Face to Face (5 page)

His
shoulders grew tight under her arms, and the tension in the room went up a bit.
“How about watching one o
f those movies we’re always
talking about?”

He
slid her off his lap and stood.

Wow, I
don’t
make him that nervous, do
I?

She
watched him pace. Catching his attention, she motioned for him to come to her.
“Come over her
e
and s
it down. You’re going
to wear a
hole in the floor. You’re more nervous than
I am, and you have no reason to be.”

Slowly
making his way across the room, he grinned at her. “Who says I’m nervous? Maybe
I’m just anxious.”

“Nervous,
anxious, in this context both me
an the same thing. Now sit
down
and talk to me
.”
Grasping his hand, she pulled him down to sit beside her. “We’ve known each
other for four years. We’ve talked about everything under the sun and moon. You
know how I feel abo
ut
you,
you’ve known that for some time. Loosen
up, darlin
’. I’m not going to bite you…yet.” Winking
at him, he finally laughed again, and she sensed the tension between them drop
away.

“Talking
on the phone, texting, and instant messaging online is a lot different than
having you here in person. I’m not sure wha
t to do.”

Still
holding his hand, she gave his fingers a reassuring squeeze. “Do I need to get
my laptop or phone to get you to talk to me tonight?” She couldn’t help but
laugh again. Ash could easily keep her laughing so much her cheeks would hurt
well be
fore their conversation was over.

“No,
smart ass, you don’t need your phone or laptop.” Gathering her into his arms,
he hugged her tightly, whispering, “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too.
Just relax and be yourself. Now we can actually do all the
things we’ve
talked about over the years. Go pick out
a movie,
then
we can get started on our to-do list.”

Watching
him walk back across the room to the entertainment center was an awesome sight.
He was quite graceful for his size. She hadn’t expected someone six-foot
two-inches tall, broad shouldered, and used to lots of
manual labor to be so light on his feet.

“I
feel like a damned teenager on his first date, not the fifty-year-old I am. How
do you do that to me?”
He
blushed slightly as he carried
back four movies
to
her
.

“Well,
you don’t appear too old to blush.” He tried to avoid looking her in the eye,
but she wouldn’t let him. Laughing, she knew exactly how he felt. “You think
you’re the only one who feels that way? I don’t remember feeling like this,
even as a teenager
. Hell, I can’t ever remember
feeling like this.” Picking out
The
Shawshank
Redemption
,
her favorite movie, she watched again as he walked back across the room.

As
he stooped to put the DVD in the player, she enjoyed the view of his jeans
pulling tight acr
oss his butt.
Manual
labor definitely does a body good.
Grinning to herself, she didn’t notice him turn his head
and look at her until he startled her by saying, “Woman, you need to stop
looking at me like you’re going to eat me alive.”

Realizing
he’d
busted her ogling his ass, she blushed. “Oh my
God, am I that obvious?” She couldn’t help but suck in a breath when the
best-looking smile she’d ever seen spread across his face.

“Okay,
let’s ge
t d
inner cooked so we can eat, and then
watch the movie. How d
oes that sound? Then maybe you’ll stop devouring me with
your eyes.” His laugh was infectious as they headed for the kitchen.

Chapter Four

The
grill worked like a charm. The steaks were cooked to perfection just like the
potatoes. Thankfully, the co
nvection oven worked as
advertised. “You cook a mean
steak
, Mister James.”

“Well,
thank you, Miss Thomas. Next time it’s your turn to cook. I’ll put in my
request now for the fabulous lasagna you showed me a few months ago.”

She
couldn’t believe he remembe
red the lasagna she had
cooked some time ago. “I can do
that. I think I have everything but the
mozzarella, which I can get any time.”

They
had the kitchen cleaned up and the dishwasher loaded, so they drifted back into
the living room to the couch. “Let’s
start the movie.
We might be able to stay awake through to the end, could be tough after that
meal though.” Luckily, she had purchased a sectional sofa with a lounger
attached. There was enough room for them both to get comfortable side-by-side
to watch t
he movie if he’d relaxed and wanted to get
closer to her.

