The Birds and the Bees

Scent of a Woman

The next morning, I chickened out and while Adrian slipped blissfully in my bed, looking as adorable and innocent in sleep as a lamb, I hurriedly hit the shower and was out and dressed just as he began stirring.

"Hi." Nope. I didn't sound self-conscious at all.

"Hi," he answered, his cheeks turning pink. He didn't waste any time rolling over and grabbing his wristwatch from the nightstand. I watched as he comically opened his eyes wide and then squinted them again at the face of the watch. "Jesus Christ, Eugenie, is it really that time?" He began to get up. "Should have woke me up."

I shrugged. "Sorry? I was kind of enjoying watching you sleep, to be honest."

He gave me that reproachful look that was oh so Adrian and began pulling on his slacks. Then he looked around for his belt. At some point during the night it had fallen to the floor behind the chair and I quickly reached for it and handed it to him, our fingers brushing as I did so. I offered him a shy smile which he returned before turning his gaze back to the task at hand.

He was shaking his head. "If we're going to be doing sleepovers, we should start keeping some stuff at each other's places."

My eyes widened. "Brilliant!"

He began buttoning up his shirt and tucking it in, then stood and rubbed the dark bristles on his chin. "I really need a shave," he said wryly.

I grabbed hold of one of the bedposts and swung back and forth playfully. "Feel free to keep a razor here. Orrrrr...why don't you just grow it out?"

He gave me an amused look but actually seemed to consider it for a moment. Then he shook his head. "I had a mustache and goatee in college. Shaved it off in graduate school."

"And you've been clean shaven ever since?"

He nodded. "I already rank fairly low on the totem pole, at least in judicial circles. I figured, why add to the satanic image of a criminal defense attorney?"

I threw my head back and laughed delightedly. "You, Adrian? Satanic? Not in a million years! More like a lost little lamb or an innocent choir boy."

Adrian cocked an eyebrow at me. "Where were you last night?"

I bit my lip and felt the heat flood my cheeks. "Thought we weren't going to talk about that," I said in a teasing yet quiet tone.

"Humph," Adrian hummed as he buttoned his cuffs. His voice was quiet, almost as if he was musing to himself. "Maybe for the best."

"Maybe," I agreed dubiously. "Although it's going to be hard for me to forget the fact that you got off on my tits while looking at my tits."

"And you got off on me looking at them," Adrian fired back with a mischievous grin. "Don't pretend you didn't."

"Okay, so we're even," I said, winking at him. "Got time for some coffee before you head off to your apartment?"

***
"Ms O'Hara!" An urgent voice was calling my name down the hallway.

I turned in my office chair to face the doorway expectantly. Our harried looking receptionist, Rachel, came barreling through the door breathless. "Good God, Rachel, what is it?" I asked.

She was carrying a large white box in her hand which she deposited on my desk. "Delivery for you from White Magnolia. I think it's your dress for the Bee Ball!" Then she stood back and steepled her fingers beneath her chin as if waiting for me to unbox the dress. When I didn't move fast enough, she waved her hand at the box in a frantic gesture. "Hurry up! Open it! I want to see what it looks like!"