“Don’t know him yet, but I’ve imagined that I meet him around 2055 if climate change doesn’t kill us all first.”
“You’ve really thought this through.”
Xeni lifted her shoulder in a little shrug. “I just know what I want. But you!”
“What about me?”
“No one said you needed to full on settle down, but have you dated at all since you got here?”
“I’ve been busy. Also, there’s this movie called Practical Magic—”
Xeni reached over and squeezed his knee. “Not funny.”
“Wrong. Hilarious.”
“You still haven’t answered my question.” Xeni took the last bite of her pasta and strongly considered going back for seconds, but there was a difference between carbo loading for sex with a Scotsman and giving yourself the pasta sweats. There would be room for seconds later. She sat back and waited for Mason to cough up an explanation. “I refuse to believe none of the eligible folks in this small town have tried to climb all this.”
“Maybe I don’t want to be climbed. Maybe I want to be romanced. Maybe I want to be courted properly. Maybe I want to feel like a prince. Maybe I don’t want to be a Daryl. Ever thought of that?”
“So, now might be the wrong time to tell you to hurry and finish eating so we can clean up and stretch? ’Cause, honey…” Xeni’s eyes widened as she looked him up and down and she made a big show of dragging her tongue along her upper lip. “I’m kidding. Do you want more, though?”
“No, I think I’m good.”
“You cooked, so I’ll clean. More wine?”
“Please.”
Xeni went and grabbed the bottle off the counter and, after she topped off his glass, found some containers for the leftover pasta. Whoever he eventually found his happily ever after with was gonna be a lucky person. Boy knew how to cook.
She started running the water to rinse the dishes when she felt him step behind her. She slipped the pot into the sink, doing her best to ignore the way he was just barely touching her, but still towered over her all at once.
“Would you like my help?”
“No. I—I think I can handle things here. Um… grab that box of rubbers and meet me in the living room in four minutes.” Without a word, Mason took the box of condoms off the counter and disappeared into the other room. Xeni threw all the dishes in the sink and quickly splashed them with dish soap and a light sprinkling of water before she ran down the hall to the guest room. She quickly stripped out of her clothes and grabbed a washcloth. She’d showered that morning, but a thirty-second birdie bath, as her mom liked to call them, wouldn’t hurt anyone. She washed up and quickly re-lotioned her whole body before she threw on her long navy striped cardigan again. It was far from a sexy piece of lingerie, but it would do just fine.
When she walked back into the living room, she found Mason sitting at the piano bench. He’d spread out a nice array of comfortable looking blankets on the carpet in front of the coffee table.
“I thought you’d be naked,” Xeni said.
“You know I’m shy.”
“Mmmhmm.”
“Come here.” Mason held out his hand. Usually Xeni didn’t like to be told what to do, but she found herself walking right to him. He lightly took her fingers when she was within arm’s reach and pulled her closer so she was standing between his legs. Slowly he parted the halves of her draping sweater, exposing her body to his heated gaze. Xeni held her breath as his large hands cupped her waist.
His thumbs moved upward in light circles, tracing the skin just under her breasts, then up higher until the rough pads of his fingers slid over her sensitive nipples. Her pussy clenched on itself, just aching to be filled. She wasn’t in a rush, but damn did she want him to get on with it. She felt like she was going to explode.
“Tell me what you like,” he said before he leaned in close. He found her constellation tattoo, the delicate lines she had etched up her sternum. Closer. Xeni’s eyes slid shut as his lips pressed against her skin. She reached up and dug her fingers into his thick, loose curls.
“What, like, porn-wise?”
“No,” Mason laughed, looking up at her. “How do you like to be fucked? What turns you on?”
“You seemed to have figured that out already. I told you I have no notes.”
“All that tells me is that I got lucky, but there’s a whole lot more to life than me going down on you. Tell me what you like. Tell me what you want. Tell me what you’re gonna have Daryl do to you in the year 2057.”
“No, that doesn’t count. Daryl and I are doing it from the back over the kitchen counter every time. Daryl is about function and convenience. I don’t think you want that for our marriage.”