After
she hit play, she swung her legs up on the lounger, offering him the spot next
to her. She was a little surprised when he readily accepted. He slid up
alongside her and fitted his body to hers
, his
shoulder creating a nice pillow for her head as the movie started.

They
seemed to fit perfectly into each other. No one had ever matched her like Ash.
He reached up, tu
rned
her face toward him
,
and said, “You’re thinking too hard again, just enjoy th
e moment and the movie.” He chu
ckled, giving her a quick, soft
kiss on the nose.

“How
do you know when I’m thinking about things?”

“I’ve
told you I can hear the gears in your head turning. Seriously, your body
language changes, and you feel different. I
don’t
know how to explain the difference any other way.”

“I
think you know me too well.”

He
chuckled and went back to watching the movie.

Shortly
after he pulled her in closer, his breathing evened out. He’d apparently fallen
asleep. She didn’t want to loo
k, to move and possibly
wake him. The moment was too right to mess up by disturbing him.

He
was keeping her warm a
nd
comfy wrapped up in his arms. A little while later
her eyelids began to dr
oop
, but s
he stayed awake long enough to see the rooftop scene in
the movie. The
n the
next thing she knew, Ash was whispering in her ear, “Wake
up, sleepyhead. We missed the last half of the movie.”

She
looked down to see their hands clasped with
their fingers entwined
. She pulled them to her chest before
she asked, “Wh
at time is it?”

“Early, about four a.m.”
His thumb brushed back and forth lazily
over her inner wrist.

She
never realized how sensitive that little patch of skin could be. Not wanting
things to end yet, but knowing he probably wanted to leave, she said,
“Guess we’ll have to set another date to finish the DVD.”

“Sorry,
guess I relaxed a little too much. We could go back to sleep and watch the rest
of the show in the daylight. Unless you’d rather I went home.”

“Are
you kidding? I’ve been trying to find ways
to keep
you here.”

He
pushed her to her back and looked her in the eye. “All you have to do is say
stay.”

He’d
pulled his hair back with the leather tie again. Reaching up with her free
hand, she laid her palm against his stubble-roughened cheek and watch
ed as his tongue slid slowly over his soft, full bottom
lip. She looked up at his eyes before she could think any harder about his
mouth and kissing him until they were both breathless. So overwhelmed by the
emotion she saw swirling in Ash’s sparkling, bri
ght
blue eyes, she could only whisper, “Stay.”

A
bone deep sigh rushed from his lips. She hadn’t noticed the tension in his arms
until it disappeared on his release of breath. “Thank you, God.”

Her
chuckle seemed loud in the quiet room. “Did you seriously
think I would ask you to leave?” Not giving him time to
respond to her question, she ran her thumb across his bottom lip before she
kissed him. She gently brushed her lips over his then back again, playfully
teasing a deeper kiss from him. He took control
from
her, nibbled at the corner of her mouth, and took advantage of her exhale,
sliding his tongue into her mouth to glide along her own.

The
sectional lounger suddenly seemed too small for the two of them. His hand slid
up under her T-shirt, and the callu
ses on his hands
raised goose bumps all over her torso. The sensation was so sensual she had a
hard time not shedding her restrictive clothing.
Funny,
when I put these on, they weren’t this damn tight.
Slowly, his leg slipped between hers,
ramping up her d
esire for him even more and making
his arousal all the more noticeable.

Reaching
up, she slowly pulled the band loose from his hair again. The strands slid down
to hang like curtains around them. She ran her fingers through his silky hair,
massaging his sc
alp, and his eyes slid shut on a soft
moan of apparent pleasure. “Fuck, that’s sexy.”

His
eyes snapped open at her words. “Wow.”

“What?”

“I
don’t think I’ve ever heard you drop an f-bomb before.”

“Sorry,
do you not like it?”

“Hearing
that word come from yo
u is actually kind of hot.”

She
laughed and shook her head. “I’d say typical man comment, but I already know
you aren’t the
typical
man.” As she shifted to palm his
erection through his pants, she had a sense of falling and almost took them
both off the lo
unger onto the floor.

“Whoa,
where do you think you’re going? I’m sure this is more comfortable than the
floor, hon.”

“Ha,
ha…let’s move somewhere with a bit more surface area.”

Ash
framed her face with his hands, slipping his fingers into the hair at her
temples. “Are you sure you want to take things further so
soon?”

