Page 37 of The Caretaker
“I’d like that,” I said, even though my stomach roiled as if my words were rancid. I didn’t want to be friends. I didn’t want to sit by and watch him move on, watch him eventually find love with someone else while I played the supportive friend role.Ididn’t want to move on and find anything with anyone but him. I saw the same thing written across his face, and decided to take a chance. To take a gamble that our thoughts were aligned. “I’d like more,” I whispered brazenly, even if I didn’t know what that meant beyond that point in time, or what it meant in the long run. At the very least, I knew I needed more right then.
“Thank God,” he said, lowering his lips to my forehead, sealing them there as our bodies tensed, as we braced ourselves for more.
“I’d like to kiss you,” he said, tracing my cupid’s bow. My cock swelled beneath my towel, pushing against the fabric and loosening the knot holding it together at my hip. Noon shuffled closer, letting me feel his response to me as his hardness poked at my stomach through his jeans.
“What about the mint?” I asked to buy time. I wanted this, so much, but the sensations flooding my body were too extreme to experience all at once. I didn’t know what to do with my feetor my hands, and my lungs had no idea how to manage my shortness of breath.
“I have a feeling mint tastes different on you,” he said, making me smile through my nerves.
“Thank you,” I said. We were approaching the end of an era for us, bravely crossing over into the next. I needed him to know how much I appreciated what he’d done for me thus far. “Thank you for being the best thing that’s happened to me in a while. Thank you for taking good care of me.”
Noon placed his palms on my cheeks, angling my head up as he hunched, making a slow descent for my parted lips before whispering, “Thank you for letting me.”
Noon
Now
WE TOOK Abreak from our self-imposed isolation to drive into town. I needed to upgrade my MacBook in order to install the photo editing software needed for the shoot, and I also wanted to purchase a state-of-the-art camera.
“You think you got enough stuff?” Solace asked sarcastically from the passenger seat, turning to finger through the shopping bags piled on the back seat and floorboards. He plucked up a small LED panel that would attach to the camera itself.
“It’s not just for the shoot.” As I spoke, I kept an eye out for the restaurant we were on our way to for dinner. “I’m switching careers. I should be passionate about my current job,” I said, even though I hadn’t worked since the accident. “I did love it. Right now, though, photography is what breathes some semblance of life into me, so I’ve decided to focus on what I love to do right now.”
“I think that’s a great idea.” Solace’s approval boosted my confidence.
“I’ve got a lot to learn. I can take a photo, but I need to be able to edit them.”
“Well, you’ve got a couple weeks to practice. I’ll help you.”
“I’d like that.” Our gazes lingered on one another.
Solace tipped his head toward the streetlight, smiling as the car behind us tapped on his horn. “You’ve got the green light.”
Clearing my throat, I eased my foot onto the gas, and a couple blocks later pulled into the parking lot of Pauly’s Bar and Bistro.
“So, I finally get to meet Pauly-the-snowplower,” I said dryly, to which Solace chuckled. We’d gotten more snow, and so I’d ordered a plow device to attach to my truck, intent on being the one to help Solace. I woke up today and there was nothing left to plow off the property road. Pauly had beat me to it in the middle of the night.
“He’s a night owl.” Solace climbed out of the truck. “I’ll let him know his services are no longer needed, for now.”
For forever,I wanted to say. A bold statement I had no right to make.
“And you say he does this out of the kindness of his heart?” I synced my pace with his as we meandered toward the entrance.
“Of the few friends I made in Haley Cove as a kid, he’s the only one still here. He took over the bistro when his dad passed away. Before that he ran a sort of handyman business closer to town. Property plowing was one of the services offered. I’m not the only one he helps out when he can.”
Unlike the tavern, which kept its historical charm, Pauly’s Bar and Bistro had a more eclectic aesthetic. The four-seater tables had mismatched chairs, and the upholstered seats atop the barstools had dissimilar patterns.
I hung my coat on the rack near the door, then took Solace’s and did the same.
“Where do you want to sit?” Solace asked.
The music was lively, and there was a decent-sized crowd gathered at the dartboards in the back. The place hadn’t reached full occupancy yet, and so we had options in terms of seating.
A well-built man with deep-set gray eyes rounded the bar before I could answer. “Gorgeous!” the man shouted at Solace,then stalled at the sight of me. I looked behind me to be sure it was me he seemed stunned by.
“Pauly,” Solace called back, making his way over. They were obviously pleased to see each other. Pauly opened his arms to embrace Solace while never taking his eyes off me. I slipped my thumbs into the front pockets of my jeans and sauntered over to their love fest. I wasn’t jealous at all. Not one bit.Who calls another man gorgeous? You do, you idiot,I scolded myself. Hadn’t I called Solace that as recently as the other night?
“Why are you looking at me like that?”he’d asked after glancing up from his book, as if he’d sensed my gaze on him. He’d been sitting in his favorite armchair, shirtless after a shower, droplets of water perched along his collarbone. I was supposed to be doing research for the photo shoot, but I couldn’t stop staring at him.
