7
Luke
Maddie’s chest rose and fell in heavy pants as I pressed into her side, dragging my fingertips up her thigh like she had done to me. I kept trying to remind myself to slow down, that I hadn’t even kissed her yet, but Maddie made me so hungry. When she opened the door to her house, I was so taken aback by her beauty that I almost couldn't form words, and now, as she told me details about her life, I just wanted more. I wanted to know every story. What was her favorite color? What were her dreams? Did she want kids? How did she take her coffee? I wanted all the details. I wanted to know her inside and out. I’d literally never felt this drive about anyone. I was almost jealous of my brother, Bill, that he grew up right next to the woman of his dreams so he always knew her. I had missed so much already.
Our waiter, Jesse Christensen, brought over our entrees, and his eyes went a little wide when he saw how close I was to Maddie. Jesse wasn’t a particularly chatty guy, but we got in a fight in elementary school, and in a small town, you’re never quite certain who’s holding a grudge. I really didn’t want Conway talking smack about Maddie, so I protected her honor from Jesse’s prying eyes and pulled back a touch. When he walked away, I turned to Maddie, worried that she might have feelings of rejection like she did in the salon. She didn’t seem offended. Instead, there was the rosy blush of embarrassment across the apple of her cheeks.
“We are so in public,” she said as if we had both forgotten.
“Sadly true,” I teased and she smacked my arm.
I picked up my fork and took a bite of my pasta. It was good. It had been a long time since I ate dinner in a restaurant. If I wasn’t eating at the ranch, I usually just grabbed a meal out of my freezer. Maddie also took a bite of her trout, closing her eyes as she savored the flavors.
“Good?” I asked.
She opened her eyes and nodded, “Delicious. You want a bite? Wait, do you eat fish?”
“I mean, not that often. I really just don’t eat farm animals. If I had to raise one, I don’t eat it. I don’t eat goldfish either.”
“I’m guessing you never had a pet trout,” she joked.
“No, never.”
“Then you should taste this. It’s incredible.” She lifted her fork to my mouth. Sharing food with a woman was intimate. It just was. Putting my lips around Maddie’s fork had me thinking of other things. Dirty things, but I kept it together, for now. The fish was tender and the sauce was the perfect balance of lemon and creamy. It was really good. She was right.
“Delectable. Do you want to taste mine?” I asked.
She nodded. I loaded up my fork for her. Maddie’s lips closing around my fork was actually physically painful. I groaned. It was an instinctual reaction, I couldn’t have contained it if I wanted to.
“Maybe we should skip dessert,” she said. I so wanted that, but I wasn’t going to let her miss the cheesecake.
“We can’t,” I grumbled.
She seemed surprised but not adverse. “Why not?”
“It’s the best part of this restaurant. They have huckleberry cheesecake brought up from Elle’s Belles bakery in Bozeman.”
“I want to be able to tell you that I don’t like cheesecake, but I really like cheesecake.”
I swung my fist across my body like gosh darnit. I had to get my head out of her pants. Honesty was always my policy, and so far, she didn’t seem to mind. “I kind of have a one-track mind right now.” I waggled my eyebrows as a silent innuendo. “Talk to me, distract me from my naughty thoughts.”
She blushed again, “Tell me more about you. How long have you been an artist?”
“Always,” I said. “The first time I remember drawing, it was with the ash from a campfire. I used to collect the cooled embers. I kept them in a tin and kept the tin in my saddlebag. I drew on anything, lined paper, rocks, the side of the barn. Mostly, I sketched scenes from our ranch. A lot of nature, but sometimes the animals or my siblings. My mom used to nag me because there was always charcoal all over my clothes. I think I was ten when she gave me my first set of real charcoal pencils and a sketchbook. I took art in high school, but this is my first real drawing class, and the first time I’ve drawn a live model.” I winked at her. Took a bite of food and then asked, “What about you? How did you start modeling for artists?”
She swallowed the food in her mouth and then said, “Actually, this is the first time I’ve ever modeled.”
“Really?” I asked. “You seem so natural up there. What made you want to try it?”
“I made a body love resolution this year. I wanted to push myself to grow my relationship with my body, learn to like it more, and feel beautiful in my skin.”
Flabbergasted, I choked on my food. It was hard for me to imagine that Maddie felt anything but love for her body since I was enthralled by it.
She patted my back, giggling, “You okay?”
I couldn’t help but be cocky, “Anytime you need reassurance that your body is worth loving, I am your guy.”
She shook her head, smiling. I made her happy and I liked it.
* * *
I pushedthe door open and the cool evening air rushed in. I held it for her and she walked past me, tucking her scarf a little tighter around her neck as she said, “You were right. Missing the cheesecake would have been a sin unto itself.”
She looked soft and beautiful in the moonlight. It was a perfect date, the best one of my entire life. She was silly and sexy and real. It seemed so crazy that I hadn’t even kissed her yet. It was time to remedy that. I took her hand and we made the short walk to the passenger door of my truck. Before I could open the door, she leaned against it and bit the lower lip of her lush pink mouth. No time like the present.
I leaned in slowly, savoring the last seconds of anticipation. When I felt her breath on my lips, I couldn’t control myself any longer. I took her face in my hands and crushed my mouth to hers. Quickly, we upgraded from a lip lock to a tangle of tongues and teeth. She was sweet and savory at the same time, putting huckleberry cheesecake to shame. My hands slipped lower, pulling her body flush to mine. She shifted our weight, so I was pressing her against the door of my truck. I could feel her breasts heaving against my chest. I was losing control.
I slowed the rhythm of my kisses, and with my forehead pressed against hers, I broke from her mouth and said, “We should…”
“...leave the parking lot,” she finished, her voice all breathy and raw with need.