Page 36 of The Woman in 3B
“Good,” she responded. I felt mesmerized as she swabbed her tongue across her lower lip. “Because you’re ‘it’ now.”
Her hand abruptly left between my thighs and she sprang away, disturbing the water around us. I briefly sputtered on a wall of chlorinated water that tried to drown me in her haste to swim away. But despite the pool water in my lungs and up my nose, the unsatisfied ache between my legs persisted.
Anissa tread water a few feet away. “What are you waiting for, Alice?” she challenged.
“Yeah, Alice!” one of her older nephews parroted.
“Yeah, Alice!” her other nieces and nephews chimed in.
I ducked underwater to momentarily collect myself. I resurfaced a few seconds later, eyes closed.
“Marco!” I yelled out.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The pool party ended after fingers and toes were sufficiently pruney. Tiny bodies were wrapped in oversized pool towels, lips blue and teeth chattering, but overall exhausted and satisfied with the day’s events. The adults exchanged their goodbyes in the front foyer with murmured observations on how well the kids would sleep that night.
Dusk arrived, filling the sky with a pink and purple kaleidoscope display. I picked up a used paper plate from the patio table and stacked it on top of another dirty plate. I collected the red plastic cups strewn around the pool. Anissa didn’t have a garbage bag out by the pool, but I started to condense the mess to make the post-party clean up a little easier.
I looked towards the house when I heard the glass sliding door open. Anissa stepped outside. She was still in her bathing suit, although she’d put on her coverup again, leaving her torso covered, but below her thighs she remained bare.
“You don’t have to do that,” she admonished. “It can wait until morning.”
“I don’t mind,” I said in earnest.
“You’re nicer than my own family,” she remarked. “They take off as soon as the food’s been eaten.”
We cleaned up the pool area just enough to dispose of used plates, paper napkins, and plastic cutlery. Leftover food went into plastic storage containers and were stacked in the refrigerator.
Her family was long gone, and I was still uninvited. It had been a nice afternoon, which had turned into a nice evening. I didn’t want to wear out my welcome or make her feel like she needed to entertain me. She probably wanted to relax and binge on HGTV like I did most free evenings.
We stood in her kitchen, on either side of the granite island.
“I’m glad you decided to stalk me today,” she said.
“I’m not a stalker!” I squeaked. “I’m just very dedicated to customer service.”
“All in the name of duty, I see.” Her eyes seemed to twinkle even in the dim lighting. “That’s the only reason you came out here?”
I pushed out an annoyed breath. “You know you’re gorgeous. Don’t try to pretend you’re not.”
Anissa pursed her lips. “Would you like to borrow some pajamas?”
My breath hitched. “Are you asking me to stay the night?”
“I can’t expect you to drive home; you’ve been drinking,” she said reasonably.
In truth, I’d only had a single beer the entire afternoon and evening.
“I could call a Lyft,” I reflexively defended.
Her eyebrow arched. “So youdon’twant to stay the night?” she questioned.
“I-I do,” I admitted. “But not because I’m drunk, and not because I’m some charity case.”
“I’m glad to hear it. I wouldn’t want to think I was taking advantage of you later.”
My throat felt suddenly dry.
