by Melanie Ting
“Now?” I checked my watch and it was almost ten o’clock. “It’s so late.”
“I know. I should have been working earlier, but you’re very distracting.” He shrugged. “We have an afternoon game tomorrow, and there are many details I want to address beforehand.”
I stood up. “Oh, okay. Sorry about that.”
He stood up too and closed the distance between us. “Please don’t apologize. You made me a nice dinner, and the company was even better.”
He reached out and ran the back of his hand along my upper arm. Bam, a new erogenous zone was created. His nearness was rendering me wordless. I made a humming noise of agreement that came out like a whimper.
“So, are we still on for our date?”
“This wasn’t it?” I croaked. Because tonight was the best thing to happen to me in months. I fed someone and he turned on my electrical circuits. Hot diggity dog.
“No!” He sounded shocked. “A date is me picking you up and taking you somewhere special. Are you free tomorrow night?”
It took me all of one millisecond to review my social calendar. Painting at home with only a snoring cat for company or seeing the amazing Leo again. “I’m free.”
“Parfait. I am free as well. Send me your address, and I’ll see you around seven.”
He watched as I lingered in the doorway. Then he leaned towards me. His hand rose and brushed an errant strand of my hair. The warmth of his hand tickled my cheek. Was he going to kiss me? Hot damn. I closed my eyes. Time for some telepathic mind control: kiss me, kiss me, kiss me.
I opened my eyes, and Leo was smiling at me. So much for mind control.
“À demain, Jacqueline.”
“I don’t know what that means,” I confessed. It wasn’t enough words for “This attraction between us is seismic,” which was what I was thinking.
“Until tomorrow,” he explained, that knowing smile never leaving his face. I was so out of my league here.
I nodded and wrenched the door open. Twenty-four hours might be enough time for me to tame the pure lust I was feeling. Or not.
8
Girl Talk
Jackie
I got in the van and put my head on the steering wheel. What the hell was I thinking? Well, it was pretty clear I wasn’t thinking at all. Or my lady parts had taken over my brain parts. Before I started up the van, I checked my phone. Ten messages from Sharon.
Shoot. I was supposed to drop by her place after I finished up here. In my lust-daze, I had completely forgotten. I called Sharon. “So sorry, I got tied up. Is it too late to drop over?”
“You know I’m a night owl. But I was worried about you. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I ended up having dinner with Leo and forgot I was seeing you.”
“Who’s Leo?”
“Umm, Leo is Coach Jerk-head.”
“Oooh,” she cooed. “You’re on a first name basis now?”
“Yeah. That’s what I need to talk to you about. See you in fifteen minutes.”
I released the parking brake and eased out from the curb. Was there any chance that Leo was watching me now? Then he’d know exactly what I was: a sexless hockey mom. V-A-N spelled out woman used to hauling large numbers of kids and groceries, not woman used to hauling high heels, lingerie, or sex toys. Maybe you didn’t even need to shop for those things. Maybe if you were a femme fatale, your many lovers brought you sexy gifts and laid them at your stilettoed feet—like Minx brought her ratty mouse to me every day.
Blergh. He probably drove a sports car or something.
Even thinking about Leo was making me breathe faster. He was so incredibly hot. Not only that body, but also his take-charge manner. Why did that caveman thing turn me on?
I parked in front of Sharon’s house. Like the shoemaker’s children, her place was always in the midst of some renovation. Right now the front steps were missing, so I climbed up the cement blocks that were a substitute. I knocked and walked right in.
“It’s me. Not a burglar or anything. Shouldn’t you be locking the door?” Sharon was in the living room with her feet up and a glass of wine beside her.
“You think whenever you leave the safety of West Van, you’re entering a war zone.” She shook her head. “Soooo, what the fuck’s up with this coach?”
“Oh God. I went to his place to finish up the kitchen and hang the curtains in the little girl’s room. I thought he was on a road trip, but it turns out that’s next weekend—”
“Get to the good stuff.” Sharon handed me my own glass of wine and then relaxed against the cushions.
