“Delilah,” I said as I pulled her close to me. “This is my ex-wife, Rose. Rose, this is my friend, Delilah.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Del said as she reached her hand out to Rose.
“You, too. Brandon didn’t mention that he was dating someone new.”
“Oh, well, we are just friends right now,” Del stumbled as she replied. “I mean, we went on one date, but we are friends for right now,” she repeated.
“Hi, I’m Mattie,” Del’s friend introduced herself and forced her hand to mine and then to Rose, as well. “This is super awkward. So, you’re the ex-wife. Interesting.”
I saw Del’s eyes dart toward Mattie and then back to me. She seemed to be apologizing for her friend, but it was fine with me. I didn’t care what Rose thought of me dating Delilah; in fact, I was a little disappointed that I had used the word friend instead of girlfriend when I introduced the two women.
“Well, I better get going. It was nice meeting you, Delilah,” Rose said kindly. “Talk to you later, Brandon, and sorry for the mishap on the account.”
“No problem,” I said. “Thanks for coming down.”
When Rose was in a cab and out of sight, I felt Del relax a little as my arm wrapped around her lower back. I squeezed her a little and kept her there next to me.
“So, this is the infamous Mattie? It’s nice to meet you officially.”
“You, too. I bet Del wasn’t planning on this happening for a very long time. She likes to keep me in the dark as long as possible and then surprise people with me.”
“Oh, um, all right,” I said, a little confused by what she was talking about.
“Mattie and I were just on our way to lunch. What are you up to?”
“Just a mix up at the bank. It’s amazing that even after so many years, they still had Rose on an account.”
“You know what? I forgot that I have to finish a report before the end of the day,” Mattie said. “I don’t think I’m going to go to lunch. Brandon, could you take Del out for me? I know she’s starving.”
Mattie looked at me and winked as she started to walk away without waiting for me to answer her. I was starting to like this girl already; she had basically forced Del into saying yes to lunch with me. Although, she probably would have agreed anyways.
“I guess you and I are going to lunch. Where were you two heading?”
“We were going for sushi.”
“Then let’s have some sushi,” I said without mentioning that I had just finished eating with Josh.
I really didn’t care if I had to stuff my face with some more food; it was nice to see Del before our Friday date. There was no pressure on us to fill a lot of time, and I knew she had to get back to work. We could just have a nice lunch together.
Del was dressed in a fabulous red skirt and a practically transparent white blouse. I could make out the outline of her lace bra and wanted to ask her if it was the one I gave her, but decided against it.
“It’s nice to see you again,” she said as she grabbed my arm tightly on our walk to the restaurant.
“You, too. I’ve been thinking about our swim all week.”
“Oh, yeah? Well, I’ve been thinking about that shower.”
“Yes, that was a very memorable shower. I think I’ll remember that for a very long time.”
Her soft skin pressed against my fingertips as I gently stroked my hand up and d
own her arm. The feeling of her skin and mine together seemed like two forces of nature. The more I rubbed her, the more energy my body seemed to have.
What had started as one of the most frustrating days I’d had in a very long time, had quickly turned into an invigorating date with a woman I hadn’t stopped thinking about in days. I no longer cared about the mess at the bank or the flag on my trading account. In that moment, all I cared about was seeing Del’s beautiful smile and watching her slip pieces of sushi past her lips.
Perhaps if I was lucky, I’d even manage to get an afternoon kiss out of our date. I let my hand move to the small of her back as we walked into the restaurant, and she shivered slightly at my touch.
“Wow, I like your hands on my body,” she said just before the hostess came to us. “Two please,” she told the hostess and then smiled at me.