Chapter 10: Coffee and Conversation

Scott woke up in the middle of the night so hard he ached. He went to get a beer, and sat on his long leather sofa, wishing he had the woman to whom the erection belonged there where he could work off his lust on her. She had surprised him by calling to apologize and he had had to struggle not to let her know how it affected him. He had never been a pushover and he wasn’t planning on starting now. But the sound of her voice had jerked him awake and for the rest of his shift, he had been aroused. And when he had called to state his condition, her voice had had him so hard he had needed to adjust himself before getting into his car for the long ride home. Now here he was, hours before he was to see her again, steel hard and hurting.

He knew he couldn’t call her at this hour, so he did the next best thing. He went to her site and read the next chapter of her newest story, knowing what it would do to him. By the end, he was leaking precum all over the place, and throbbing with lust. He’d have to take a cold shower soon…

By one o’clock the next afternoon, he had done his laundry and shopped for food. The cleaning would need to wait till after he saw Lola. He had bought a bouquet of peonies which he took with him out to the car, dressed in black jeans and a black T-shirt. The drive to her home from his was long, but he arrived with a good five minutes to spare. He hoped she didn’t mind. The first knock had her opening the door to him, and she ushered him in with a tentative smile.

“These are for you,” he said, handing her the bouquet.

She put the blooms to her nose as she walked ahead of him into the kitchen, and he watched her reach for the vase above her on the top of the shelf.

“Let me,” he offered and reached above her to retrieve the tall glass receptacle.

He put it under the tap, turned the water off when she told him to, and placed it on the counter so she could arrange the flowers to her satisfaction. She asked him to get the plant food, which she stored under the window ledge by the sink, and after squirting a few drops into the water, she asked him to place the vase in the center of her coffee table. She moved the small flat bowl that was sitting on it to a side table. The smell of coffee wafted out to them and she invited him back to the kitchen to share the cup of forgiveness with her.

“Cream? Sugar? Help yourself,” she said, pointing to the fixings on the table between them. She added cream and one sugar to her coffee mug, and Scott added cream and stirred.

“No sugar?” she wondered, watching his hand on the spoon.

“Watching my calories,” he said laughingly.

Lola stared openly at him as if wondering what he was worried about. She looked down at herself and frowned and he asked immediately,

“Why the frown? What’s the matter?”

Heat rose in her cheeks as she said, her eyes on her cup, “Nothing.”

He smiled, letting her know he knew she was lying, but he said nothing, only sipped his coffee and looked around him.

“This is a nice space,” he said, seeing her love of the space in the bright colors and cozy appointments.

“I am proud of this kitchen,” she admitted. “It took me a while to get it to be this pretty and still be so wonderfully functional.” Her smile was infectious. “I plan to reproduce it in the new house I’m moving to in a week’s time.”

“And how is that going?” he asked, sipping his coffee. “Where are you moving to?” He hoped she’d be more forthcoming with a location this time.

“I’m moving to Sunnyside,” she answered at once. “And I’m mostly packed up, except for the few things I’m still using.”

She would start moving her things on Monday, she told him, pausing to take a sip from her own cup. But the big move was planned for the following Saturday, when Jeff could drive the truck for her on his day off, and Dana, his wife, could go up with her in the car.

“So, what made you decide to move to Sunnyside?” he asked, beyond thrilled that she would be living in the same neighborhood as he did.

Should he tell her that she’d be living close to him? How would she react if she found out without him telling her directly? He thanked his lucky stars for the serendipity of her relocation to a place closer to him, though he knew that she might not share his delight in the circumstance.

“I love the location, for one thing,” she answered. “And I love that it’s so close to a working farm and that new artists’ colony that Silver Lake has expanded its borders to include. All the other things they’ve been doing these last few years to make extra money from tourism for the things they’d like to keep is great…the museum they’re building, new teachers for the schools, an extension to the library to house the Internet café, stuff like that.”

She paused again, deep in thought, before she continued. “All that is fabulous, but the town is just getting too busy and I prefer the peace and quiet of Sunnyside. I managed to get one of the few remaining houses in the development. It’s one of the smaller ones but it’s right on the water and I quite like it.”

“Sounds like a lovely haven for you,” he commented, draining his cup, trying not to give away what he knew about the neighborhood. “May I have another?” He gestured to the coffee pot.

“Of course!” she said at once, and reached for it.

Their hands collided, and Lola made an effort to retreat but was too slow. Scott gripped her fingers and tugged until he had her hand in his.

“You have such soft skin,” he said, studying her hand as though it had the answer to the world’s mysteries engraved on it.

His thumb began to stroke along the knuckles, almost absently, while he poured his second cup, added cream, and stirred, all one-handed. He decided that he would go for broke, even in a small way. He needed to know this woman, and he knew she would continue to resist him unless he did something decisive.