Page 11 of Silver Foxed

“Oh, no, don’t think that,” I answer. “It doesn’t surprise me that he didn’t say anything. He hated Sean. My dad hates all the men I date.” Elijah’s brow pinches once more, and I wonder why that made him bristle.

But I soldier on. “Sean swept me off my feet with promises of settling down, babies, all the things I told him I wanted when we first started seeing each other. But Dad suspected from the beginning that he was dating me for some weird status thing and to help get one of his new media businesses off the ground. Dad wasn’t very happy when we got engaged, but he went along with it because he thought I was happy.”

“And you weren’t?” Elijah asks.

I shrug, pushing my near-empty plate away. “I was at first. Or at least I think I was. Honestly, I don’t know. I think I was happy with the idea of Sean more than anything. And eventually, from what I could tell, Dad was right. When I started talking about family plans more aggressively, our already meager wedding planning halted altogether. After months of nothing, I finally told him either he wanted a family with me, or he didn’t. His silence told me everything, so I broke it off.”

Elijah sets his fork down on his empty plate. “I’m sorry, Alex.”

“Don’t be sorry. Do you want more food?”

He pats his stomach. “If I eat any more, I’ll burst. But thank you again. You didn’t have to feed me after I intruded on your getaway.”

“Technically, we both kind of intruded on each other’s getaways.”

“At least let me help you with the dishes.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“It’s no trouble. I like doing dishes.”

My eyes narrow at him. “You’re lying.”

A nice smile graces his lips, enough that he shows me his straight white teeth. “It’s relaxing. I like the repetitiveness.”

“Interesting. I guess we make a good team then, because dishes are my least favorite part.”

“Then I’d be glad to help.”

“You wash, I dry?” I ask, pushing up from the table.

Elijah stands with me, offering his hand like we’re making a gentleman’s agreement. “Deal,” he says.

With an amused smirk, I put my hand in his warm palm and shake.

“Deal.”

Chapter six

Elijah

Working in tandem with Alex to clean up the kitchen brings into stark focus a domestic daydream that’s almost primal.

It’s a simple act, one that’s not new or extraordinary but speaks to a part of myself I don’t often acknowledge. Or perhaps more truthfully, I haven’t let myself acknowledge it since long before my divorce, when my marriage with Deb was new and I thought we’d wanted the same things.

I dry my hands on the dish towel as Alex puts away the last of the plates. I allow myself to watch her profile for a moment. She’s humming a tune, the low notes soothing any last bit of nerves I had about being in the same room as my best friend’s daughter.

While the attraction I’ve been trying to deny is still there, I’ve enjoyed spending the last half hour getting to know her better while we’ve worked as a team to wash and dry the dishes. Unlike me, Alex is an open book. I’ve asked her about her job a bit more and if she ended up finding an apartment sans roaches. Thankfully, she did. One she’s moving in to after her thirtieth birthday next week.

Thirty. I knew she had to be at least in her mid-to-late twenties after seeing her job profile earlier, but finding out she’s about to be thirty shouldn’t excite me as much as it does. It’s nice to know our relationship wouldn’t be completely inappropriate.

I clench my jaw. There is no relationship, Elijah. You’re here for one night. Then you’ll leave tomorrow and go back to your boring life where you’ll work all day and go home to an empty house.

As Alex folds the dish towel she’s been using and turns to face me, I wonder if she feels lonely, too. I related to what she said about getting out of a relationship with someone who didn’t want the same things. I also can’t deny that what she wants is what I want as well. Expressing her desire to settle down and start a family only added fuel to the already burning flame of my attraction to her.

I’d be lying if I didn’t admit there was a part of my brain that already started to picture what it would be like to have a life with her. It was easy to do after she fed me a delicious meal then we did dishes together with the kind of practiced ease married couples have.

Alex smiles at me, her freckled cheeks stained a light pink. A normal occurrence for her because of her fair skin, I’ve realized.

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