Indy Belmont: Oh, good. Me too. Sorry things got awkward.
She saw the little dots that signaled he was typing and quickly saved his contact information in her phone.
Conrad Gilbert: It was me as much as you. GC makes my skin feel too tight. But I’m finding it hard to think of not coming back there to see you.
Indy Belmont: I wish... I wish I were different.
She dog-eared the page she was on in her book and set it aside, turning on her side to get more comfortable on her bed. Then her phone rang with a video call from Conrad. She hesitated for a second before answering it. She saw what she looked like in the camera and lifted her arm to try to make it a better angle.
But then he could see she wore her Ravenclaw nightshirt. Her hair was down and though it wasn’t morning Medusa out-of-control it was a bit frizzy. She was just...well her. If he was still interested after seeing her like this...she’d be surprised.
“Hey. Just figured it’d be nicer to chat. You in bed?”
“Yeah. I am. Give me a minute to...” Whatever she was about to say, it was going to sound ridiculous. So she put the phone down and ran to the other room to get the phone holder she used when she talked to her mom and dad once a week.
She came back in time to see Conrad’s camera pointing at the floor as he walked through a long hallway. She set up her phone and then tried to look alluring or sexy, but let’s face it, with this nightshirt and hair...it wasn’t happening.
He stopped walking and brought the camera back to his face. “I just got home.”
It was really none of her business what he’d been doing, but... “What were you doing?”
“Like I said, lady, I couldn’t stop thinking about you, so I was in the test kitchen.”
“You were cooking?”
He shrugged as he plopped down on something. Then he reached over and clicked on a light and she realized he was in a bedroom. His?
“It’s what I do when I start feeling restless,” he said.
“I read. A good book sweeps me away from my own thoughts,” she said. “Did you cook it all out?”
“I didn’t. I wish you were here with me.”
She did too. But she wondered if she’d feel the same way if he were in the same room with her. It was one thing to fantasize about being intimate with him, but she had no idea how she’d really react. The kiss outside this afternoon had shaken her to her core, made her hungry for him in a way that she hadn’t thought she’d ever be able to feel again.
“Too much?”
She shook her head. “I’m just not sure about the reality of it—I mean you live in the city and I live in a place you hate.”
“Ah, I thought you meant who’d be on top,” he said.
Immediately her mind went to what that would be like. Her on his lap, his hands on her body, her hands on shoulders or maybe his chest.
“Con. I’m not sure this is a good idea.”
He sighed. “What would be a good idea.”
“I’m not sure. I do owe you a weekend, right? We need to talk about that.”
“What if I call it off and we date.”
“Date?”
“It’s this thing where two people who like each other meet up—”
“Ha. I know what a date is—I meant it more as surprised. You don’t strike me as a dating kind of guy.”
“What kind of guy do I strike you as?” he asked.