“He walked into the kitchen while I was there and scared me.”
Sharon frowned. “Is that it?”
“No, he had just taken a shower, and he was only wearing a towel. He has this amazing body, with muscles here and here.” I motioned to my chest and arms. “And there were little beads of water on his skin. He looked so hot.”
I paused and closed my eyes, remembering everything about how he looked. “He’s good-looking too. Not in a conventional way, but he has these sharp angles in his face. His cheekbones, his eyebrows, his mouth... everything.”
“So far you’re only giving me an inventory of facial parts.”
“Oh, sorry.” I snapped out of my daze. “I saw his business too!”
“His business? For fuck’s sake, Jackie, how old are you? You mean his penis, right?”
I nodded vigourously. “Through the towel. It was um, impressive. And you know what? My mouth actually fell open, and he laughed at me and said something suggestive.”
“Seeing that he was half-naked and you were drooling, I’m surprised that nothing happened. Nothing happened, did it?”
“No.” My lower lip turned down. “Not tonight anyway. He asked me out.”
“Fuck, yes! You’re finally going on a date. It’s about time.”
“I’ve been on dates,” I protested.
“Yes, innocent, polite little coffee dates. Not evening dates with the possibility of sex.”
I swallowed hard. Could a date with Leo end up in sex? I was willing to make whatever ritual sacrifices were necessary to make this happen. “He’s the first man I’ve been attracted to since Brent. And it’s huge.”
“Are we talking about his dick again?”
“No! I mean the way I’m attracted to him. It’s almost overwhelming. I hardly know him, and I wanted to have sex with him, right there in the kitchen.”
“Mmmm, I am so happy to hear you say this. You’ve been strangely asexual for months.”
I shook my head. “What’s it like? Having sex with someone new. The last time I took my clothes off with a new person, I had a fabulous twenty-something body. All firm parts and flawless skin.”
“Yeah, but did you know that then? In our twenties we all agonized about tiny food babies or a single zit. Now if I get up and nothing new sags, I’m throwing a fucking party.”
“You’re right. I felt like I was getting more confidence as I got older, until....” Until Brent left. My life these days could be divided into two parts: Before Brent Left and After Brent Left. But when Leo had touched me, it wakened all my buried senses. If he could do that by touching my hands and hair, imagine what his hands on my body could do. But taking off my clothes in front of a stranger was still daunting. Things had changed while I was married. Even naked bodies were different these days.
“Can we talk about shaving?” I asked.
Sharon’s hand flew to her upper lip. “Fuck. Am I turning into my Nonna? Why didn’t you tell me before?”
I giggled. “Not you. I mean me. Do guys expect women to have full Brazilians these days? I’ve never done that stuff.” I trimmed because otherwise Brent complained about going down on me. But that hadn’t been necessary lately.
“You’re in luck. I heard that the bush is back.” She had a big sip of her wine. “You know that guys shave now too, right?”
I winced. Hairless made me think of Greek statues, not real
men. “I heard about that, but I thought it was only young guys.”
She nodded. “Yeah, most guys our age won’t go near their balls with a razor. However, if it makes their dicks look bigger, sometimes they’ll take the risk.”
“In fairness, women go through a lot of pain to make themselves look good. Still, why bother? Once I’m naked with a man, it’s not like I’m going to change my mind because of some optical illusion that his penis is larger.”
Sharon giggled. “Have you not learned that when it comes to penises, guys don’t do a ton of logical thinking?”
I tried to imagine Leo naked. It wasn’t hard since I had already seen him half-naked. Would he be shaved? His chest was smooth, firm, and muscular. What would it feel like to run my hand over those muscles? Lick off those tiny droplets of water and then suck on his little—
Sharon interrupted my fantasies. “Jackie, you’re mouth-breathing. This guy’s got you horny as fuck.”
“Unnngh. Leo’s body is so incredible. Brent in his prime was not built like that.”
