“You haven’t been.You were just there if I needed you.”
“I’malwayshere if you need me. Always.”
She went to her friend then—though she didn’t have to.
Letty was already headed for her, arms wide. She swaddled her in hugs, and all of them felt like acceptance and love. They said more than all the things they’d just said and finished everything she couldn’t yet say—and when Letty finally pulled away, they were both better for it. Things were lighter between them.
Lydia even found herself joking about the current situation, after Letty said she was going to hit the hay. “Yeah, me too. Though in my case hit the hay means please god just let me relieve some of this sexual tension. Literally, I think it might be killing me.”
“So, he’s really resisting, huh?”
“He wanted to date, first.”
“Dating sounds pretty cool.”
“Not when you spent the first two in agony,” she said, but Letty just laughed. She laughed, then said the best possible thing, just before going out the door.
“Well, not to worry. The third date is always the charm.”
Chapter Thirteen
She didn’t purposefully set out to create something that screamedthethird date is when sex is supposed to happen.But she did try to make it easier for things to go that way. She suggested he come for dinner at her apartment, on a weekend when Letty and Tate were going to be away. She chose mildly sexy music and somewhat suggestive food. And the dress she wore was kind of a departure from the usual.
It had buttons all down the front, for a start.
And it was a cut a little lower and a little higher than anything he’d seen her in previously. She’d once worn a skirt in front of him, but it had pretty much reached her feet. This exposed most of her legs—and she left those legs bare. No stockings, no pantyhose, no nothing. Just a lot of smooth skin.
Though, somehow, she didn’t think it would bother him.
He never looked anyway, so what did it matter?
It was just a little subtle sign. A way to suggest that things could easily be removed. That shewantedthem to be removed, if he was so inclined.
But she knew she’d made a mistake the second she opened the door to him.
The easy smile he’d been attempting froze on his face, then dropped off altogether. He went to say a word, yet no sound came out. And worst of all—the light in his eyes faded down to almost nothing. As if the dress had punched him in the gut, instead of giving him the friendly hug he’d been expecting.
He didn’t even seem like he wanted to come in. She had to almost coax him—and the problems didn’t stop once he was in her living room. His eyes trailed over all her belongings, as if he was just waiting for something else to hit him. Then he noticed the candles she’d stupidly lit and the bottle of wine she’d set out, and there it was.
That drop in his expression, again.
Though he got hold of it a little faster, this time.
He reined it in, in a way that would have probably fooled anyone else.
But it didn’t fool her. All the signs of tension were still there—the careful blankness of his expression, the looking at everything but her, the way he stood with his back facing the wall. Plus, his hands were still in his pockets.
They were in there so firmly she wondered how she was ever going to get them back out. She’d prepared for him to be a little reticent, even nervous. She hadn’t imagined that he’d be this adverse to a more overtly romantic kind of date. That he would be startled by a mildly revealing dress, and unprepared for the intimacy of her home.
And it left her just as unsure as him.
She wanted to ask him to sit, but what if he didn’t like the idea?
Better to start small, she told herself. Though, she couldn’t for the life of her think what was smaller than taking a seat. That was basically the bare minimum, when it came to third dates. No fucker on the face of the earth spent them standing up.
Yet, here she was, wracking her brains for the steps before that.
Then it came to her.Take his coat, she could take his coat.Of course, it would make her look a forty-year old housewife hosting a Tupperware party.But it would definitely ease him into everything.There wasnothingsexy or intimate about coat taking.
