AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’d loved her for years.
When I asked her that question in the wine cave, I hadn’t reciprocated. That particular story, the one about when I knew my attraction to her had grown into something more, was one I wanted more time to share. It was a story she probably wasn’t ready for yet. A story we weren’t ready for yet.
“How is it?” I asked, taking off my own shoes to join her.
“Heavenly.”
Normally, right about now, I’d pull her toward me, grateful for the extended privacy. Thayle and her damn bet. It was time to start tearing this dare to shreds.
“You know what would be heavenly?” I asked, finding the luggage stand and lifting Thayle’s bag onto it. “Pulling you back into my arms and kissing you senseless until you can’t stand it anymore and tear my clothes off.”
“What about my clothes?” she teased.
“They’d be long gone.”
I crossed to the sliding glass doors, opening them.
“So do it,” Thayle challenged.
The sound of a waterfall filled the room. There was a chill, which wouldn’t allow for the doors to remain open the whole night.
“Mmm, I don’t think so.” I walked out onto the patio, barefoot. Thayle followed.
It was difficult to see much beyond the few safety lights that dotted the back of the building. But clearly, we were right on top of the waterfall. Just listening to that sound was enough. Or would be if I could pull Thayle to me.
We leaned on the railing together in silence. How many times in the past years had I resisted the urge to touch her? So why was it so difficult now? Knowing she would welcome it, I supposed, made the difference.
“Are you going to tell me yet what you were laughing about during the massage?” I asked. One of many questions I had for Thayle.
“Not yet.” She hesitated and then said, “Are you going to reciprocate? Tell me when you first noticed me?”
I used her own words. “Not yet.”
Thayle laughed. “Incorrigible.”
“Guilty as charged.”
I wanted to touch her so fucking badly, I nearly gave in.
Not yet.
“I do have a story,” I admitted, “about when I first ‘noticed you.’ And I promise to share.”
“But?”
“But for now, I will only give you a hint. It’s been a long time, Thayle.”
She turned to me, watched me as intently as I probably was watching her.
“You brought up the waterskiing incident in the car on that first day,” I said.
“It seemed as good a memory as any.”
I wasn’t buying her nonchalant tone. “Sure. But we’ve had a lot of memories together. And there was a small part of me that wondered that day...did you know? When I looked at you as you climbed onto the boat. Did you have any hint of what I’d been thinking?”
The answer was written all over her face. So I hadn’t imagined it. “I wondered.”
“As did I. So many times after that, I wondered.”