“When are you going out?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Fuck, yeah. You two don’t waste any time.”
I laughed. “I don’t have time to waste. There are only a few days I don’t have kids.”
“It is possible to get babysitters you know.”
I sipped my wine. It had been a while since I’d needed a babysitter. I could ask my parents, but that was a two-hour drive. Post-divorce dating was going to take a lot of planning.
“So he’s hot? Did he used to play hockey?” Sharon picked up her phone. “Let’s find out. What’s his last name?”
“Gauthier.” I spelled it out in case I wasn’t pronouncing it right. “He’s French-Canadian. He has this tiny accent when he says TH words. It’s hot.”
“Oh my God. You’re worse than Kayla. She’s got a crush on a guy named Ivan, and that’s all I’ve been hearing about. Ivan does this and that, and it’s so hot.”
“At least she tells you. Hannah never tells me if she has a crush on anyone.”
“Leo Gauthier. He’s a cutie pie. You have good taste, Jackie.” She scrolled on. “Hmmm, he’s a big deal coaching prospect apparently. Smart too, for a hockey guy. He’s got a Masters degree in psychology. And... oh, no fucking way! He’s 35 years old.”
My eyebrows shot up. No wonder his body looked so good—he was still young and full of testosterone and collagen. “Well, that’s it. I can’t go out with someone who’s seven years younger than me.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not a cougar. Besides, it’s too weird, I could have been his—” I paused. Biologically, I couldn’t have been his mother. “—uh, babysitter.”
“Young guys always get crushes on their babysitters.” Sharon was a master of plausible yet unprovable statements like this. “But for you to be this nervous and excited, you must feel like there’s a chance something real could happen.”
I nodded. “I know that it’s been years and years since I dated, but there’s this vibe between us. It’s intense. Unless he’s like that with all women.”
I rubbed the palm of my hand in exactly the same place he had touched me. “Maybe it’s silly, but I’ve already spent so much time in his apartment, trying to figure out what he likes. So I felt like I knew him already. But he certainly wasn’t anything like I’d imagined he’d be like.”
“So, are you going to cancel the date because he’s younger than you thought?”
We locked eyes and laughed simultaneously. There was no way I wasn’t going out with Leo.
9
Mountain Goat
Jackie
Outfit Number Eight was the winner: a white angora turtleneck with my magic pants—a stretchy black pair that were both comfy and flattering. The floor of my walk-in closet was filled with the first seven rejected outfits. “Wear something warm and comfortable,” Leo had said. That was a challenge when I was trying to look sexy as well.
At least I had nice underwear on. I had spent way too much money on a navy lace bra and panty set after Brent left, hoping to wear them when he came back. What a dummy. It would have taken more than lingerie to fix our marriage. It would have taken marriage counselling, but he’d been adamant about not wanting to do that. So I’d gone alone. Of course that hadn’t helped our marriage, because I could never fully explain why Brent left in the first place, so the therapist could only counsel me on what changes I could make to myself. But Dr. Veol had helped me to get through all the turmoil of the split and made me focus on building a positive relationship for the sake of the kids.
I gave myself a mental head slap. Now was definitely not the time to think about Brent. I needed to think about Leo. But thinking about Leo was making me very nervous. I’d gone out on exactly two dates since my divorce was finalized. One was some guy that Wendy had fixed me up with, who turned out to be about sixty and mega-boring. The other was a guy I’d met at an art supply seminar. He was teaching the seminar and demonstrating acrylic mediums. We’d gone for coffee afterwards and had a nice time, but there wasn’t really a spark. I got some free acrylic medium though.
Leo, on the other hand, was giving off more sparks than a sparking sparkler thing. When he had asked me out, I’d felt hypnotized. Like I would say yes to whatever he wanted. He was more persuasive than pushy though. And he had a degree in psychology, right? So maybe he knew exactly what I wanted and all the right buttons to press. That must be why he was a good coach. Or maybe I had given myself away with all the drooling at the sight of his body. Was that why I was putting on nice underwear? Because even in my most partying days, I had never slept with anyone on the first date.
