Page 58 of Fragile Touch (Fragile 1)
The room was soon filled with jazz; it helped cool the energy from the argument. By the time they were finished with their pizza, a conversation was flowing somewhat normally. She could tell the two guys were trying to talk like there was no tension.
While they chatted, they watched the moon rise above the forest. The temperature dropped lower and Lillian soon began shivering.
“I’m going to have a hot shower and take a nap before midnight, you two.” She took her plate to the sink. “It’s going to be a long night.”
“What time is your surgery?”
“It’s not surgery, Andrew.”
“What time is your colonoscopy?”
“7:30.”
Cayden pretended to yawn. “I’m going to nap, too.”
“What a coincidence, napping at the same time.” Lillian raised an eyebrow; she could feel the same curious glimmer that she loved seeing in Cayden’s eyes in her own now.
“You can keep that between yourselves. I’ve another early morning, so I’ve got to start winding down as well.” Andrew put his plate in the dishwasher. “Can I borrow your reading chair, Lillian?”
“Sure.”
Cayden drained the last few drops of gin and exclaimed, “Naptime!” He wrapped his arms around Lillian’s waist and started to pull her out of the room.
“I’ll say goodnight, Andrew,” she called through a laughing fit as she and Cayden pretended to struggle to her room. Using himself as a cushion, he flopped them both onto the bed.
She rolled onto her stomach on top of him. “Why do I feel like you’re up to something?”
“Perhaps because I am.”
“When can I find out?” She ran her fingernail along his jaw line.
“Whenever you want.”
“I think I’ll shower first. Will you still be around?”
He smirked. “I’ll right here, ready and waiting.”
They pressed their lips together, breathing in each other’s breath and touching their skin like it had been years. Lillian wished her night wouldn’t involve running back and forth to the bathroom.
I guess I’d better make the best of it for now, then, she thought, and pulled Cayden’s lower lip with her teeth. “Let me go shower and I’ll be back.”
“As you wish,” he whispered. Lillian buried her nose in his hair and breathed deeply. His smell brought her to a place of calm. A place she desperately needed right now.
She got up, leaving him sprawled on the bed, and undressed slowly, pretending like she didn’t know he was watching. In her peripheral vision she saw his eyes glued to her like a rare treasure, and she stifled a grin as she wrapped the towel around her and swayed into the bathroom, cracking the door behind her.
I should’ve i
nvited him in. It seemed like a good idea, but she decided it was better to do when Andrew was gone. He probably wouldn’t appreciate the noise. Thinking about Cayden’s body against hers made her feel giddy. She couldn’t recall the last time she felt that way before meeting him.
She sped through her shower routine, eager to have the last few hours until midnight with him, but when she opened the bathroom door she saw him lying there on his back, dead asleep and hugging a pillow. He looked so peaceful; it even looked like he was smiling a little.
There goes the fun. Trying to keep quiet, she changed into pajamas and wrapped the towel around her hair. There were still a few hours left to nap. She cracked the bedroom door and went to refill her water cup.
Andrew was in her reading chair and looked up when she walked through the room. “Hey, there.”
“What’re you reading?” She poured some water and joined the cats on the sofa.
“Shakespeare,” he said, and held up a book about investment. “You ready for your thing in the morning?”
