Page 35 of Love's a Glitch
If he was going to test the line, I figured I might as well do some experimenting of my own. I curled my hand around his firm forearm, sank into his embrace, and allowed him to become my center of gravity while my brain took a little hiatus.
17
Luke
The sweet scents of Ellie’s perfume and shampoo filled my nose, and I tucked my chin on the top of her head.
I’d been talked into taking a dance class, and that wasn’t even the craziest part. Learning the steps of the tango was both vexing and satisfying. But once I’d started tugging Ellie to me, my body craved the next moment we’d be pressed together again, the high growing exponentially each and every time. Along the way, I’d found I rather enjoyed the push and pull of the Argentine Tango. The way Ellie would gasp each time I tugged her to me, and the excuse to wrap my hand around her thigh. To drag her around like she was mine to do with as I pleased….
I should redirect my thoughts before she felt the evidence of my growing attraction.
I’d fought it for nearly three weeks. Did that at least count for something?
My eyes drifted closed as she skated her fingertips along the line of my forearm. At the feel of her tipping up her chin, I cracked open my lids and peered down at her.
“Thanks again for joining me,” she said. “I know it was last minute, but hopefully it hasn’t been too painful.”
“Painful isn’t the word I’d use.” I swallowed, hard, and there was no way she didn’t feel my erection nestling the crack of her ass. If I didn’t get my thoughts in order soon, Madame Pauline was likely to come point it out—maybe even snag my hips and wiggle it around for everyone to get a nice look. “Dancing with you is…. Well, I’ve never enjoyed dancing before tonight.”
A whoosh of air spilled from her lips, wafting across my skin.
Seconds ground out in the air between us, and I debated my next move, and whether there should be one. Then I kicked myself for waiting too long, as we were all summoned to the dance floor so we could run through the entire routine a few times to see how it came together after our one-on-one instruction.
Bonus, it gave me plenty of excuses to put my hands on Ellie.
By the time the class ended, my raging libido insisted I think twice before letting her go again.
Which was why, when we reached the sidewalk, instead of asking where she’d parked her car, I slipped my fingers through hers. “You hungry? We could keep our adventure going and eat authentic Argentinian food to match.”
“Adventures involving eating are my very favorite types of adventures.” She scrunched up her eyebrows. “Unless it’s, like, eating those squid things that come alive when you try to eat them. The only moving I want my food to do is going from the plate to the fork to my mouth.”
I chuckled. “No moving squids. I was thinking of whipping up some empanadas.”
“As in, you’re going to make them? From scratch?”
“That’s the idea, yes. When I stayed in Salta for a week, I shacked up in a tiny apartment above a restaurant, and the owner took a liking to me and taught me the family recipe.” Taking Ellie to my parents’ house would involve introductions and extra complications, and I hadn’t quite thought my idea through before blurting it out. “Is your kitchen available?”
“My kitchen is almost always available. I mostly use the stovetop, but I do have the nearly pristine baking supplies my mom bought me as an apartment-warming gift. She seemed to think the supply would inspire me to follow her demand to learn to bake. It did not.”
“Guess I’ll see if I can’t do a better job at motivating you to learn.” I brushed my thumb over her knuckles, my pulse picking up speed at the idea of being in her apartment. “Text me your address, and I’ll swing by the grocery store and then meet you there.”
* * *
Half an hour later,both of us were covered in flour, the scent of beef, spices, and onion filling the air.
“I’ve only been to Mexico once,” Ellie said as I circled my arms around her and showed her how to pinch the dough. Not that she couldn’t have figured it out herself, but what fun would that be? “And we were so busy with prep for my sister’s wedding that I didn’t even leave the resort, so I didn’t even get to experience my time there. It boggles my mind how many different cool places you’ve traveled to.”
“I’ve been extremely lucky to visit so many countries, and to find a way to semi-fund my travels with my photos. Wherever I go, I do my best to immerse myself in the culture—to really put myself in their shoes and experience their world the way they do. It means I’ve stayed in places without indoor plumbing and huts that felt like they didn’t have walls when the wind blew.” I shrugged a shoulder. “But that’s half the fun.”
“I’m not sure I’d call going without heat and running water fun. I do admire the way you go all in, though. So, Madagascar was your first trip. What inspired the rest of them?”
“My desire to get as far away from my family as possible,” I said, brutally honest, and yet an oversimplification. “Which sounds awful, I know. I love them, and they’re good people. In fact, my mom pushed me to go on that first trip so I could see the differences in the education system and the economy, and so I wouldn’t take what I had for granted. Although she probably regrets it now.
“The main problem is that they planned out a whole life for me, without bothering to get my input, or listen to it when I was old enough to give it. But there’s a whole world out there, waiting to be explored, and I resolved to capture as much as I could of it on film.” I took the baking sheet from in front of her, placed it in the oven, and set a timer. Then I turned outward, resting my butt against the counter so I was facing her. “I definitely couldn’t do what I do without the trust fund my grandparents set up for me, though. I like to pay what I can forward, and I make a game of seeing how little money I can spend, unless it’s supporting small shop owners and that sort of thing. I…”
I rubbed the back of my neck. How did I say one of my proudest accomplishments without bragging? “With the help of a huge group of people and a charity I often work with, I helped build a school for girls.”
Awe filled her features, and I lowered my gaze to the floor, too aware I didn’t deserve all that. “I should do more. My hobby helps fund my trips to a certain extent and that allows me to help out more people. But to be clear, before you go thinking I’m better than I am, I go on plenty of trips that are all fun, no philanthropy involved.”
