Finding Abigail (9 page)

We pulled up to
the marina and strolled slowly over to the ice cream stand. He ordered a
chocolate for himself and a rocky road for me. We walked along the docks,
looking at the boats and eating our ice cream cones.

“Your niece and
nephew are adorable. Bobby’s really good at baseball. Does Nicky have any
interest?”

He smiled.
“Yeah, he plays too, but he’s still young.”

“You’re really
good with them. Isn’t it fun to spoil nieces and nephews? You spend time with
them for a couple of hours and when you get tired, you can take them home.”

He nodded in
agreement. “Yeah, I love to get them all hyped up and then send them home to
their parents.” He laughed as he took my hand and led me to the bench to sit down.
I finished my ice cream after he did. I could feel goose bumps form along my
arms. The air was even cooler by the lake.

“It’s pretty
here at night, watching the lights from the boats.” I felt his finger gently
touch my cheek. I turned my head just as he leaned in and brushed his lips on
mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. He took the kiss
deeper, opening his mouth, and I felt a knot in my stomach as his tongue
brushed mine. We jumped apart at the sound of footsteps coming towards us. An
older man was walking by wearing a wide grin.

Nick’s face
colored so slightly I might have imagined it. “Maybe I should take you home
now.”

“Good idea,” I
replied with a giggle.

As we walked
hand in hand to his car, I felt giddy thinking about that kiss, hoping we could
finish it soon.

Ten minutes
later we were sitting in front of my building, with the car turned off. “I
really want to walk you up.” His voice was raspy, his eyes hooded. “So I guess
I should stay here.”

Heat surged
inside me. Was this going too fast, if both of our thoughts were heading this
way? I really wanted to invite him up, but I knew that after that kiss, things
might head in a direction I wasn’t ready for. Instead, I turned to him and
leaned in for a goodnight kiss. It lasted longer than I intended and when I
felt his tongue touch mine, I felt the familiar knot squeeze inside my belly.
Ignoring the alarm bells that were starting in my mind, I let him wrap his arms
around me, pulling me tight against him.

Taking a quick
gasp of air, he took the kiss deeper. When I leaned back to take a breath, he
started to kiss my neck. As small moan escaped my lips, I decided it was time
to go upstairs for a cold shower. “I should go,” I whispered while his lips
moved to my collar bone. “Thank you for a great evening.”

He lifted his
head slowly, gazing at me with chocolate, smoldering eyes. His lips that had
just been busy driving me crazy turned upwards. “Yeah, I guess you should go
before we give your neighbors a show.”

I laughed.
“Thanks again.” I opened my door and stuck a leg out.

“Friday night,”
he said suddenly. I turned at the sound of his voice and raised a brow in
question. “I’ll cook for you at my place.” He touched my arm to stop me from
leaving.

The tightness
in my belly turned to a tornado. “Sure, that sounds nice.” I stepped out and
walked to the door, careful not to turn around for fear one of us would change
our minds. I was breathless as I made my way to the elevator, replaying our
kiss as I waited for the doors to open. I hardly noticed the Murray twins
screaming in their stroller as their mother fumbled with her mailbox key.

“You know what this means, don’t you?”
Brenda asked, sipping her coffee. We had just finished dinner and Jeff was
giving the kids a bath, leaving us a chance to talk. It was Thursday night and
Brenda had asked me over for dinner so I could tell her all about Nick.

“What does it
mean, big sister?” I stole a raspberry turnover off of the dessert tray and
took a bite as I waited for her to enlighten me.

“Men don’t cook
unless they want something. That’s how they seduce you.”

“Yeah, I
figured that one out all by myself. I’m not an idiot.”

“I know, but
it’s been awhile since you were in a relationship. I wasn’t sure if you’d
remember.”

I licked the
raspberry off of my fingers. “Oh please, it wasn’t that long ago that Jason
moved away.”

“One year and
three months to be exact.”

I stuck my
tongue out at her, not bothered at all by the reminder. I was fine with my lack
of love life; it just bothered everyone around me. “But who’s counting, right?”

She took a
turnover and held it in her fingers, staring at it. “Are you sure you’re ready?
You’ve only known him a week.”

“I know, but I
feel like I’ve known him longer. Plus we’ve talked on the phone every day. I’m
ready, believe me.” I couldn’t stop the grin that was spreading across my lips
as I winked at her. “Like you said, it’s been over a year.”

Still holding
the turnover, she sighed heavily before taking a bite. “Fine, but I
will
need
details,” she mumbled with her mouth full.

I laughed as
Jeff came down the stairs. “What did I miss?” he asked, taking a beer out of
the fridge.

I wasn’t going
to tell him. Even though we were pretty close, I had no desire to discuss my
love life with him. Unfortunately, Brenda didn’t feel the same way.

“After a year
of Abby’s dry spell, she’s finally going to take a dip in the pool,” Brenda
explained, which had me gasping and laughing at the same time.

Jeff stared at
her with his beer in his hand, a confused look on his face. “What do you mean?”

Brenda sighed.
“She’s finally going up to bat.” He shrugged his shoulders, still not
understanding. “Taking the plunge?”

“Could you
speak in real language please?”

She groaned.
“She’s finally going to do the nasty with Nick. There, is that spelled out
enough for you?”

I laughed as
Jeff finally realized what she was talking about. “They’re going to have sex?
Why the hell didn’t you just say so?”

I stood up and
grabbed my bag off the floor next to me. “Well, this has been fun discussing my
love life, but I’m going home to plan what to wear tomorrow night.”

Jeff twisted
the top off his beer and tossed it onto the table, where it bounced twice
before landing in the bowl of fruit. “Believe me, if he’s getting sex, he won’t
care if you walk in wearing a potato sack.”

