Crois hands moved from her cheeks and toward the crown of her head. He removed one of the hair pins she’d used to restrain a few errant wisps of hair and then another. His other handreached around to the nape of her neck and took out the hair tie that held her hair back in a ponytail.
When her hair was free, he moved his fingers through her hair and she let out a breath through her nose. It was a little thing in the scheme of things, taking down her hair, but it felt good.
Really good.
Like her head wasn’t so tired.
Her temples weren’t so tight.
And his touch… she wanted more of it.
More of him.
“I’m not going to regret the time I spend with you, Harmony. I’m going to take each moment and enjoy it. I think… I hope that’s the key to making this… this relationship work.”
Listening to him, turning the words over and over in her head, he made it seem possible.
“Now, why don’t you have a seat and relax.” He walked her toward her living room and the big cushions she had around a low coffee-table. “I’ll bring the food over and put everything out.”
Harmony sat down on one of the big cushions at the table and watched him as he moved back to the door where he’d left a couple of reusable shopping bags that looked like they were full. He made sure the door was closed and locked before bringing the bags over to the table.
She waited for him to make a comment over the odd furnishings she had in her apartment, but he didn’t.
Instead, he smiled at the room, his eyes moving over her space as if he appreciated what he saw instead of questioning everything.
The few people she’d had over to visit had always looked at her space and at her as if she was odd.
Something that needed to be explained.
Crois just seemed to relax into the open space.
As soon as he opened the last of the plastic containers he had in his bags and brought out a sealed bottle of orange juice, placing it near his travel coffee cup, he sat down and folded his legs with a relieved sigh. “I didn’t know what you’d like, so I made a few things. Nothing… nothing too interesting. I hope that’s okay.”
She looked over the containers and smiled. “I like fruits. And you know I like pancakes.” She craned her neck to see what was in the other container. It looked like some kind of puffed bready things with powdered sugar. “What are those?”
Crois reached out and took a hold of the container, lifting his side of it so she could see more of what it contained. “These are beignets. Kind of like doughnuts without a hole and powdered sugar instead of glaze.”
Harmony felt her eyebrows raise at the description. “That sounds like heaven.”
He was grinning at her and using a small set of tongs that he’d brought with him, he put a couple on her plate beside the berries she’d scooped onto the plate.
It didn’t take her long to discover just how right she’d been. “Beignets,” she smiled and sighed, “they are heaven.”
He nodded and reached across the table.
She froze as his hand came closer to her face.
Harmony could only blink and breathe as she waited to see what he would do.
At one point, his hand was so close that she swore she could feel the warmth of his skin even though he wasn’t even touching her. She kept her eyes on his face watching him, watch her.
It was almost more anticipation than she might be able to handle.
Then, he touched her.
His finger against her lip.
The pressure was subtle, barely something she could feel.
