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“This artwork is amazing.”
“Thanks. She’s local. I fell in love with her work a few years back and now I try to pick up some of her pieces whenever I can. She travels to various places and paints scenes from wherever she goes. She’s doing quite a few from Italy right now.”
“Ahh, it makes me want to go.”
“Maybe we can work that in sometime.”
I smiled, loving the idea but knowing it would never be.
“Can I get you a glass of chardonnay?”
“Only if that’s what you’re having.”
“Why’s that?”
“I don’t want you to open a bottle just for me.”
“Hey, it’s Christmas. You can have whatever you like.”
Okay, that’s not what I expected him to say.
He gave me a lopsided grin and added, “You don’t have to respond to that. Is chardonnay your beverage of choice or would you prefer something else?”
I smiled. “Chardonnay would be excellent.”
He was the perfect gentleman. He handed me the glass of wine and poured himself one too, then put the bottle in a chiller. I followed him to what I guessed was the living room.
“Have a seat and make yourself at home.”
He left for a moment and then I heard music. It was classical. I should have guessed that. I knew some classical, but not much.
He joined me again and said, “Don’t worry, it’s not all classical. I’m not that dreary. It’s a mix.”
“I like classical. I think it’s beautiful and definitely not dreary.”
He looked at me intently and said, “I think you’re telling me the truth and not just saying that.”
Our eyes locked and his were captivating.
We both spoke at the same time and then we laughed.
He said, “You go first.”
“I was just going to tell you that you have amazing eyes.”
A chuckle escaped from him as he said, “That’s interesting because I was going to tell you the same thing. Your eyes are quite lovely. They’re very expressive.”
What to say to that? Things were heating up. I needed to open up to him but didn’t know what to say. Should I just jump in?
I started to rub my palms on my jeans. My nerves were wreaking havoc, causing a massive overload of moisture to coat my hands. I despised when that happened. It was embarrassing. All of a sudden, the need to tell him the truth about me and my reluctance to go out with him hit me.
“I need to tell you something, Pearce. Maybe this will bring to light a bit of me and my issues. Do you even want to hear it?” I asked, my voice squeaking.
“A part of me doesn’t … at least not tonight. I just want it to be you and me. Without anything else between us. But then, the other part of me wants to get it over with.”
I sighed. “I don’t know if I’ll have the courage to bring this up again.”
“Then by all means, you should tell me.” He reached for my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
