Jewel Ann - Idle Bloom

I flip the switch as if I didn’t bite his head off two seconds ago. “So can you cook?”

His gaze stays on my mouth and he looks like he’s starving too, but not for food. It’s the same look he had at the doughnut shop. I’m not sure why he gets so captivated watching me eat. Weird.

He clears his throat and takes a deep swallow. “Yes, I can cook. My mom made sure both Chance and I could cook, do laundry, and sew on a button.”

“Wow, had I known all this time what a great catch your brother is, I might not have shot him down so many times.”

“Says the girl who doesn’t date.”

“Says the guy who doesn’t date.”

“Touché, Vivian.”

“So do you have dinner with your parents often?”

He nods. “Once a week since I moved back from Portland.”

I tap my fingernail on the table. “Maine?”

“Oregon.”

“Oh, how long did you live there?”

He purses his lips to the side. “Three years.”

“Why’d you move there?”

He clears his throat, diverting his gaze while adjusting his sitting position. “I took a job with a law firm there.”

Digging my teeth into the corner of my bottom lip, I wait for his eyes to meet mine. “I’m being nosy, I apologize.”

Oliver stands and grabs our dishes, clinking them together with wavering control. I sense it’s time for me to leave so I stand and follow him to the kitchen.

“Well, thanks for dinner. I feel like a mooch. Tell your mother it was wonderful … or not. It’s possible you might not want her to know you fed her leftovers to stray neighbors.”

His back is to me, hands pressed against the counter and head bowed. The air feels thick, almost suffocating. This isn’t how I saw the night ending.

“Okay … so I’ll just––”

“Stay.”

I’m not sure I heard him, so I wait for confirmation. My inner voice chastises me for not acknowledging the absurdity of this situation. I’m drawn to this man and I can’t give him what other women can, but every look, touch, and soft laugh makes it difficult to not want him. Maybe, just maybe he could be what I need––a relationship based on emotions without the need for physical gratification.

* * *

Oliver

My mind said “go” but my mouth said “stay.” Vivian has this innocence to her that is not of this world, and when I’m with her neither am I. We’re transported to some alternate universe where the past doesn’t exist and the future doesn’t matter. I need her to leave because I don’t trust myself around her. The hunger I feel for her touch is painful. When she placed her hand in mine I had to fight every urge to throw her in the backseat of my car, strip off her clothes, and taste every inch of her body. It’s possible I should be on meds or maybe I do need therapy. I wasn’t like this before. It’s just her, but I don’t know why. Yes, she’s beautiful—stunning actually—but it’s more and I don’t have a word for the more.

Maybe, just maybe she could be what I need––a physical release without the emotional investment.

I face her, allowing my eyes to drink in her soft features: silky skin, full lips, emerald eyes, and black hair that flows in endless waves down her back and over her breasts. The image of those perky breasts peeking through the thick black layers as she sits naked astride me stirs my dick. If her eyes drift a few degrees south, she’ll know how I react to her. I should care and try to hide it, but I don’t.

“Stay. Have some wine or more water, just … stay.”

“Wine, but only if you promise to carry me home when I pass out after two sips.” She brushes her hair back and wets her lips with a nervous graze of her teeth over the top one.

I’ve become my brother, imagining everything she does and says is an invitation into her pants. I’m the “nice” guy; the kiss goodnight on the cheek, opening doors, lavishing with flowers and jewelry, waiting until the third date to kiss on the lips and a month before copping a feel. The old Oliver would insist that sex is at least six weeks out, but my dick hasn’t gotten the memo. This new, completely lost Oliver is ready to tie her up and spank her … I’m not sure why people even do that, but I think modern women like it, so sure, I’d give it a try.

“So wine it is.” I grin while grabbing two glasses from the cabinet. “Do you live alone?”

Vivian laughs. “Why? Are you planning on stalking me and sexually assaulting me?”

Okay, so I think I’ll hold off on the spanking. I probably wouldn’t do it right anyway. “A little paranoid?”

“My roommate, Alex, her parents own the condo. They’re rich, I guess. Anyway, her boyfriend and my friend Kai are good friends so they introduced us when I needed to move to Cambridge. Alex is rarely there, so she was thrilled to have a roommate to look after things and one who needed a job. Maggie, her aunt, owns The Green Pot and needed some help running the nursery since she’s been battling cancer off and on for years. Alex’s parents agreed to keep the condo instead of having her move into student housing with the agreement that she’d work part-time for Maggie. So I get a job and cheap rent, and Alex helps out occasionally at the nursery, but mostly she makes her spending money off my rent payments. It’s a win-win.”

I hand her a glass of wine and motion to the couch. “Alex’s parents are okay with this arrangement?”

She sips her wine. “They don’t know. I make myself scarce when they come to visit.”

“And you’re okay with deceiving people you don’t even know?”

She waves her hand in the air dismissively as she swallows. “I know them. I come to ‘visit’ every time they’re in town. They love me, of course, because I’m such a good influence on Alex.”

“So why not just tell them the truth?”

Vivian tucks her legs underneath her. “They want Alex to stay busy with school and work so she doesn’t get distracted by guys.”

I shake my head. “It’s quite the con you two have going.”

“You don’t know half of it.” She takes another sip of her wine, and another, and another.

I anticipate having her naked within the hour. Reaching over, I fill her glass back up before it’s even halfway down.

God! What the hell is wrong with my brain?

