by Tl Reeve
She nods, sitting down, and I go into my bedroom, going through my bathroom routine and dressing for horseback riding.
When she walked out of her bedroom earlier, dressed in a pair of jeans, an off-white cable knit sweater, her hair pulled back into a ponytail on top of her head, I lost my breath. Her beauty always overwhelms me, and I feel like I’m the luckiest person in the world to have met her before someone else did.
I walk into the living room. “Are you ready?”
She nods. “Of course! I can’t wait to go. My something new for the week.” She smiles at me and my knees go weak. Her eyes widen in concern. “Is your leg bothering you again? We don’t have to go if you don’t want.”
I’m already shaking my head. “I’m fine. I wouldn’t miss your first time riding a horse.”
I grab my keys and cane, walking over to offer her a hand. She takes it, and warmth fills me from her touch. She stands, and I tug a little too hard, causing her to fall against my chest. With a smile, I tilt her chin up and gently place my lips on hers.
Her lips curve up as she kisses me back. My arms wrap around her, securing her to me. She lifts her fingers to my face, anchoring it in place while she takes control of the kiss this time. Her lips move against mine, making me sweat with want. She tilts her head and opens her mouth, allowing me entrance.
As I stroke her tongue with mine, I feel her get on her tiptoes to get closer. I pull back before I lose control, and pepper small kisses along her cheek to her ear.
“Damn. We’d better stop this before we end up not leaving this dark house,” I whisper.
She moans, pulling back reluctantly.
“Let’s go.” She grabs my hand, pulling me out the front door.
On the ride to the stables, I touch her thigh every now and then to calm her down. Her excitement is contagious, and I’m ready to share this experience with her. We pull up to the stables, and she unbuckles her seatbelt and waits for me to come around to open the door for her.
She bounces out of the car and all the way into the office, where we register. I’ve never seen her so excited. My heart flip-flops at seeing her this happy. We’re greeted and registered, then shown out to the stable.
We’re taught how to feed, brush and saddle the horses before receiving instruction on how to ride. I help her get on her horse before getting on mine. We get a little more instruction before we take off, following the guide to the trail.
“Have you ridden a horse before?” she asks.
“Yep. It’s been about eight years since I’ve ridden.”
I notice how at home she looks on her horse, like she was born to it. We ride for about thirty minutes, chatting with each other and enjoying the wooded area we’re riding through, before the guide pulls up in a clearing. There’s a blanket and a picnic basket set out, with a beautiful view of the lake, ready for our lunch.
“When you finish, just get on your horses and they’ll take you back to the stable. They know the way. Have a wonderful lunch.”
We wave as he disappears.
I dismount and help Maia down from her horse. We walk over to the blanket and sit down. Maia opens the picnic basket and starts pulling things out. There are roast beef sandwiches, macaroni salad, a couple of brownies and some ginger ale.
I divide it between us, and we start eating.
“Thank you so much for bringing me here. I’m having so much fun.” Maia takes a sip of her drink. Her gorgeous blue eyes sparkle with excitement.
“So you like this adventure?” I tease, smirking.
She smiles at me. “Are you teasing me?”
I put my finger and thumb together with a small amount of space between them. “Just a little.”
She smiles at me, and we continue to chat while we eat. We talk about what colors I like and what style of rooms. I don’t care about any of it; I just want her to decorate it the way she likes, and I tell her so. I scoot closer to her and place my lips on hers, enjoying the sparks for a second before pulling back. I can never get enough of her kisses.
She looks at me hesitantly. “I think I should kiss someone else.”
My stomach fizzles. “Why?”
“You were my first kiss. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy kissing you so much.” She places her hand on her chest, looking me in the eyes. “But unlike you, I’ve never been kissed before. I’m sure it won’t be anything like I feel when you and I kiss, but I need to try it. Will it be okay?”
I swallow, forcing the words I don’t want to say to come out. “Okay. But who will you kiss?”
“I was thinking Cameron, the cook at work. He asked me out once and was still nice to me after I told him no. I have to find out if he has a girlfriend first, though.” She seems lost in thought.
I reach over and touch her hand. “For what it’s worth, I’m against this, but if it’s something you need to do…”
She turns her hand in mine, lacing our fingers together. “I feel like I have to try. I know what we have is new and it’s more than friendship, but something in me is telling me to try it.”
I close my eyes and my fingers tighten on hers. I nod, unable to say anything else on the matter. I would only beg her not to do it anyway, and as much as I’m against it, I understand where she’s coming from. After she does it, we can continue to build our relationship to where it’s supposed to be.
“When?”
“On Monday. We both work then, and Tina will be the only waitress there with me. It won’t be so embarrassing for me.”
She lifts our laced fingers, kissing the back of mine and laying them back in her lap. I nod, and we finish eating, not pulling our hands apart.
We enjoy the view of the lake and the blue sky while our conversation flows. I push the worry over her kissing another guy to the back of my mind, but it keeps nagging at me. I won’t get any real sleep until this is over. We clean up the mess we’ve made and put everything away. I help Maia back on her horse and get on mine, and we slowly make the ride back to the stables.
