“Hey there,” I answered, that odd tingling feeling still running through me. “Were your ears burning?”
“Hey yourself,” Neil said in a voice that let me know he was smiling on his end of the phone. “And I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Never mind. Just ignore me. I’m just being silly. What’s up?”
“What’s up is, I’m sitting here in my empty house, and it occurred to me that I’d like to see you again.”
“Sure,” I said, in what I hoped was a light, casual voice. Something that would make my excitement a little bit less obvious. “What did you have in mind?”
“Depends. Are you available tonight?”
“I could be, depending on what you’re thinking.”
“I was kind of thinking that I’d like to make you dinner.”
“Make me dinner?” I asked. “Like, you’re going to cook for me?”
“That’s kind of the idea, yeah.”
“You sure about that? I don’t exactly remember you being a master chef or anything. No offense.”
“None taken. But don’t count me out just yet, Fay. I might have learned a thing or two since we were in high school, you know? I might even be able to make something you enjoy eating.”
“You’ve got a deal, but only if you let me bring the wine.”
“It’s a deal, babe. I’ll see you tonight.”
Babe. After I had given him my yes, Neil had hung up the phone about as fast as a person could do, but he’d called me babe right before he did. That was something new about him. Something new for sure. He’d never called me anything like that when we’d been in high school. It was a new kind of smooth, and it scared me.
It made me wonder what other slick tricks he’d picked up out there in the wide world. The thing was, it didn’t scare me enough to make me want to call him back and tell him I’d changed my mind. In some ways, it only made me want him more. Everything I had told Courtney was true. There was something about him, and there was no way I wasn’t going to find out what it was.
“Hey, Courtney?” I called down the hallway, my voice shaking just like the rest of my body.
“What’s up? You sound weird?”
“Looks like I’m going to need your help. I’ve got a date at the Driscoll house tonight.”
Chapter 12: Neil
“Ouch! Fuck!”
I dropped the knife I was using to chop herbs into the sink, having to draw on pretty massive reserves of strength in order to keep from hurling it across the room. My claim of being able to cook hadn’t been a lie. I’d taken some classes in Connecticut and had actually gotten pretty damned good in the kitchen. But tonight, I was acting like I’d never even seen the inside of a kitchen. It was pretty fucking bad timing. Fay was going to be here any minute.
The nerves had started almost immediately after I had gotten off the phone with Fay, and they hadn’t let up for even a little bit. For some reason, the fact that she was going to be inside of my house, just the two of us, was making me feel insane. Everything I had done since getting off the phone with her had felt like an accident waiting to happen.
I had almost slipped in the shower, catching myself with one arm and pulling a muscle in my shoulder for my trouble. Once I was out, I had cut myself shaving, and now I had cut myself again while cooking. The only thing I had working in my favor at this point was the fact that I was just about done with the cooking, which allowed me to relax for about five seconds.
The sound of a tentative, shy knock on my front door put me right back in the state of nerves I’d been in all afternoon. I wished that I had taken a shot or something before she got there. Not enough to get a buzz on, but enough to calm my nerves. No time for that now. I could practically see her moving from foot to foot while she waited for me to come let her in. I took a deep breath, reminded myself that I was Neil fucking Driscoll and not some dumbass guy who couldn’t deal with the ladies, and opened the front door.
“I brought the wine!”
She practically yelled it at me as she shoved the bottle in my face. Then, she turned bright red and brought the bottle in close to her again. I had been right about one thing, which was that she was at least as nervous as I was. I may have been getting myself more and more rattled as the hours passed by and the time when we were supposed to meet drew closer, but she had been, too, which made me feel a hell of a lot better.
It also sent a surge of affection through me for her, and instead of letting her stand there feeling awkward and weird about herself, I pulled her in towards me, kissing her right on the lips like we were dating. The cold, practical part of my brain reminded me not to start thinking that way. We were just two old friends, making the best of an unexpected situation. There was most definitely an expiration date on this, but I filed it away for later. Now that she was here, I didn’t want to do any more thinking. I just wanted to soak it up and see where this night might go. My desire for her hadn’t diminished any. If anything, it was stronger. I looked at her in her faded jeans and close fitting white t-shirt, and blood rushed to my cock. She looked damn good, and I was fucking ecstatic to have her in my house.
“Oh my God, Neil! It actually smells amazing in here!”
“Actually? Aw, come on, Fay. Are you telling me you didn’t think I could pull a dinner off? That hurts me. I can’t believe you would doubt me like that.”