TEN
KELLY
It took me forever to steel my nerve enough to strip off and don the frilly apron. Even more nerve was required to stand there and wait for Zac to open the front door.
Originally part of a zombie Alice in Wonderland Halloween outfit, I'd found the apron when rummaging through the dress-up box at the back of the garage.
There's nothing scary about it tonight.
Unless, of course, you're the one wearing it.
I needn't have worried, with Zac coming close to dropping the beer I'd just handed him.
I'm even more nervous when I swing about to return to the kitchen. Until meeting Zac, I'd never have been brave enough to have my derriere on show like this. With him, it's different.
The way he looks at me gives me the confidence to do things I've only dreamed of in the past. "I hope you're hung…" I don't get to finish my question.
After slamming his beer on the counter, he's spun me around, his lips coming down hard on mine. He holds me tight, his hands crisscrossed over my butt. I'm not going anywhere, and I couldn't be happier.
Is it possible to smile and kiss at the same time? Apparently so, with Zac lifting his head to ask what's funny.
"Nothing. I'm just happy, is all." I wait for him to devour me again, but it doesn't happen. Rather, the light of arousal in his eyes dims somewhat and his hold on me loosens, even if he keeps his hands where they are on my ass.
"Kelly, we need to talk."
I knew I shouldn't have pushed it with this outfit. It was too much, too soon. I should have kept playing it casual, of thinking of him as a friend with benefits rather than…
Actually, I'm not sure what he is to me. What we are. The boundaries I'd constructed to protect myself have crumbled, piece by piece, leaving me open to being hurt yet again.
"I'll, I'll just go get dressed." I then do my best to twist free, but he isn't letting me go without a fight. He once again holds me tight.
"Not unless you want to. Me, I'd rather you stay just as you are."
He follows this up by kissing my forehead, which goes some way to allaying my fears that he's about to dump me.
Can he even dump me when we aren't official?
"I've just been up to my place. It's not good."
Of all the things I've expected him to say, this isn't it. I'd steeled myself for 'the talk'. The one that starts with, "It's not you, it's me."
In the knowledge I'm not about to be dumped, I relax enough to wrap my arms around behind his back and look up at him. "And?"
His sigh is of the sort that says the weight of the world sits upon his shoulders. "I was talking to Charlie, my neighbor." He stops again, and my breathing slows. "His insurance company refused to settle his claim. Something to do with the fine print."
Relief floods me, along with a desire to help him solve this problem. I'm all about problem-solving after my years in advertising. Clients didn't come calling when things were going well. "Have you checked your policy?"
He wastes no time going through what he'd found when able to access his place. Of how high the floodwaters were, and the damage caused. If I think about it, everything he owns of any worth sits in the bedroom upstairs.
"Do you back-up to the cloud?"
It's something I'm paranoid about, with my files being my livelihood.
Zac's body slouches against mine, every atom defeated. "I've been meaning to get around to it, but, yeah, no."
"Did they email you a copy of the policy?"
My insurance company always does. While they might go on about their green credentials, I suspect that rather than wanting to save the planet; they want to save on paper, toner, and postage.