There was a knock at the front door, and I ran downstairs. I took one deep breath, tried to relax, and opened the door. Leo was standing there in a black down jacket, jeans, and a grey turtleneck. Even with clothes on, he looked gorgeous.
He moved confidently inside, held my shoulders and did that French cheek-kissing thing. Um, you missed my mouth! I had a whiff of cedar and spice cologne. His hands lingered on my arms.
“Hello, Jacqueline. Nice to see you again.” He took in Outfit Number Eight. “You look great, perfect for tonight.”
I blushed. How long was it since an attractive man had complimented me? Unless you counted my art instructor saying my painting wasn’t a complete loss, it had been years. “You look good too. How did your game go?”
Leo shrugged. “We lost. But there are signs of improvement. However, tonight is my reward for all the hard work.”
I pulled my down jacket from the closet, and Leo took it and held it for me. I managed to find the left armhole after only three tries.
“You should bring gloves and a toque too,” he suggested.
“Really? Most men want women to wear less, but you want more?” Look at me, flirting. Woo hoo.
Leo chuckled. “Later, you’re welcome to wear as little as you want.”
Well, my pretty underwear had just gone up in flames, so that was going to save time undressing later.
“Okay, I’ll have to dig out my hat. Have a seat, and I’ll be right back.”
I held my breath as he looked at my colourful flower painting on the living room wall.
“Nice place,” he said. “So, where are your kids?”
“Oh, it’s their weekend with Brent. Their dad,” I added unnecessarily. Leo was the only person in my life who didn’t know who Brent was. A faint shadow passed over his face—maybe he was thinking that he never got weekends with his daughter?
I found my toque, which Minx had apparently slept on, brushed off the cat hair, and off we went. His car turned out to be a classy sedan instead of a sports car. And unlike my van, the interior was free of granola bar wrappers and lone magic gloves, so that was a big plus. To my surprise, he didn’t head back towards Vancouver, but instead stayed on the North Shore.
“Where are we going?”
He turned towards me and grinned. “It’
s a surprise. You like surprises, don’t you?”
I smiled back. “Sure. Who doesn’t?”
Being on a date was so strange. I was the one who planned everything, including dates. Brent would decide what kind of food he felt like eating, and I would find a place and book it.
Then we swung up Capilano Road. Were we going to the Suspension Bridge? Ugh, that was so touristy, but maybe Leo liked that kind of thing. There weren’t many nice restaurants up here, unless we were going to Edgemont Village. Stop stressing, Jackie. I yanked the brakes on my thought process and leaned back on the leather upholstery. It was a surprise, and I wasn’t the mom-in-charge right now.
I exhaled. It felt good to give up control. I had been the worrier for far too long. “How are you enjoying Vancouver so far?”
He shrugged. “I haven’t done that much exploring yet. Joining while the team is still playing means I have a lot to do. Maybe once the season’s done, I’ll have more time. That’s why tonight is nice for me.”
He pulled into the parking lot of Grouse Mountain.
“Oh. This is where we’re going?” I laughed. “We’re not doing the Grouse Grind, are we?”
“What’s that?”
I pointed to the snowy peak of Grouse, which we couldn’t even see from here. “You hike up the mountain. It’s a pretty steep trail. Every summer they have to rescue a few tourists who don’t know what they’re getting into. But the view up top is amazing, and you get to ride the cable car down.”
“Oh yeah, I think the hockey team does that as a part of training camp. Have you done it?”
“Not for years. I’m a trail runner, but I like to keep my runs short.” And relatively flat. These days I was more worried about getting injured, like so many of my running buddies. We got out of the car, and Leo grabbed a gym bag from the trunk.
“Trail running. That’s how you keep in shape.” His gaze raked over me, and I flushed. What was it about this guy? We’d barely touched each other, yet I could feel this intense connection between us. Connection? It was lust, pure and simple.