“Thanks,” I
said, smirking at him. “See you later. I’ll call you Saturday morning with
details.”

As I shut the
door behind me, I heard Brenda yell, “You’d better.”

Afterglow

I was nervous
the next day. I couldn’t help but worry about what was going to happen. I knew
what he expected; like Brenda pointed out, when a man made you dinner, it was a
sure sign he was hoping for more than just dessert afterward. I definitely
wanted the same thing, but it had been so long. Would I remember how? What was
I thinking? Of course I knew what to do. It was just like riding a bike. It
would come back to me...right?

At about three
o’clock, I had to stop writing. For some reason I couldn’t get sex off my mind
and it was a tad inappropriate for a pre-K book. I had to figure out what to
wear anyway, and despite what Jeff had said, I needed something more special
than a potato sack.

My mind was
drawing a blank. A dress was too fancy, jeans too casual and really that was
all that was in my closet. Two dresses, and jeans. Maybe Debbie was right, I
needed to shop more often.

After the third
search through my closet, I finally decided on the black dress pants I usually
reserved for meetings with publishers, and a silk shimmering silver blouse that
Debbie had given me for my last birthday.

I left my hair
down, but straightened it since I gave myself plenty of time, and then finished
the look off with dark-gray, smoky eyes. The makeup lady at Brown’s department
store had shown me how to do it, but I hadn’t had a reason to use the technique
until now. The girl looking back at me in the mirror was ready for whatever
came her way. The black pants hugged her legs nicely and the smooth soft silk
of the blouse was low cut, showing just enough to give off a sexy vibe.

Nick lived
outside of town, which meant I had to drive. When I reached my car a nervous
knot formed in my gut and stayed there the whole way.

I pulled up to
an older apartment building. The gray stone was aged; however, the grounds were
clean and decorated with flower boxes that dotted the walkway. The building
itself wasn’t overly huge, just four levels, and from the windows it looked
like there were two units per floor. Inside the entryway, it smelled of
pineapple and coconuts.

I followed
Nick’s directions up to the fourth floor, and reluctantly knocked on 4B. The
sound of soft jazz floated out of the door, which was surprising, I had him
pegged for a strict classic rock fan. I liked the fact that he listened to more
than one type of music. It showed that he had layers, and I looked forward to
getting to know each one. The door swung open just as I was about to knock
again. He stood in front of me wearing a white apron covering dark jeans and
deep-blue collared shirt. The apron had splashes of butter and other
undistinguishable liquids all over it. His face was wearing a half grin as he
took me in, and I noticed a smudge of flour under his left eye. “Hi, are you on
time or am I running late?” he asked, sounding flustered.

With a quick
glance at my watch, I took in the time. “Well, you said six, and it’s six
now...so.” I trailed off as he stared at me. “What?” I asked, wondering if my
mascara was running.

“You look
beautiful,” he answered as he stepped back to let me enter.

His comment left
me flustered. I leaned in as I brushed by and wiped the flour from his cheek
with my thumb. With him so close I couldn’t stop myself from pressing my lips
against his, and breathing in the scent of him.

He leaned into
me. His body was warm and I felt the urge to curl up against it.
Who needed
to eat, let’s just jump to dessert.

He pulled away
first. “As much as I hate to stop you, the door is open, and I really don’t
want to burn dinner.”

Just as he
mentioned the food, I smelled a delicious aroma wafting in the air. I stepped
away from him and glanced around. I heard the door close behind me.

The apartment
was all open concept, with the living room at the back, the kitchen to my left,
and I was standing in the dining room. The table was set with matching plates
and candles. My heart swelled at the sight of a bouquet of roses that sat in
the center. I loved flowers. My thoughts briefly went to my parents, but I
quickly pushed them away. Tonight was not the time to think of them.
Talk
about a mood killer
. The soft music floated out of the speakers—the
atmosphere was very romantic. “I like your place.”

He stepped
around me to slip into the kitchen and opened the oven, pulling out three small
roasting pans. “Have a seat, there’s sparkling wine on the table. It won’t take
long to plate these.”

Doing as he
instructed, I sat down on the wooden chair, noticing that one of the rungs on
the back was loose. “It smells so good, Nick. What are we having?”

As he lifted
food from the pans onto plates, he replied, “Rack of lamb, roasted red
potatoes, and mini glazed carrots.”

Wow.
“That’s sounds amazing. Did you order it in, and then just put the
food in casserole dishes before I got here?” I asked, smiling, hoping he heard
the teasing in my voice.

He narrowed his
eyes as he finished the second plate, and then sauntered toward the table,
placing a dish in front of me. “I thought of that.” His lip twitched. “But I
wanted to impress you, so I begged my mother to show me how to make this.”

A warm fuzzy
feeling flowed through me at the thought of him going to so much trouble.
“That’s so sweet, but you really didn’t have to do all this.”

He stepped back,
placing the remaining plate on the table. “I wanted to.” He leaned over me, his
face inches from mine. “You’re worth the effort, Abby.” His voice was a whisper
as he leaned in to kiss me. His hands moved up and down my side, creating a
warm glow. The kiss didn’t last long before he stood up and grinned. “The food
is getting cold and I worked way too hard to let it go to waste.” He took his
seat across from me and we began to eat.

The meal was
really good. The meat was juicy, potatoes were flavorful, and carrots sweet.
“That was amazing,” I said, pushing my plate away after taking the last bite.

He grinned,
taking a sip of his wine. Once he swallowed he replied, “I’m glad you enjoyed
it, because it will never happen again.” He winked. “Of course, if you want a
grilled cheese sandwich or mac-and-cheese from a box, I’m your guy.”

I laughed,
reaching for my wine glass, and took a drink. The bubbles danced on my tongue,
adding to the giddiness I already felt.