parents were discussing his daughter’s grades. He might be physically there, but his mind was elsewhere. A place that it had no right being. The last time he spoke with Tilly was Friday night. He’d grabbed for his phone numerous times yesterday to send her a message, but he didn’t want to be too forward. He even locked his cell away in a locker at the batting cages when he went out with his daughter so he wouldn’t reach for it. There’d been a hint of excitement when he went to retrieve it, thinking there might possibly be a message waiting for him. But nothing. As Saturday fell into the night, he thought he might have scared her off. Maybe exchanging pics so early was too much. Or, maybe she felt guilty.
Gage didn’t know why he hadn’t heard from Tilly, but he did know it was eating him up inside. Something he didn’t find settling well in his gut. Was it the lack of conversation in his own marriage that caused the pull to Tilly?
“Do you not like it?” Heather asked in a low voice when his parents’ attention turned to Scarlett.
No, he didn’t like it. Her favorite was carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, not his. Not to mention, he wasn’t a fan of eating cake at eleven in the morning, but his parents had already made plans. So, he took what he could get.
Gage directed a smile her way. “Just full from breakfast,” he lied.
“How’s business going?” His dad asked, removing himself from the conversation between the girls when they moved it to anti-aging facial creams.
Gage nodded. “It’s going good,” he told him and added, “Hired two new guys, hoping that I can take a few days off here and there.”
His father gave him hard eyes, tilting his head, he challenged, “Just make sure you can afford it. Can’t go loaning you money anymore.” Then his father looked at his watch and said to Gage’s mother, “You ready? We’re meeting the Berks at noon.”
Gage felt the dig about money hit him. He pushed the plate away from him when his stomach began to turn. Jesus, it’d been ten fucking years since he had asked his dad to loan him money. One of the lawnmowers had died, and at the time, Gage didn’t have the money to replace it. His dad lent it to him, but he paid back every damn penny within four months. The great Charles Sutherland liked to remind his son of the time he needed help, not a comforting memory, but a reminder that his father was better.
“Oh, yes,” His mother cooed and rose from her seat. “Look at the time.”
Gage rose and said his farewells to his parents before he turned to Heather who was cleaning up the table. “Gonna take Velvet for a walk.”
