Did You Really Mean It?

Untitled Part 1

"Come on, I'll make us something to eat," she said with a glowing smile that made his heart ache.

He watched her ascend the stairs, mesmerized and captivated by the way her hips swayed gracefully from side to side. The moment she disappeared from view, he took one final glance at the furnace, suddenly praying that she wouldn't find it. Things had been going so well between them and he couldn't bear it if they took yet another step back when he was finally getting close to her.

They sat at the kitchen table together, eating in silence, avoiding each other's eyes. Something had changed in the air between them ever since their date the evening before. Alex had been in love with Norma for months now, but he could finally see a hint of reciprocation. And it scared the shit out of him.

He had never believed that they would actually end up together but when she asked him who he was sleeping with, he noticed a hint of jealousy in her voice. She hid it well but he could still see the disappointment in her eyes when he answered, "I've got people I see".

She had secretly hoped that he would never be attracted to anyone but her. But what she didn't know was that he wasn't attracted to anyone else. What she didn't know was that every moment with Rebecca was spent on autopilot. He would simply close his eyes and bite his tongue to avoid groaning Norma's name. When it was all over, he would fall asleep quickly, dreaming that it was Norma in his bed, in his arms, naked and sated.

They took turns glancing up at the other, nervously, until they finally looked up at the same time. The moment their eyes met, they froze. The urge to look away was overwhelming but the moment Norma caught the unmistakable desire in his eyes, her throat ran dry. She watched him shift a fraction of an inch in her direction and snapped out of it immediately, fixing a smile on her face and standing up.

"I hope you liked it! Are you all done?" she asked, reaching for his plate.

He cleared his throat, smiling up at her. "Uh, yes I'm done. It was delicious, Norma, thank you."

"Of course. Well, I'm going to clean up in here. You can start a movie or something if you want but I only have a laptop to watch it on."

"I'll help you," he offered, standing up to meet her at the sink.

She whirled around to protest, stopping short as she realized how close he suddenly was. "No, no," she said, quickly recovering. "I can do it alone. It won't take long. Why don't you go set up a movie in the living room and I'll meet you in there in a few minutes?"
"Alright. What movie should I choose?" he asked. He wasn't really a movie guy but he quickly became very excited by the idea of Norma sitting so close to him in the darkness.

"Hmm, how about Casablanca?" she said, not really thinking about her words as she caught a whiff of his scent; leather and whiskey. Her heart began to beat rapidly as her eyes travelled from his eyes to his neck. She imagined how his skin would be rough and warm on her tongue as she sucked on his pulse point. Her gaze fell to his lips, watching them move as he spoke, though she heard none of what he said.

"Norma?" he asked, his heart racing as he caught her staring at him.

Her eyes snapped back to his, and she blinked a few times. "What?" she asked, trying to regain her composure.

"I said I've never seen that movie before," he laughed. "I'll go set it up. Are you sure you don't need help in here?"

"No, really I'm okay. Thank you, though. I'll be in there in a minute."

He smiled and turned to leave the room.

She watched him walk away, heat thrumming through her and pooling in her belly. Get a grip, she whispered to herself, continuing on with the dishes.