Katie dried her hands with a paper towel. “Yeah. Sorry about talking to myself. I’m just trying to remind myself not to get my hopes up.”
The other woman flipped her long blond hair over her shoulder. She held her hands over her stomach that was completely flat in her super tight dress. “I know what you mean. I met my guy on that new MeetNChill app. I’m not expecting much other than to get some. These men out here aren’t shit.” Then with a little wave she walked out of the bathroom.
“Well, okay then.” Katie chuckled all the way back to the table. At least she wasn’t the only one frustrated with the whole dating thing.
By the time she got there, her berry crumble was waiting for her. Katie slid into her seat and immediately picked up her fork. If she wasn’t “getting any” like her friend in the bathroom, at least she would have a great dessert. She’d take her pleasure where she could get it.
“I can’t believe you didn’t get anything,” she told Bennett. It made her feel a little weird to scarf down this whole berry pie while he just sat there.
“No, I rarely eat processed sugar. It’s easier to maintain my ideal muscle-to-fat ratio if I only eat sweets on special occasions.”
Katie gaped at him. “That sounds awful. I’m supposed to be teaching you to have fun so I cannot let you continue to live a pie-less existence. No one should only get to have sweets on holidays or whatever. Here.” She held out her fork.
Bennett leaned forward hesitantly but took the bite of pie she offered. His eyes closed as he chewed and swallowed.
“Damn that’s good.”
Katie grinned. “See? Don’t worry. I’m sure your perfect body fat percentage won’t be ruined because you had a bite of something yummy.”
His lips pulled up at the corners like he was fighting a smile. “I’ll be sure to think of you tomorrow when I’m running an extra mile on the treadmill.”
Katie’s stomach sank until she noticed his shoulders shaking with laughter. “Oh that was just mean. I actually felt bad for a second there. I was trying to share because I felt guilty enjoying this decadent dessert while you didn’t have anything.”
“Don’t feel guilty. I’m enjoying myself watching you.”
A warm rush of heat spread through her as she took another bite of pie. She wasn’t sure if Bennett really knew what he was doing when he said things like that. He probably thought it was just a nice thing to say and she didn’t want to be the brazen hussy who told him those things were sexually suggestive.
Or that her panties were uncomfortably damp every time he said something like that in his deep voice.
Katie managed to finish the rest of her dessert without embarrassing herself. In the car as Bennett drove her home, she mentally prepared herself for what would happen. She’d tell him that he did a great job and he’d probably give her a friendly hug to say good night.
Then she’d go upstairs, change into her nightgown and probably pull out the vibrator that she rarely even used anymore.
When they parked in her driveway, Katie realized she’d forgotten to leave the porch light on. Without it, the interior of the car was so dark that she could barely see anything more than Bennett’s shadow.
“Hold on. I’m coming around.”
The soft hush of his voice in the darkness caused goose bumps all over her. She waited patiently as he circled the car to open her door, and then walked her up to her porch. The lights she’d left on inside spilled through the front windows, casting a warm glow over them both.
Katie pulled out her keys and opened the door. Neither of them said anything. It suddenly struck her as funny. Normally this was when she’d be worried about whether the guy would kiss her or whether she wanted to rush in and slam the door in his face.
“This is usually make it or break it time,” she joked.
“What does that mean?”
“Oh, you know. It's the end of the night and usually you're a little tipsy at this point. So in high school you'd park the car somewhere and make out but as an adult, normally you just kiss goodnight before going inside.”
“Well, that doesn't sound that difficult.”
“Oh, you'd think it would be easy. Just lean in and smooch but you have to be smooth with it. You have to read the signals.”
Bennett sighed. “And you lost me again. Why can't the signal be when she says I'd really like it if you'd kiss me now? That would be so much easier.”
Katie's put her hand over her mouth to smother her laughter. Looking at things from his perspective, it was kind of odd that there were all these unspoken rules about something that should be instinctive but it was impossible to ignore that the rules existed, whether they were official or not. She remembered the first time Don had kissed her. It was a little bittersweet to remember it now, being so young and naive that she'd required so little to feel cherished. But all she'd wanted was to feel like someone saw her as special.
"The rules seem annoying, I know, but it all comes back to one thing.
You want to make sure that she's as into it as you are. And everyone isn't good at articulating what they're feeling. So you have to be able to read the signs. Body language."