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His body relaxes, and I can tell he’ll stay.
“Deal.” He runs and jumps on the couch, kicks his shoes off, and props his feet up on my well-worn coffee table. Pointing at his bare feet, he asks, “Is this okay?”
I nod, giggling. “No socks?”
His eyes dart to his feet, and then he looks embarrassed. Dropping them to the floor, he hurries to explain. “Wow! That was rude of me. I forgot I wasn’t wearing socks. I was kind of in a rush to get out the door.”
“It’s okay. I keep it casual around here. You can kick your feet up. Soda?”
He lifts his feet back onto the table, crossing his legs at the ankle and leaning his head back on his linked hands. “Yes, please. Let’s get these grand plans started.”
“Go ahead and find a movie. My movie collection is in the large drawer in the TV console, or you can choose one from pay-per-view.”
I walk back into the kitchen and stack the dirty dishes in the sink to deal with later. I fill two glasses with ice and pour soda in both then wait for the bubbles to fizzle down. Sneaking a peek over my shoulder, I spy him kneeling in front of the television, flipping through the cases. His shirt has risen, and I get an eyeful of those sexy back dimples above his jeans.
Dirty thoughts of him are swirling around my head when he asks, “How about A Fool’s Future?”
My eyes meet his, and I immediately turn back to the sodas, pretending to be busy and hoping he didn’t see me checking him out. Sounding flippant, I say, “Sure, if you’re up for something chick-flicky.”
“I’ve never seen it. But if you own it, it must be good.”
I walk to the couch, setting the drinks down on the table before curling up on the side opposite where Charlie’s taking up space. The DVD starts as he takes a few sips of his drink.
“Thank you—”
“No worries,” I reply.
“Thank you for letting me stay.”
I stretch my legs out next to me and nudge him with my foot. “Thanks for staying. Now hush. I love this movie.”
He chuckles, and a happy peace fills the room.
We polish off a medium extra-cheese and pepperoni pizza, two more cupcakes each, and sit through a rom-com and a gangster movie before we fall asleep.
I wake up around four thirty. Our legs are tangled between us on the couch, and my foot is between his thighs. Oh my. Just two small inches north of my toes and . . . I wiggle my foot out super slow so my mind doesn’t linger in the gutter.
He also fell asleep but then stirs, his eyelids barely rising. His eyes are more gray than blue under the haze of sleep.
“Hi,” I say. My voice is raspy from the nap. “Guess we were both tired.”
He may look drowsy, but light reflects off his eyes, making them shine. “Yeah, we were up kind of late last night.”
I don’t know if it’s his soft, comforting expression or his words, but I feel warmer. I’d like to say I’m blushing, but the heat is not just in my cheeks. It’s all over. I sit up and grab my drink, taking several large sips to cool down.
Charlie sits forward, swinging his feet to the floor, and scrubs his face roughly with his hands.
“You want to go for a walk? I could use some fresh air.” I offer because I could use some, too, though maybe more for the cool breeze than the freshness of the air.
“I’d like that.”
We put our shoes on, and I grab a jacket before we make our way down to street level.
“I like this part of the city. Lived here long?” he asks.
“Not that long, but I always liked this neighborhood. Jim wanted to live uptown. He considered Murray Hill once as a compromise to me, but that was still more uptown than I wanted. His parents disapproved of my suggestions because they wanted him close to them.” I laugh at the memory. “A five-minute cab ride was too far for their liking.”
“You lived together when you were still dating?”
“What can I say? He was very convincing.”
“He convinced you? You didn’t want to?”
“I did, but I didn’t. I’d never lived with a guy, so it was a big step. We were engaged at the time, but I think I was scared something would happen and then . . .” We stop at a corner a few blocks away from my apartment. Charlie doesn’t move. He faces me and waits for me to finish. “And then all that stuff did happen, and I’m here now.”
“It suits you.”
“What does? Being single?”
He laughs, a real gut chuckle. “No, your apartment and this neighborhood. It suits you.”
I look up at him and smile. He makes me feel good about myself, about my choices, and about what my instincts told me a long time ago. Instincts I didn’t trust and was talked out of back then. “Thanks, Charlie.”