“Yes.
Don’t you think four years—hell, we’re closing in on five now—is long enough?”

“God,
yes, but I don’t want you regretting anything.”

“Unless
you’re a quick draw, I can’t think of
anything I’ll
regret. Well, except for not grabbing the chance in the first place.”

With
a slight laugh
,
he said, “I’d like to say I’m anything
but a quick draw, but this first time with you, I can’t guarantee anything.
I’ll try like hell not to be though.
”

“Doesn’t matter to me anyway.
Finally being able to have you next to
me is just as good right now.”

Ash
stood and held out his hand to help her up. She found the remote and turned off
the TV before taking his hand. Once they stood
facing each other
, he p
ulled
her into his embrace again.
He ran his hands down her sides to palm
her butt
, and picked her up. S
he
quickly wrapped
her legs
around his hips
. The move left his erection rubbing over her already
sensitive mound. She couldn’t wait to get out of her cl
othes, they’d become tighter, heavier—a barrier she couldn’t stand.

Keeping
his hands on her ass for support, he asked, “Still the second door on the
right?”

What the hell?
She was a bit surprised and a lot
confused. “Yeah, how did you know that?”

“A
schoo
l friend of mine
used to live here
with his parents. I helped them paint
when they
moved in
and spent a lot of time here as a kid
.”

“I
was about to ask if you’d been here snooping while I was at work this week.”

His
eyes twinkled as she stared into
them,
making her
wonder if she wasn’t partly right. But she knew he wouldn’t, he was too honest
with everything else to hide sneaking into her house from her.

“You’ve
gone all tense on me again. I wouldn’t come in here without your permission,
you should know th
at.”

“I
do, it just caught me off guard.”

“I
shouldn’t have made it seem like I might have. I forgot about your ex stalking
you for a while after your divorce.
Relax,
I would never come here without
clearing it with you first.” He hugged her to him as he walked to the bedroom.

The
motion of his steps ground his hard cock against her more firmly. She dropped
her forehead to his shoulder and said, “Shit, hurry up. You’re
killin
’ me here.”

His
laugh curled her toes again.
Damn how does he do that with just a
laugh?
“Okay,
that didn’t help. Get a move on, cowboy.”

“Cowboy, huh?”

“Yeah,
if you mosey any slower I might just die from lack of proper loving.”

“Well,
I can’t let
that happen.” His hands shifted to her
ass again, one slipping far enough he could stroke her pussy through her jeans.
“Wow, you are ready aren’t you?”

“
Mmmm
…” She let her head fall back on her
shoulders as his fingers pressed a little harder.
“Holy hell.”

A
tremor ran through his shoulders under
her grasp
, and a
grin tightened the muscles in her
cheeks when she sensed him gain speed to her room.

“Nice.”

Her
bedroom was her haven, all burgundy, brown, and gold. All her books and
personal mementos were there
, arranged with the
greatest of care. She had created a reading nook in one corner, which contained
a floor lamp with adjustable lights and an oversized armchair she could
comfortably curl up in to read her favorite authors. Her bed was a queen-size,
with
a canopy of crisscrossing wrought iron bars that
met in the center forming an intricate, circular, lace pattern. Nothing too
frou-frou, she definitely wasn’t a ruffles and flowers type.

“Okay,
I can’t see a thing. Do you keep it dark enough in here?”

“I
li
ke it dark when I sleep. Take two steps to your
left.” When he’d taken the two steps she reached behind him and opened the
bathroom door. The automatic nightlight gave off enough light to see. “I can
see you just fine, how about you?” She tucked up under h
is chin and kissed his throat, dragging a moan up through his torso. The
rumble from his chest made her nipples tingle and sent a shiver down her spine.

As
he laid her on the bed, she slid his shirt up out of his waistband and over his
head. The muscle def
inition was a beautiful thing to
behold. The best webcam in the world couldn’t have done him as much justice as
he deserved. Her hands seemed to have a
mind
of their own as they caressed his eig
ht-pack abs, his pecks, tweaked
his nipples with her fingernai
ls, and moved up to his shoulders. She couldn’t get enough.
To have him skin to skin with her would be heaven.