When we arrive back at the stables, we are taught how to remove the saddles and take care of the horses before we leave. As we walk to the car, Maia’s face has a beautiful smile on it, and there’s still a bounce in her step.
“Looks like you had a good time.” I unlock the doors to the car, helping her inside.
She waits for me before she answers. “I did. Thank you so much for bringing me here. This is just what I was talking about when I said I want to try new things.” She looks out the window, then turns back to me. “Do you want to go look at some paint for your house? If I’m going to spend any time there, I need it to be lighter.”
I chuckle. “Of course.”
I’m not ready to be away from her. I don’t think I ever will be.
6
Maia
We spend the rest of the afternoon at the hardware store looking at paint, then going to furniture stores. I get an idea of what he likes and write it down. He gives me his card to make sure I can get anything I need right away. He gives me the number of a contractor who can help with what I need, and we decide to do his bedroom first. I looked at it, and it’s just as dark as the living room.
Afterward, he takes me out to dinner. I know he has me kissing another guy on his mind, but I can’t give in on this one. I really need to see how a kiss from someone else feels. Especially if we’re going to be in a relationship. I feel so close to him, and don’t want to go into this wondering. It’s not like I’m going to have sex with the guy.
He stays at my place again, this time insisting I sleep in my own bed. I toss and turn, not as used to my bed as I should be. Most of my nights are spent on the couch, so I’m not as comfortable.
“Are you okay in there? You’re moving around a lot,” he calls from the living room.
“I’m fine. Just not as used to the bed as I should be,” I respond, turning again.
His shadow appears in the doorway. “Do you want me to come lie down with you?”
“Sure.” I nod in the dark.
His shadow gets closer, and he climbs into the bed. He moves closer to me, putting his arm around me and laying my head on his shoulder. I feel his hand rub soothing circles on my back.
My body relaxes and I drift off as I hear him mumble into my hair, “I don’t like you kissing someone else, but I understand why you have to do it. I just don’t want you leaving me for someone else before we have a chance to be together.”
“That’s something you don’t have to worry about,” I mumble before I fully fall asleep.
I walk into the restaurant, looking around for Tina. I see her waving at me from a table in the middle of the restaurant, right in the center of all the activity. I hesitantly make my way over to her and have a seat.
“Hi! How was your holiday?” she asks after our waitress takes our order.
“It was good. He liked my cooking, and I tasted wine for the first time.” I take a sip of my drink. “How was yours?”
“A mad-house as usual. My poor son still doesn’t know what to make of all the people in the house. With all the family we have, you’d think he’d be used to it by now. My uncle tried to pick him up. He screamed and ran to me, jumping into my arms like a monster was after him or something.” She giggles at the memory.
“Is he around your family all the time?”
She shakes her head. “No. He’s mostly around my brother and parents. He’s never around my husband’s family unless it’s Thanksgiving or Christmas. I guess that’s why. Maybe he’ll get used to it when he gets a little older.” She smiles. “What did you do yesterday?”
“We went horseback riding. It was a lot of fun. I told him I want to kiss another guy, just for experimentation purposes.”
Her head moves forward. “Wait. What did I miss? Kiss?”
I explain to her about kissing Dominic on Thanksgiving and telling him I want to kiss someone else just to see. I tell her that he didn’t like the idea, but agreed.
“I agree with you. You do need to kiss someone else, just to see what it’s like. You’re just coming out of your shell. I’m glad he agreed to it. Are things moving forward with you two?” She sits back in her seat with a smile on her face.
I nod. “We agree that something’s happening between us, but haven’t defined it yet.” I lean closer to her. “Are we moving too fast?”
“Girl, please.” She rolls her eyes at me. “This relationship has taken eight months to move as far as a kiss. He’s spent the last three months walking you to your car. It’s past time for the boyfriend/girlfriend thing. I’m glad you two are getting together.”
The waitress brings our food and sets it down in front of us. She makes sure our drinks are full and we have everything we need before moving on to the next table.
“Where’s the list?” Tina holds out her hand. I pull it out of my purse and hand it to her, then take a bite of my food. I chew nervously while she reads it. “It’s short.”
I nod. “It is. This is just through to the end of the year, then I’ll make one for next year. This list is to get me started now.”
“Have you applied to any jobs?” She’s still staring at the list.
“I have.”
“You went horseback riding yesterday, so that was something new. How about we double-date next week? We can do dinner and dancing next Saturday evening.” She looks up from the list excitedly.
“Okay. I’ll ask him and let you know.” I take another bite of my food.
“We’ll go out after work one night this week too. I’m sure the girls can’t wait to go out with us.” She takes a bite of her food and looks up at me. “Who are you going to kiss?”
“Cameron at work. He’s always nice to me, even though I turned him down for a date. If he doesn’t have a girlfriend, I’ll ask him on Monday, since it’s just you and me at work.” I take a sip of my drink. “How does that sound?”
