Page 44 of Champagne Kisses
“Yes, that’s Maya. Though my lack of drawing skills definitely doesn’t do her justice.” We reach the kitchen, and Eric grabs one of the bagels someone brought in this morning. By the afternoon, only pumpernickel and onion are left, and there’s no cream cheese.Pass.Eric clearly doesn’t share my reservations; he takes a big bite of the pumpernickel bagel…raw. I try to hide my grimace.
“Hey. Don’t judge me. I had to work through lunch to prepare for that meeting you just slept through.” I raise my hands in defense. Someone’s feeling fiesty today.
“Whoa, whoa, man. I tuned out for like a minute. Plus, I think I recovered pretty quickly.” Eric sighs and wipes his hand down his face. He looks exhausted.
“Sorry, man.” He sits down at one of the tables and I pull up a chair. “Sarah, our youngest, has strep…again. I was in urgent care and then we were up all night until her fever broke.”
“That sounds awful. Is she feeling any better today?” Eric lets out a mirthless laugh.
“That’s just it; she’s feeling great now. After finally passing out at 5:00 AM and sleeping for six hours, she woke up fully rested like nothing even happened. Meredith is home with her and apparently Sarah’s nonstop energy is driving her insane.” I chuckle before I can hide my amusement with a cough. Eric takes another bite of untoasted bagel.
“Laugh all you want, but someday, maybe with this Maya woman, you will know my pain.” Two months ago, that comment alone would have sent my running for the hills. Now…?
“Maya and I are hardlythereyet, but thanks for the vote of confidence.“ Eric stops chewing and stares at me. “What?”
“Adam Park just used the word ‘yet’ about becoming a parent, that’s what.” Eric feels his forehead worriedly. “Maybe I’m coming down with strep and this whole conversation is just a fever dream.” I stand up to put some distance between myself and patient zero.
“Don’t tell me you came into work today contagious, Eric.” Eric ponders that thought before resuming his bagel “meal”.
“No…I don’t think so…Hmmm.” Eric feels the back of his neck. “You know what? I’ll take a Z-pack just in case.” I take another step back.
“Nice. Why don’t you call it a day before you cause an outbreak at the office.” Eric shrugs and grabs his things.
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” He polishes off his bagel, the last bite still in his mouth as he talks. “Once I’m home, I’m happy to spitball proposal ideas for that Maya girl if you want.” My eyes widen in shock.
“Go ahead and stop by urgent care, Eric. You’re clearly delusional.”
Eric just smirks and waves as he heads for the elevators. To think that Maya and I are that serious after just a couple months. That’s ridiculous…right?
In my right hand, I’ve got an English cucumber, and in my left, your garden variety cucumber. I step closer to Maya to avoid the teenagers playing bumper cars with their shopping cart. It’s a madhouse in here.
“Maya! Which one?” Maya looks up from the pineapples to inspect the cucumbers I’m holding. She’s got a wicked gleam in her eye.
“Hmmm.” She walks slowly over to me and takes each cucumber in her hand. She makes a point of squeezing and stroking both while looking me in the eyes. “I like this one,” she says of the English cucumber. “It’s nice andlong…andthick. It looks like it’ll be a really…satisfying mouthful.“ At the last innuendo, Maya can’t contain her laughter and starts giggling like a schoolgirl. The mom of the teenagers raises an eyebrow and shoos her kids along.
“Sorry!” I yell after her. “She really loves salad!” This sends Maya into another fit of laughter.
“You’re going to get us kicked out of Trader Joe’s if you keep this up.” I pull her closer to me and move her locs aside to plant a kiss on her neck. She’s warm and breathes out a little sigh that lets me know she likes what I’m doing. Even in public, she’s so responsive to me.
“How much more do you need, babe. We should’ve gotten a cart.” She smiles, a little embarrassed.
“You know how I get in TJ’s. My shopping list goes out the window. Let’s get a bottle of rosé and we can call it done. This is going to be delicious.” I take her hand as we walk to the wine section.
“Deal. I can hardly complain when I’m getting another delicious meal out of it. Though, in fairness, every meal you make is delicious.” She squeezes my hand gently and pulls me toward the bottles.
Maya comes out of the kitchen with a plate of lemon bars and sits next to me on the couch. Her soft hips mold perfectly against my body.
“Ribeye, fancy wine, and now lemon bars? What’s the occasion?” She shifts to put her legs in my lap before grabbing the remote.
“Nothing really. I just like to show off sometimes…And…” She bites her lip, suddenly nervous. “I also want to thank you for being so cool at brunch last weekend. My girlfriends really gave you the third degree.” I lean down and kiss her nose.
“You’re adorable when you’re nervous, but you have no reason to be. I said I had fun and I meant it.”
Seemingly satisfied with my answer, Maya turns towards the TV to find our evening entertainment. For some reason, she looks especially beautiful tonight. Her hair is down, her pinktank top is showing off her collar bones and breasts, and her short polka dot skirt is barely covering her bottom.
Maya browses her watchlist, but I can’t stop thinking about that word. “Yet”. Maya and I weren’t to the point of having kids YET. Eric definitely caught me off guard with that comment, but alarm bells still aren’t sounding in my head. Maybe Maya is the real deal. Maybe realizing she’s the real deal is why she’s so irresistible tonight. Maybe it’s time to take things to the next step and see for real if we sink or swim. But first, I ought to give some attention to the beautiful woman in front of me.
My dick twitches under her smooth legs and I can’t help rubbing them. I love the way my hands look against her dark skin. It makes making love to her even more erotic. While my left hand keeps stroking her legs—moving from her ankles to the hem of her tiny skirt and back down—, my right slips under her shirt to undo the clasp of her bra. The straps fall down her shoulders and she turns towards me. The arousal in her eyes is clear.
