Breathless

Chapter 21: Kissable? - April 2

She clung to him for several minutes. Silently. Simply listening to the beat of his heart beneath her ear. Reveling in the warmth of his embrace. While she attempted to calm her racing heart.

But after a while, the pot on the stove suddenly boiled over, and she shoved him away in an attempt to break loose of his arms to rescue his dinner. A few moments later, the pot of potatoes was boiling happily away, without flooding the stovetop, and Ruby was once more facing Blaze.

"Um. What would you like to drink?"

His eyes were still caressing her countenance. There was some mysterious light burning in them right now.

"Water's fine." He pulled his gaze away from her to scan the kitchen. "Your house is beautiful. Even more beautiful than mine."

He had been imagining himself. Living here. In this gorgeous house. With her. Evenings spent on their porch swing together. Dinners prepared by the two of them in this kitchen. Movies watched in her living room while she curled up against his side. And he stole kisses from her during the commercials.

Suddenly, she spoke, disrupting his reverie. "I love this house." Her eyes tenderly traced the walls and windows of the kitchen before landing on its oak cabinetry as she continued to speak of her beloved home. "My mother left it to me."

"She died?"

Ruby nodded.

"When?"

"My junior year in college."

"Oh, Ruby. I'm so sorry."

"Me too," she sighed. Then a rueful smile twisted her lips upward. "But she left me this house. And her books. And her rose garden."

He gasped inwardly. "Roses remind you of your mother?"

She turned her eyes on him and beamed at him, the light of her smile suddenly swallowing him whole. "Absolutely. Yes! She loved her roses. She had such a green thumb. She could get anything to grow. Oh, not simply to grow! But to flourish! She was a master gardener. And she always smelled of roses," she sighed.

"Your secret admirer filled your house with the scent of your beloved mother... Wow. How can I possibly compete with that?" he groaned.

He'd had no idea that her mother had planted a rose garden in the backyard of their house. Or that she'd smelled like roses.

Ruby quirked a copper eyebrow at him. "But you already did."

Confused, he drew his midnight eyebrows towards his nose. "What?"

"The fragrant oil. You're going to fill my house with the comforting scent of my mother long after these blooms have died, and their petals have fallen to litter my floors."

"Oh." Slowly, the light of a sweet smile encroached upon the darkness of his countenance, bathing his whole face in joy.

Her countenance brightened suddenly. "Would you like the grand tour of my home?"

He nodded. "Absolutely!"

A few minutes later, after she had shown him every room in the house, Ruby returned to the kitchen and walked towards the stove to stick a knife into the potatoes. It slid right through them.

"They're done!" she grinned. "I'm so glad! I'm starving!"

"Are you?"

"Yes. It's been hours since I ate lunch with Mary."

"So, you ran into our old friend. How is she?"

Ruby responded as she drained the potatoes before pulling her hand mixer from its cabinet and plugging it into the socket. "Good. She's moved back in with her parents to escape from a terror of a roommate."