themselves even though they obviously want it. For me, I’l usual y just be in a store or looking at a catalog and see something that reminds me of the person, or I’l remember they’ve mentioned that thing before. You know.”
“So say I’m walking through the store, and I see some shoes, and they remind me of my Aunt Til ie because her pork chops always tasted like shoe leather. But I don’t know her shoe size.”
Elyce giggled. “Okay, maybe gift cards are a better choice for you after al .”
“I’l get her a gift card to a shoe store.” Andrew had come around the desk to perch on the corner, his leg dangling from the edge inches away from where Elyce sat in his visitor’s chair. “Or maybe to a butcher shop, I don’t know.”
“Do you real y have an Aunt Til ie?” She felt a little flush rise in her cheeks, from nowhere, at the unexpected proximity. Andrew was usual y so cautious, so circumspect in his gestures. Elyce recal ed his impulsive kiss on their last date and had to struggle to keep herself composed at the sudden blush the memory brought with it.
“Yes, I real y have an Aunt Til ie. And she real y is a horrible cook. Elyce?”
“Mm?”
Andrew held a hand out and she took it automatical y, but then looked up at his face, startled. He was wearing the smile that she somehow liked best, the one with a tiny bit of smugness creeping through the placid veneer. Where had she seen a smirk like that, she wondered, that she found it instantly sexy? Andrew tugged her hand gently, pul ing her to her feet and pivoting on the desk until she was standing squarely between his legs.
“You don’t have your dog again for this Friday, right?”
“Right. I real y am sorry about—”
“Forget it. Just making sure. Because I’m leaving Saturday morning, pretty early, so we won’t see each other again until after the holidays…and I just thought it would be better if you didn’t have the dog Friday night.”
He had relinquished her hand only to wrap his fingers lightly around her waist, pul ing her a little closer until they were almost nose to nose. “I wil not have the dog on Friday night,” Elyce repeated, her own smile a bit smug, although of course she couldn’t see it. She was smug because he was interested. Stil , she wasn’t sure at al whether she was wil ing to let that interest play itself out ful y, for the first time, on the night before a two-week separation. Andrew would be in Il inois until after the New Year, visiting his family a g a i n. Elyce hadn’t mentioned her own travel plans specifical y, saying only that she hoped to get some skiing in.
Even as Andrew closed the final distance between them and lowered his lips to hers, Elyce wondered just why she hadn’t told him about the trip to Colorado. Half distracted by the thril that the kiss sent down to her toes, the surprisingly talented sweep of Andrew’s inquisitive tongue across her own, she stil felt a nagging sensation that she was committing an il icit act.
Not the trip with Karl, but the kiss with Andrew.
She felt like she was cheating, and once she had identified the feeling, she grew incensed at the idea that she stil felt so bound to Karl.
Slipping her hands up to Andrew’s face, she deepened their contact, kissing him back boldly, letting her body ride forward to rest squarely against his, feeling a primal satisfaction at the little suppressed groan her movement prompted from him.
By the time they parted, both were winded, worked up, in no fit state for the office. Elyce sat back down abruptly as Andrew retreated to the other side of his desk with a bemused, self-deprecating chuckle.
“And on that note, I’m afraid I have to mention that I actual y have another meeting in about fifteen minutes. So I real y, real y hope you don’t take this the wrong way but I real y need you to…to not be where I can see you or be tempted to touch you again, between now and then.”
“Love ‘em and make ‘em
“So say I’m walking through the store, and I see some shoes, and they remind me of my Aunt Til ie because her pork chops always tasted like shoe leather. But I don’t know her shoe size.”
Elyce giggled. “Okay, maybe gift cards are a better choice for you after al .”
“I’l get her a gift card to a shoe store.” Andrew had come around the desk to perch on the corner, his leg dangling from the edge inches away from where Elyce sat in his visitor’s chair. “Or maybe to a butcher shop, I don’t know.”
“Do you real y have an Aunt Til ie?” She felt a little flush rise in her cheeks, from nowhere, at the unexpected proximity. Andrew was usual y so cautious, so circumspect in his gestures. Elyce recal ed his impulsive kiss on their last date and had to struggle to keep herself composed at the sudden blush the memory brought with it.
“Yes, I real y have an Aunt Til ie. And she real y is a horrible cook. Elyce?”
“Mm?”
Andrew held a hand out and she took it automatical y, but then looked up at his face, startled. He was wearing the smile that she somehow liked best, the one with a tiny bit of smugness creeping through the placid veneer. Where had she seen a smirk like that, she wondered, that she found it instantly sexy? Andrew tugged her hand gently, pul ing her to her feet and pivoting on the desk until she was standing squarely between his legs.
“You don’t have your dog again for this Friday, right?”
“Right. I real y am sorry about—”
“Forget it. Just making sure. Because I’m leaving Saturday morning, pretty early, so we won’t see each other again until after the holidays…and I just thought it would be better if you didn’t have the dog Friday night.”
He had relinquished her hand only to wrap his fingers lightly around her waist, pul ing her a little closer until they were almost nose to nose. “I wil not have the dog on Friday night,” Elyce repeated, her own smile a bit smug, although of course she couldn’t see it. She was smug because he was interested. Stil , she wasn’t sure at al whether she was wil ing to let that interest play itself out ful y, for the first time, on the night before a two-week separation. Andrew would be in Il inois until after the New Year, visiting his family a g a i n. Elyce hadn’t mentioned her own travel plans specifical y, saying only that she hoped to get some skiing in.
Even as Andrew closed the final distance between them and lowered his lips to hers, Elyce wondered just why she hadn’t told him about the trip to Colorado. Half distracted by the thril that the kiss sent down to her toes, the surprisingly talented sweep of Andrew’s inquisitive tongue across her own, she stil felt a nagging sensation that she was committing an il icit act.
Not the trip with Karl, but the kiss with Andrew.
She felt like she was cheating, and once she had identified the feeling, she grew incensed at the idea that she stil felt so bound to Karl.
Slipping her hands up to Andrew’s face, she deepened their contact, kissing him back boldly, letting her body ride forward to rest squarely against his, feeling a primal satisfaction at the little suppressed groan her movement prompted from him.
By the time they parted, both were winded, worked up, in no fit state for the office. Elyce sat back down abruptly as Andrew retreated to the other side of his desk with a bemused, self-deprecating chuckle.
“And on that note, I’m afraid I have to mention that I actual y have another meeting in about fifteen minutes. So I real y, real y hope you don’t take this the wrong way but I real y need you to…to not be where I can see you or be tempted to touch you again, between now and then.”
“Love ‘em and make ‘em
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