“Alright, then,” he says, and raises his glass towards me. For now, it only contains water flavored with lemon, but I pick up mine and clink it against his all the same. “To age being only a number?”
“To age being only a number,” I agree, and take a sip.
And I can’t help but wonder what I’m getting myself into – because I’m already completely entranced by him, and I can only get in deeper from here.
Chapter Ten
Finn
I don’t know what I did for God to put this woman in my path, but it must have been something very, very good indeed.
The more we talk, the more I fall for her. The more I see her, the more I want her. I can’t stop thinking about her thighs parting for me, her ass in my hands, her breasts. I can’t stop my eyes from flicking down to admire how they strain against the fabric of the dress every now and then, though I think I get away without her noticing.
I can’t stop watching her eat, either. As course after course lands in front of us, from the entrees through to dessert, she seems to attack all of them with the same enthusiasm. I watch as her eyes slide closed on the first bite, how she moans in delight at the best forkfuls as if she’s having a much more erotic experience. More than once I have to shift my legs and move my napkin to try to hide the fact that I’m rock hard, even though she won’t be able to see under the table.
I could watch her eat all night long.
It’s clear in so many ways that Candy is nothing like the women I come into contact with so often through the art world. They’re either vapid, stick-thin models who wouldn’t be seen dead eating more than a few leaves of salad, or they are deliberately kooky weirdos trying to build an eccentric reputation to raise the price of their work.
Candy is nothing like any of that. She’s a real woman, through and through. Not ashamed or apologetic about who she is. It’s that that I find so sexy, beyond just the way she looks. Or maybe it’s all connected. Without that vanity that pushes others even to starvation, she has a body to die for.
I wanted her from the first time I saw her. I thought she was hot, beautiful, everything I wanted to get my hands on. But now I’m finding that I want the rest of her as well. Just as much, if not more. Everything about her is perfect, from the way she laughs to the way she can keep up with my conversation about art. Her tastes and style, her ambitions – she could easily come and work with me.
I haven’t yet mentioned that I run the gallery. I don’t think she’s worked it out, and I want to make sure that our connection is genuine. I’ve had too much experience with women trying to get close to me just in order to get something – and if she doesn’t know the career opportunities I could give her, she won’t know to ask for them.
“So, tell me,” Candy says, putting her napkin down next to her plate after finishing the last mouthful of her dessert. “Why are you still single?”
“What?” I ask, surprised.
Candy blushes. “Oh – I didn’t mean that to sound rude,” she says. “I just – I mean… you’re good looking, charming, you have means. Why are you still single?”
I chuckle. “Well, it’s not that mysterious,” I say. “But thank you for the compliments. I just didn’t get around to dating for a long time.”
“Why not?” Candy asks. Her open curiosity is endearing rather than annoying. I’m glad she feels comfortable simply asking me questions like this.
And it’s confession time. “I had a daughter, when I was around your age,” I say. This is the point where she might just run a mile. Given that we already crossed the hurdle of my age, I’m hoping that she will take this in stride as well. “Her mother – well, her mother’s not around. It’s just Lexie and me. I wanted to focus on being a parent, not on dating.”
“You dedicated yourself to her for all this time?” Candy asks. Her eyes are wide and shining, and I think I made the right choice by telling her. If I’d left it until later, the risk would have been bigger – and she doesn’t seem to be put off at all. “That’s incredible. Not many people would have been able to bear being alone for that long.”
“I had a good enough reason,” I smile. And I waited twenty years with that good reason. Waited twenty years for a woman who would be the one I need.
And it looks as though I may have found her.