gorgeous.
I smiled back and put my thumb to the smudge of flour. I tried to wipe it off but only managed to smear it further. It didn’t matter. Even her imperfections were flattering. “Hi, Gwen. I’m so happy to see you.”
“Me too.”
“These last few days have been so long. You have no idea.”
She pursed her lips. “I think I might.”
“How are you doing?” I said.
She looked around. The cafe was busy. She bit down on her lower lip then looked back at me. “Shall we get out of here? I can leave the girls alone for a while.”
My heart raced. I wiped my hands on my pants, swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded.
“Hang on a sec,” she said. She went to one of the girls working, said something to her then came back. She took my hand in hers and led me to the door. “Let’s go for a little stroll along the beach. What do you say?”
I could barely make out the words she was saying. I was concentrating on the touch of her hand against mine. My thumb ran lightly over her finger as if discovering it for the first time. I let go of her but kept my hand close to hers. I ran my fingers from her wrist down to the tips of her nails.
She walked close to me; her shoulder bumped against mine. I felt my knees buckle and thought I would collapse. My cock stiffened and pressed painfully against my pants.
I pointed to a bench up ahead. “Let’s take a seat.”
“A seat?”
“Just for a minute.”
As soon as we sat on the bench, Gwen swung her legs over my lap. She put an arm around me, pulled me close to her, and we embraced.
“Mmm, you are gross and sweaty,” she said, and she kissed me again, mixing in short pecs with longer deeper kisses.
I pulled away and gasped for breath. “God, I’m so hard right now, my dick is going to burst through my pants.”
She slid her hand between her legs; the tips of her fingers found the tip of my cock.
I sucked in a breath through gritted teeth.
Gwen looked around. “I wish there was something I could do about that right here, right now,” she said.
I, too, looked around. There were people passing by every which way. My hand rubbed her leg from her knee up to her thigh. My other hand ran up and down her back. “We’re making a spectacle, aren’t we?” I said.
Gwen swung her legs off me and hopped off the bench. She extended her hand for me to take. “Come on. Let’s walk along the beach.”
I grimaced. My arousal had reached painful proportions. I closed my eyes and squeezed my hands into fists.
“Are you OK?”
I smiled and nodded. “Just a second.” I opened my eyes and released my balled-up fists. As I stood I adjusted myself. “There it is. Much better.”
We walked along the beach. This time I kept my hands to myself. We talked easily about everything and nothing. It was like we’d known each other for years.
“The other night,” said Gwen, “you guys left in a hurry.”
“Did we?”
“I thought we were just getting started.”
“I think maybe we’d had a bit too much to drink.”
“You mean, maybe I’d had too much to drink.” She bumped me with her shoulder. I bumped back.
“Like I said, we’re big into the consent thing.”
“I see,” she said. “And I was too drunk to consent?”
I shrugged. “It was a judgment call. We erred on the side of caution.”
“Hmm, interesting.” She looked at me and smiled mischievously. “Just don’t make that a habit.”
I smiled back. “I’m sorry we left early. No hard feelings?”
“No hard feelings. And stop apologizing.”
“I’m—” I was about to say ‘sorry’, but I caught myself and bit my tongue.
“Say, when’s your next night off?” she asked.
“Tuesday.”
She took my hand. “Any plans?”
“No plans.”
“I have some new recipes I want to try out. What would you say to an intimate evening, a home-cooked meal?”
“That sounds great, actually. Unfortunately Manny and Nolan are on duty.”
She stopped walking and turned to me. “I meant, an intimate evening just you and me.”
I let go of her hand and took a step back.
“What’s wrong?”
“Gwen, I couldn’t do that.”
She furrowed her brow. “Why not? I don’t get it.”
I took off my glasses and wiped them on my shirt, hoping that would buy me some time to put my thoughts in order. But I was confused. I thought we had an understanding, and her invitation caught me