She considers my response while chewing her food. “He’s perfect. He’s nice and respectful and will give you what you need from him without making a fuss.” She claps her hands together. “I can’t wait until Monday.”
I smile and roll my eyes. I’m not looking forward to Monday. At all.
“What are you doing when you leave here?” She hands the list back to me.
I smile. “Dominic is waiting for me. We’re going to talk to the contractor.”
“Contractor?”
“I’m decorating his house.” I look down and take another bite of my food as a blush takes up residence on my face.
“Damn, girl. When you go in, you go all in. I’m proud of you. Keep this up and you’ll reach your goal in no time.” She smiles at me again.
We spend the rest of lunch chatting and eating our food. It settles something in me to have a good time like this. I feel my life is changing for the better, and I like it. A lot.
After lunch, I meet Dominic and the contractor to go over my vision for his house. The contractor tells me he can make my vision happen and they will get the furniture and pull the carpeting out of the house on Monday, so they can have a fresh start. The house will be lighter immediately, so that will be an improvement. We decide that Dominic will stay with me until his house is finished.
We spend Sunday relaxing in my apartment, since we both go back to work tomorrow. We order in and read the newspaper. I turn what’s left of our Thanksgiving meal into a casserole, so we can have something a little different. I notice Dominic is antsy, and move over to sit by him.
“What’s wrong?”
“This whole kiss thing is bothering me. I know why you have to do it, but what if you kiss him and don’t want me anymore?” He runs his fingers through his hair and leans his head back on the couch.
I stroke his arm. “That’s impossible. I’ve never felt the need to be near anyone like I do with you. I’ve examined how I feel about you and why. At first I thought it was because I was lonely and you were the only person who paid attention to me, but I was wrong. I’ve been asked out on dates before, but it’s never appealed to me. Until you.”
I watch his face as he turns it to me, then continue. “The girls at work always asked me to go out with them to meet guys, and it just never felt right. Tina always tries to fix me up with her brother, but I’ve always refused. You come along and sit in my section every night. We talk and learn about each other.”
I sigh and continue. “I look at you now, and know that I was drawn to you from the beginning. You sparked something in me that said it’s time to move forward.” I lean up and kiss him on the cheek. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
His face relaxes, and he reaches up, running his fingers through my hair. He gives me a warm smile and leans forward, placing his lips on mine. “Thanks,” he says against them.
I leave my lips on his for a moment more before pulling back.
Tracing the inch-long, jagged scar on his cheek, I ask, “How did you get this?”
“When I was fifteen, my friends and I decided we were going to this fenced area that had a ‘Do not trespass’ sign on it. We went in and explored all around the wooded area and played some. It was a lot of fun.” His eyes light up as he remembers that day. “The owner caught us and chased us. We jumped over the fence, and it caught my cheek. I didn’t realize until we were halfway home that the fence had ripped it. I had to get ten stitches. My mom wasn’t too happy about that one.”
I trace the scar again. “I bet all the girls were after you then. You had that bad-boy thing going on.”
He chuckles. “I got a few. But nothing serious.”
“I think it’s hot.” I lean over and kiss it.
He turns his face to mine, kissing me. I lean in to him and grab hold of his arms to hold on as he deepens the kiss. He pulls back, leaving small pecks all over my face, ending on my forehead. He looks into my eyes with a smile on his face.
“Thank you.”
“What for?”
He purses his lips, “The way you make me feel…” He pau
ses as he looks for his words. “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time, it seems. It’s like you just dropped into my life right when I needed you the most.”
“What do you mean?”
He kisses me on the forehead. “The day I walked into your restaurant, I had just resigned myself to a life alone. I hadn’t had a date since my ex left me. She made it seem like it was my fault. Like I didn’t measure up. Then I met you. Even though I wasn’t in your section, you came over and made sure I had what I needed. You didn’t look at me like I was less than. You treated me with kindness and compassion.”
His finger makes a path down the side of my face. “I decided to come in the next night and see if it was just a one-off. I specifically asked to sit in your section. You did the same thing, so I started coming in every night. It became the highlight of my day.” He blinks. “Still is, if you must know. Seeing you is the highlight of every day. I love spending time with you and don’t want to be away from you.”
I smile, my heart warming. “Seeing you is the highlight of my day too. I look for you every day. If for some reason you don’t show up, my day is shot.” I cover my eyes with my hand. “Why am I telling you this?”
“Because we belong together. I know this is the most time we’ve spent together since we met, but it’s right. I can’t wait to see what the future brings us.”
He moves my hand from over my eyes and kisses each one, then reaches for the remote, turning on the television. We spend the rest of the day and evening watching movies until it’s time to go to bed.
He’s up and out the door early Monday morning, going to work. I get up about an hour later and meet the contractor at his house. I watch as they remove all the darkness from his house. We go over color schemes and I give him a schedule of what’s being delivered and when. The painters come in and primer the walls. They explain to me that in order for them to paint the wall a lighter color, they have to get rid of the dark, and since it’s not wallpaper, they have to put a layer of primer in between so the darker color doesn’t leak through the lighter color.
