Dear Heart, You Screwed Me(71)

Looking at myself in the mirror one last time, I walked into the lounge area. I felt restless, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I couldn’t relax. Walking towards the sound system, I turned on the music, Lionel Richie filled the room. Nice, mellow music. I paced the width of my penthouse, walking back and forth as I fought with my thoughts.

Stopping outside the kitchen, I checked on my housekeeper. She was cooking Connie’s favourite. Salmon, white rice and asparagus. It smelt amazing. She liked it with a lemon dressing, but it had to be on the side. She didn’t like it running into the other food on her plate. Then we had traditional New York cheesecake with raspberry ice-cream. All homemade, just not by me.

I had bought some cookies, Connie used to like to have them as a little snack while waiting for dinner while dipping them in milk. I also bought English tea, tea bags for Reese. I wasn’t that great at making tea, but I would give it a go for her. I even had my housekeeper buy an electric kettle. I have never used a kettle, if I wanted a flavoured tea, I would always warm my cup of water in the microwave, but after looking online it’s what Reese would use to make a tea.

Why was I so nervous? I rubbed my hand through my hair, the cool metal from my wedding band scraping across my scalp. My skin prickled in anticipation; my heart drummed at a steady beat but a little harder than normal.

Checking the time, it had just gone six pm. They would be here soon.

Pacing back and forth, my gaze alternated between the clock and the door to my penthouse. Running my hand through my hair and messing it up slightly, I stilled when I heard a knock on the door.

I strolled towards the noise, my fingers gripping the doorknob with my sweaty palm, my fingers locking firmly round it. As I twisted it, I plastered a smile on my face. Swinging the door open to see Reese standing there holding a bottle of wine and a card.

“Hey,” she beamed. Her smile lighting up the room instantly, her blonde hair was sitting in waves and cascaded down to her ribcage. Her green eyes glistened as they took me in, our gaze locking. My heart skipped a beat at the intense gaze we held with each other, my breath catching but I disguised it with a clear of my throat.

My eyes skimmed down her body as I looked at what she was wearing. Jeans and a v-neck loose tee. Simple. The tee plunged in deep, stopping just before her breast bone, revealing her glorious, tanned skin. She was petite and slender, I liked that she could wear tops like that without seeing her pert little tits spilling out.

My lips twitched with a smirk.

“Hey,” I breathed, stepping aside to let her in.

“This is for you; I didn’t know what wine you liked so I just grabbed my favourite,” she winced a little and shrugged her shoulders up as she placed the bottle and the card on the black side table.

A gentle laugh bubbled out of me.

“Thank you, but you didn’t have to get me anything,” I closed the door softly as I turned to watch her take her sneakers off, placing them neatly by the door.

Scoffing when I saw she had white, fluffy socks on. They looked like clouds and seemed to have little rainbows stitched into them.

Cute.

She turned to face me, giving me an awkward smile. She pushed her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, then licked her lips. Her chest pushing forward as silence fell over us.

Why was this so awkward?

“When do your parents land?” I asked as I reached for the wine and the card strolling towards the wine chiller.

“Day before Christmas Eve,” she sighed a little, “the snow doesn’t seem to be letting up and I am worried their flight will be grounded back home.”

“I am keeping everything crossed for you,” I offered her a weak smile as I put the wine away.

“I don’t know how it works here, but England comes to a complete standstill if there is even a flurry of snow, I mean if we had the same weather here as we did back home, England would go into meltdown.” She laughed as her fingers drummed on the worktop

I laughed with her, my eyes down casting to my wrist. Where the bloody hell was Connie!?

Being this close to her and having to stay away is torture. All I want to do is take her in my arms, inhale her scent then take her plump lips between my teeth before grazing my teeth over her jaw line before dragging my lips back to hers and kissing her.

“Have you heard from Connie?” I asked as I stepped forward towards the centre island.

“Yeah, she said she was running a little late,” I saw her eyes widen slightly, “should I have waited? I’m sorry, I’ll go and come back. I didn’t even think,” she began to ramble, her hands flying around as she spoke. Biting the inside of my lip hard, I tried to stop my laugh.

“It just gets lonely on your own…” her voice fell for a moment, her eyes found mine.

“Yeah…” I nodded; I knew exactly what she meant. The evenings are long when you’re home alone every day.

The silence fell between us, the tension crackling in the air that surrounded us.

Her breath caught in the back of her throat, her chest rising a little faster now. If you looked close enough, you could see her heart beating through her skin.

“Do you want a tour?” I asked her, I had to keep moving. I had to try and put some physical distance between us.

“Sure,” her voice was high pitched, and deep down I think she was grateful too.

Pressing my lips into a thin line, I rushed past her to try and soften the gravitating pull that I felt every time I was close to her.