Page 33 of Slow Kind of Love

Elise paced her empty home. She fed Pancake and let him out into the backyard, and then she couldn’t wait any longer. Heart pounding like a teenager on her first date, she called Link. He picked up before the first ring sounded.

“Hey,” he said, his voice husky and intimate next to her ear.

“Hi.”

“I wanted to call hours ago, but I figured you’d sleep in this morning.”

“I did.” Elise cleared her throat. “I, ah, wanted to say thank you for last night. Heather wasn’t in a good place, and I just wanted to make her feel better, and we kind of…” God, she must have looked like an idiot when he walked into her home. “Well, we…”

“It’s okay.” She practically felt his smile. “Guns N’ Roses never sounded so good. Look, I’m just heading into a meeting with a couple guys of I’ve brought over from England for the soccer program here. I’m running late because I had to take Rose to the airport at an insane hour this morning. She decided to visit a girlfriend in New York City and of course gave no warning.”

“Is your meeting at the complex?” Her thought was to suggest lunch.

“No, here at my place. The boys just got here.”

“Are they staying at your house?”

“No, they’re booked into the new hotel attached to the complex. With Rose in the picture, things would get complicated quickly.” She heard a male voice in the background. “I’ll call you when we’re all done, but I don’t anticipate that until much later. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, and I have a call with Nate and a sponsor at two o’clock and then paperwork to catch up on for the estate in England, and I promised my solicitor he’d have it back by tonight. When it rains, eh? I’ll probably be working past dinner.”

“Okay.” She was disappointed and didn’t bother to hide it.

“Elise?”

Mouth dry at the change of tone in his voice, she licked her lips. “Yes?”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, and fair warning, unlike last night, I don’t intend to behave myself.”

“Promise?” God, she was no better than a horny teenager.

“As you Yanks would say, you can take that one to the bank.”

The line went dead, and, suddenly energized, Elise glanced around her home and decided to work off the nervous energy that had taken root by cleaning up the remains from dinner. Then she moved on to the bathrooms. And then the bedrooms. And then, feeling out of sorts, she glanced at the clock. It was only two in the afternoon.

The silence of her home pressed in on her as she wandered over to her closet, thinking she should organize it better. A slip of pale blue silk caught her eye. She tugged down the new bra and panty set she’d bought before Christmas and never worn.

She’d bought it for Link because he’d once said he loved her in blue.

Was she being silly? To feel like this?

The material was so soft. She ran her fingers over it once more, mind on Link and how his eyes had darkened when he’d sat her down on the counter in Poppy’s shop. He’d licked his lips and slowly opened her legs. He looked as if he wanted to devour her.

Hot and flushed and suddenly out of sorts, she bit her bottom lip and eyed the drawer beside her bed. Her vibrator was in there. Something she knew would give her release in five minutes flat. Hell, the way her body felt right now, she’d probably have an orgasm in two. But it wasn’t only a release she wanted. She wanted more.

I want him.

She eyed the clock. Link had said he’d be done with the guys from England around now. Then he had a phone call. Then paperwork.

Her nipples were hard and an ache began between her legs, an intense pulse that brough a sheen of sweat to her skin. Eyes on the blue silk once more, she held it to her face and then, before she could change her mind, jumped back in the shower. This time, she washed her hair and took care of the lady parts that needed taken care of. She shaved her legs. She applied liberal amounts of soft, silky cream to every inch of her body. Then she dried her hair and let it fall in loose waves, the way Link liked.

A touch of mascara and smoky liner, along with her favorite peach-colored gloss and light bronzer made her skin glow. She pulled on the lacy blue silk bra and matching panties, then she did something she’d never in her life done before.

She grabbed her long black wool coat from the cupboard and shrugged into it, then tugged on her knee-high black leather boots. They weren’t meant for the snow, but she wasn’t exactly walking in it. She gave her dog a bone, and while he settled onto his bed to chew it, she sent a text to Boone and asked him to grab Pancake when he picked up Benji from school.

Then she was outside. In the snow. Carefully picking her way along the path because of the four-inch heels on her boots.

And there was no turning back.

It was pushing five o’clock by the time she pulled into Link’s driveway. His meeting must be over and relieved to see there was no vehicle there but his, she took a moment to calm her nerves, and before she could feel ridiculous and change her mind, Elise slipped out of her van and walked up to his front door. She knocked lightly, but there was no answer.

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