Being away from Andrea hurts me.
Doesn’t take a fucking genius to figure out what’s going on here.
Chapter 24
Andrea
I open the oven, eyeballing the lasagna I have cooking. I just put it in, and it has a while to go yet. Glancing at my watch, I see I’m running short on time before Wyatt gets here. I still need to get the salad together, pop the wine, light the candles, and um… I need to get naked. He said he would call and give me a heads up when he hit my neighborhood, so I’ll at least have a few minutes’ notice shed my clothes.
It’s been two weeks since we’ve seen each other, and I think the main priority should be for us to get naked. In fact, I’m loving my grand plan to meet him at the door without a stitch of clothes on, and well… we’ll let nature take its course.
But first… the salad.
I open the fridge and pull out the big bag of mixed lettuce. A quick swipe of the knife into the plastic and a hard shake into a wooden bowl, and voila… the salad is complete.
If only life were so easy… if it were like a big bag of salad you could shake out and where it all lands is how it should be.
That would be the easy way, but it leaves too much to chance. And when it comes to Wyatt… I don’t want to take any chances.
So, I’ve been giving my life some serious thought. I’ve evaluated my goals, and then reevaluated them. I’ve prioritized what’s important to me, and when I weigh all considerations, I’ve come up with some surprising conclusions.
Surprising and one somewhat crazy conclusion, and yet… what I’ve decided feels right.
So very right.
I can’t wait to talk to Wyatt about it when he gets here, but first things first. We’ve been apart too long and talk can wait. The sex can’t.
I reach into my utility drawer beside the stove and pull out the matches, but before I can take a step into the living room to light the dozen candles I laid out, my phone rings.
Crap… time’s almost up. Pulling it out of my pocket, I answer, “Circle around my block twice, babe. I’m not quite ready for you.”
“Um… Andrea?” I hear a hesitant voice ask.
“David?” I say with shock and an equal amount of dismay.
“Hey,” he says jovially. “It’s good to hear your voice.”
I glance at my watch again, over to the book of matches in my hand… the bowl of salad on the counter. I don’t have time for this.
But I try to be as gentle as I can. “David… hi… um, listen… now is really not a good time—”
“Listen… I know you told me that you’ve moved on, and I respect that, but I just think if we could sit down and talk, you’d see that we could—”
“I’m sorry, David,” I butt in before he can start spilling his guts to me. “But I truly don’t have time. I’m expecting company any minute.”
“Who is he?” he asks in a dead voice.
“Pardon?”
“When you answered the phone… you said “babe”. Unless you started batting for the other team, that means you were expecting a man to call you. So who is he?”
Anger surges through me, not because he’s questioning me, but because he’s cutting into my precious time to finish getting ready for Wyatt. “David… that’s not any of your business.”
“Jesus Christ, Andrea. We were engaged, and you’ve seemed to move on awful easily from me,” he sneers.
“Just as easily as you walked out the door on me,” I say quietly. “Doesn’t that tell you something? This was awful easy for both of us.”
David is silent… processing my harsh words, contemplating the next best thing to say to me.
I don’t give him the chance. “I’m sorry, David. But I have moved on, and there is someone else. Someone very special. And I only wish for you to find the same thing. So please… move on with your life and be happy. That’s what I’m going to do.”
The doorbell rings. I look at the book of matches in my hand… over to the bowl of salad on the counter… down to my fully clothed body. Damn… Wyatt didn’t call me to give me a heads up.
“Andrea… darling… let’s just meet and talk about this before you make any hasty decision—”
I press the disconnect button on my phone and toss it onto the counter… David absolutely forgotten. Instead, I concentrate on my pulse, which has sped up knowing that Wyatt is on the other side of my front door.
There’s no time to light the candles or strip down. I do spare three seconds to do an excited, happy jig—right in place—then I run to the front door.
I pull it open, and right there… standing before me… the only truly important thing in my life right now. He takes one step in and I’m in his arms, his mouth is on mine. We kiss as if starved. I pull on him… urging him closer to me. I’d immerse him inside of me if I could.
When Wyatt pulls back, my lips tingling from his onslaught, he looks down at me and says, “Hey baby. I missed you.”
“God, I missed you too,” I tell him, and then push my face into his chest for a hug.
One of his hands comes to the back of my head and his lips press into my hair. “I have something important to talk to you about. But first… and I’m sorry, baby… but I need to fuck you. It’s all I’ve been thinking about for the last two weeks.”