Page 53 of The Woman in 3B
Anissa flicked the tip of her tongue along the outer shell of my ear. It was hard to formulate thoughts and even harder to finish a complete sentence with her ragged breath in my ear.
She gripped me hard at my hipbones and pressed the length of her body against me. “You’re sexy, Alice.”
She ran her hands around my hips and to my backside. “Tight little body.”
“We have to watch our weight at work.”
“Smooth, delicious tasting skin.” She licked up the side of my neck in one, long dramatic drag of her tongue.
“I-I used the soap in your bathroom,” I sputtered.
She buried her face into my hair and inhaled. “Silky, soft hair.”
“It’s your conditioner.”
Her face remained pressed against the side of my head. I couldn’t see her face, but I could feel her body shake with what I interpreted as silent laughter.
“Shut up and accept the compliments, Alice.”
“Okay,” I breathed.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
It was still dark outside when the alarm on my cellphone chimed. I’d set the alarm for an early hour knowing I’d need time to drive back to my apartment and get ready for the day before going to the airport. I probably should have spent the previous night at my apartment, but I hadn’t wanted to leave. Losing a few hours of sleep seemed like a small sacrifice in exchange for another night with Anissa.
I turned off the alarm and buried my face into a pillow. “Don’t wanna,” I mumbled.
I felt Anissa reach for me across the expanse of the mattress. Her hand slipped under my t-shirt and curled around the elastic waistband of the borrowed shorts I wore. “Where are you flying to today?” she asked.
“What day is it?” I was only partially kidding. The last two days had been like a time warp where only Anissa and I existed.
“It’s Monday.”
“Monday, Monday,” I sighed. “Today I’m boomeranging to Seattle and back. How about you?”
“No flying for me today, but I have some distance meetings and online trainings to facilitate. But at least I get to do all of that from home.”
“Lucky.”
“Do you want to shower here?” she asked.
“No. I’ll do all that stuff back home.” I glanced at the clock on my phone once more and sighed again. “I should probably get going before traffic gets bad.”
Anissa sat quietly in bed while I changed out of the pajamas she’d let me borrow. Even in the dark, I could feel her eyes on me as I pulled on my clothes from the Saturday pool party.
“I guess that’s everything,” I announced.
I was a little disappointed that she hadn’t tried to get me to linger in bed longer or hadn’t tried to convince me to play hooky with her. I would have resisted and still have gone to work, but it would have been nice. Instead, she solemnly nodded and got out of bed herself.
Her silence continued as she padded down the stairs and led the way to the front door. The sudden lack of dialogue concerned me, but it wasn’t yet dawn, and she might not have been a morning person.
Anissa flipped on the front porch light and stepped outside with me. She immediately began to run her palms over her bare arms. There was a slight chill in the air outside, and a light dew had settled across the front yard. The neighborhood was silent, still sleeping.
“Thank you for bringing me my tablet,” she said, breaking the morning’s silence.
“You’re welcome,” I routinely replied. “When can I see you again?”
Her lips drew into a smile. “I’ll see you on Wednesday, won’t I?”
