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The doorbell startled me when it rang at five minutes after two. I stared stupidly at the screen of my cell phone. I’d expected a text letting me know he had arrived, but it looked like he came to my door.
I looked through the peephole to see him standing there in all his uber-manliness, staring down at the floor, one hand resting on a lean hip, the other loose at his thigh. Even distorted through the peephole he looked damn good. I braced myself and swung open the door.
His gaze took in my running shoes, traveled up my legs, scanned my shorts and floral-embroidered tank, noted the open short sleeve shirt attempting to diffuse attention from my ample chest, and landed on my face.
In describing him to Junie and Minty, I’d overlooked his best feature but upon meeting his stunning eyes, for only the second time, I was forcibly reminded.
“Hi.” I found myself suddenly short of words. Mobility was also apparently budgeted as I stood motionless in my doorway.
He gave me a slight smile, his eyes steady on mine. “Hi. You ready to go? Got your bug spray?” he teased.
I mentally shook myself and laughed. “Sunscreen and a floppy hat, too.”
He stood back as I locked my door. We took the two flights of stairs down to the ground floor, his hand light on the small of my back as we crossed the parking lot to his SUV. He opened my door and waited for me to seat myself before closing it and circling around to the driver’s side.
While I was not interested in a relationship, I did enjoy the niceties of being with a man. The little things, like the unnecessary but oh-so-pleasant guiding hand at my back, opening doors for me, walking on the outside of the sidewalk, all the subtle proprietary touches, I enjoyed it all.
I wasn’t opposed to sex, but it triggered my anxiety, making it difficult sometimes to lose myself in the pleasure. Not to mention, in my experience, not too many men knew what to do with a woman’s body. Barrett was definitely a gentleman, but I couldn’t begin to guess whether or not he knew what to do once he had a naked woman under him. It wouldn’t be the first time the cover of the book lied about the contents.
I reminded myself that it didn’t matter. I was interested in a different set of contents, the only ones that mattered seeing as we were only going to be friends.
We drove for a few minutes with the radio on and the windows down. He’d asked my preference, windows or A/C, and I’d chosen windows. Any opportunity to get away from the A/C and out into the fresh air, I took. We’d driven for a few minutes in complete silence.
“Are you, uh, always this quiet?” I asked.
He glanced at me. “Yes.”
“You don’t like to talk?”
“I listen more than I talk.” he paused. “I want to get to know you, but I don’t want to start hammering you with questions. I figure we’ve got time to learn each other. There’s no hurry.”
“Are you always this direct and intense with your, uh, friends?”
His lips twisted slightly to the side, and he glanced at me again. “No.”
I blew out a breath. Nerves assailed me. I didn’t do well with empty space in company, or even when I was alone if truth be told.
“Sit back into the seat. There’s nothing you need to do or say, and there’s nothing you can say or do that would be wrong right now. If you want to chat, I’d love to hear what you have to say. If you’re happy to sit back and take in the view? That’s fine, too. If you want to ask me questions, go ahead. Just be prepared to answer the same ones back.”
I scanned back and forth through the windshield, thinking, the tension between us was growing and I started to wonder if it was nerves and if it was all coming from my end. I decided to try to relax, see if I could calm my nerves. Maybe going out with him was a colossal mistake. No, bad thought. That was not helping me to relax.
“I think I’ll, uh, just take in the view.”
If I said ‘uh’ one more time I was going to slap myself. I habitually wore a mantle of cheer and confidence when I was out in public. Somehow, I felt he could see beneath it, and I felt foolish putting it on. I felt naked with him, and not in the good way I’d been imagining.
“Feel free to man the controls of the radio.”
“Where are we going?”
“Did you bring your camera?”
I looked up in surprise. “Yes, how did you know?”
He shrugged. “You’re an artist.”
“Huh. Anybody ever told you that you’re scary smart?”
He smiled. “Birds or waterfalls?”