“So why did you need to move to Cambridge?” I ask.

She giggles and I adjust myself because I’m already imagining her glazed over eyes calling to me. “My parents think I’m getting my business degree from Harvard.” She giggles some more.

My dick has officially taken a backseat to this conversation. As much as I want to avoid too much personal detail, her comment has my naturally curious mind turning its cogs. “Why do they think that?”

“Because I got accepted.”

There’s no way I could have seen this coming. Vivian doesn’t just surprise me, she knocks me on my ass leaving me speechless with everything she says and does. “To Harvard?”

“Yes, Oliver, to Harvard. Don’t look so surprised.”

I set my drink on the coffee table and adjust my body to face her. “Let me get this straight. You were accepted to Harvard. Your parents think you’re attending Harvard. You moved to Cambridge so they would believe you’re going to Harvard, but you’re not going to Harvard?”

She massages her temples with her thumb and middle finger then drags her fingers across her forehead “Yep, I’ve had way too much to drink.” She laughs. “So I’m not sure I caught all of your questions or statements or whatever, but … yes, yes, yes … and yes.” Full lips curl into a large and oh-so-proud smile like she just aced some big test.

“I don’t understand.”

“Oh, Oli-ver, you don’t have to understand everything.” She leans her head back and closes her eyes. “I need to pee.”

“The bathroom is upstairs, first door on the right.”

She doesn’t move.

“Do I need to carry you upstairs?”

She opens her eyes and grins, swinging her feet to the floor. “Nope, I just wanted to see if you’d offer. After the cobbler hoarding incident I wondered if you were much of a gentleman.”

She stands with a slight sway. I grab her waist and bright eyes sparkle with hidden wonder as she fixes them on mine, pressing the palm of her hand to my cheek. Every indecent thought I had about her vanishes leaving a murky residue on my conscience.

“You’re alarmingly handsome. Do you know that?” she whispers, feathering her thumb along my lips.

I close my eyes willing myself to hold still, to resist the urge to cup her hand, taste her thumb, pull her closer—so close there’s no space for the rest of the world between us.

She’s gone, but my breath remains hostage in my chest. Opening my eyes, I release it. Okay, maybe I need something more than her body.

Vivian

The stairs prove to be more challenging than I expected. I’m not sure how much I’ve had to drink. Not much, at least I don’t think so. Oliver kept refilling my glass before I ever finished the previous refill. First door on the left. I ram into the solid wood door as I make a clumsy attempt to turn the knob and push it open. It’s locked, as in seriously locked. It seems a bit odd to have a bathroom door with a dead bolt. I look right. Ah ha! Yeah, he might have said right not left.

A tingling numbness prickles my skin, including my ass, as I sit on the toilet. I like Oliver. He’s so handsome, especially tonight with that copper-blond hair doing its own thing and a day’s worth of sexy stubble along his strong jaw. I had to touch it and those lips … so kissable. For a moment I forgot that our relationship can’t go there. Alcohol does that to me. I should just show him what lies beneath and get it over with, but the problem is I like the way he looks at me. Giving myself to the possibility of someone looking at me, all of me, with nothing but desire is the most amazing feeling until I’m stolen from the moment back to reality––my reality. If Kai, my best friend and the person who loves me unconditionally, can’t see past it, then no man ever will.

Exiting the bathroom I stop and study the door across the hall. It’s not like all the other doors and something about it is off.

“Everything okay?” I startle at the sound of his voice. He’s halfway up the stairs.

“Uh, yeah, I’m just … out of it.”

He waits for me then follows behind.

“I should go.” I focus on each step to mask my jelly-like legs.

Oliver hands me my knitting bag. “I’ll walk you home.”

“It’s just across the street.”

“Yes, but you’ve had more than your limit of alcohol and that’s my fault, so now I’m obligated to make sure you make it home without incident.”

I step past the threshold forgetting that there is about a three inch drop to the stoop, just enough to make me look tipsier than I already do.

“Watch it. See, the trip across the street could prove to be more difficult than you think.” He laughs, grabbing my hand, this time interlacing our fingers. I wish it were a longer walk, but it’s not and I have to release his hand to get my key.

He waits for me to unlock my door. “Goodnight, my lightweight neighbor.” He smiles while brushing my hair behind my ear on one side.

I want his kiss right now more than doughnuts, coffee, or his mom’s incredible cobbler. My mouth works on its own accord. I wrap my hand around his wrist lingering behind my ear. Pulling it toward my cheek I whisper, “You could kiss me. Just tonight … just once.”

He smiles and mimicking my moves from earlier, brushing his thumb along my lips and shaking his head. “No, I don’t think I can kiss you, just tonight, just once…” his touch fades as he steps back “…sweet dreams.”

My gaze clings to the subtle curves of his tall frame as he drifts across the street with long, smooth strides. Okay, maybe I need something more than an emotional connection.

* * *

The Green Pot’s bustling crowd has infiltrated every inch of the greenhouse. Alex is MIA with Sean, but Kai is here and today I’m genuinely glad to see him. Maggie and I would be buried otherwise.

“Good morning, old knitting neighbor lady.” I grip the flat of asters tighter, knowing that smooth voice makes me weak in the knees and everywhere else.

“Hey!” I turn, greeted with Oliver in his rugged work attire, Red Sox hat on backwards, and another day’s worth of facial hair growth. I continue walking to the front counter as he follows me. “Did Chance call in an order because I don’t recall seeing it?”