last, but I still felt a singular sense of pride that this woman appreciated my home.
I took her through the place, showing off more than anything, and we ended up in the living room.
“That is a giant couch,” she said appreciatively.
I smirked. “Bert would not stop complaining about how uncomfortable my old one was, so I got a new one.”
“You do everything your little sister tells you?” she teased.
I nodded as I went to the fridge and grabbed us a couple of beers. “Oh, yeah. She’s mean when she’s crossed.”
Leah laughed and we headed to sit down.
“So, Sunday still okay?” she asked.
I nodded. “All fine.”
We’d arranged to go to her parents’ place for lunch to make our grand announcement. Leah hadn’t seen any point in delaying it, and I’d had to agree with her. If we were doing this, we may as well do it.
“I’m picking you up from Anna’s, yeah?” I checked.
“If that’s still fine?”
“Yep. All good. Dress code?”
She waved a hand. “Pfft. Anna’s is casual as.”
“Your parents.”
“Oh,” she joked. “Whatever’s fine. Something that says ‘I’ve got some taste, but it’s nothing like yours and I didn’t put any effort in’.”
“You really like to make this easy on me,” I chuckled.
She shrugged. “I’ve no doubt you’ll get it perfectly.”
I also had no doubt, but only because I was planning on asking Bert and Petra to give me a hand. A good friend of the team, Petra was our official source of all things fashion and she never failed to make sure we looked perfect for whatever part we were playing. She and my sister had become firm friends since the team took Bert out to a fancy dinner months ago. I was glad Bert had moved on from Dannie after the raging nympho had slept with her boyfriend – I’d never trusted the whiny little fucker – but I was also a little bit worried how many stories Bert and Petra were exchanging on their late night, alcohol-fuelled chats.
“I’m sure I can rustle something up,” was all I said to Leah.
“Okay, so final check. We know about relevant friends and family. We’ve covered school and job history. I could order your last meal for you with my eyes closed. Anything else we need to cover?”
I shrugged. “Childhood pets?”
“Did you have any?”
“No.”
She snorted. “Me either. Always wanted a dog, but Mother said they were too dirty.”
“Figures you’d be a dog person.”
“Don’t tell me you’re a cat person!” she wailed sarcastically.
I huffed a laugh. “I prefer cats, but I like both.”
“Oh, thank god. Here I was thinking this was never going to work.”
“Because I like cats?”
“That sort of thing could be a dealbreaker, Patrick,” she teased.
I nodded. “Good to know. Favourite colour?”
“Orange.”
“Red.”
“Well, maybe we’re not so compatible after all,” she said simply.
“What’s wrong with orange and red?”
“They clash horribly.”
“Or together, they make fire.”
She looked me over as she licked her lip. “I could get behind that.”
“I could get behind you.”
“What’s stopping you?”
“Logistics, at the moment.”
She looked around the room. “All I see is a bounty of opportunity,” she said.
“That a challenge?” I asked her.
“Should you choose to accept.”
I looked her over and let my imagination get to work.
She was wearing a thick skirt that fell to a little below her knees, with heeled brown boots and a knitted sweater. Access was easy enough. Positions were another thing all together.
“Do you not accept, or…?” she asked teasingly.
I smirked. “Give a man time to think, why don’t you?”
She put her beer down on the coffee table and leant towards me. “Don’t think about it, just do it.”
I could do that.
My beer joined hers on the table and I quirked my eyebrow at her. A flash of expectant desire lit her eyes and she gave me an encouraging smirk.
I held my hand out to her as I stood up. With a quizzical look, she took it and, as I pulled her to standing, I spun her around so her back hit my front. My arm snaked around her stomach to hold her to me.
“So far, so good?” I whispered into her ear before kissing her neck.
She pressed back into me and nodded. “So far, so good.”
As I kissed her neck, one hand found its way to the bottom of her skirt and started dragging it up her legs. Her arm wound around to the back of my head as she leant against me.
My fingers slid up under her skirt and found her clit through her panties. Over wasn’t going to cut it, though.
I ran