“Yes.” He said softly. He kissed Griffin’s head and stood, taking off his shoes and following her into the kitchen.
Her kitchen was beautiful and bright with colors. The walls were a rich yellow. All of the appliances were white. The fridge and cabinets all had glass fronts. Beautiful colored dishes and glasses peeked out from inside of them. Pegs on the far left wall housed an assortment of aprons. There were shelves along the opposite wall and he could see cookbooks displayed inside on one, and pots and pans of different colors and sizes on the other shelves. Pictures scattered the walls with different funny sayings and there were beautiful 19th century fruit and vegetable illustrations. On her butcher block counter were two large ceramic utensil holders full of bamboo spoons, ladles, stainless steel meat forks, and silicone spatulas. She was obviously a cook; everything in her kitchen screamed that this was her domain.
“You should stay here with us.” Kassie said taking two mugs out of the cabinet. “The lights are still out.”
“I, I can’t stay here with you.” With his attraction to her growing, staying would be a BAD idea.
“Why not?” Kassie asked, looking over at him.
“I don’t want to be a burden.” He said softly.
“I wouldn’t be offering if you were going to be a burden on me, I have more than enough room.” She said gently, pouring cocoa into the mugs and handing one to Tim.
He stared at her then nodded. They shared an awkward ten minutes of silence.
“Well let me go home and get some things, I’ll be right back.”
“Ok.”
*****
He went home to check on his house and it was colder inside than it was outside. Tim shut off the kitchen light switch so that when the lights were restored the surge wouldn’t blow out the bulbs, and went all around the house doing the same. He pulled plugs, packed some clothes in a knapsack, and threw Griff’s food in a shopping bag. Looking around to see if he forgot anything, he picked up Griffin’s ratty little stuffed cat and left.
*****
Kassie had fed Griffin the rest of the hamburger she made him yesterday and gave him a large bowl of water by the time Tim came back, so he set the dog food and his bag by the stairs and walked into the kitchen. The lights were off and the curtains were pulled back. The room seemed to have an intimate tone to it. She was chopping scallions at the counter; beside it was a large piece of tuna being marinated in garlicky gingery smelling soy colored sauce.
“Yum.” Tim said, looking over her shoulder. “Need help?”
“Not really.” She shrugged. “Maybe you can fire up the grill.” Kassie said softly.
“Grill? Out back?”
“Yes.” She said softly. “The charcoal is in the metal garbage can beside it.”
“You’re grilling in this cold?”
“Well I was going to do it on the stove but I thought it may be wise to conserve energy.” She said gently. “Even though I have the generator, better to be safe than sorry.”
He couldn’t find an argument for her logic, “Ok.”
Kassie gave him a puzzled look before going back to her chopping. He watched her for a moment before heading for the dining room.
“I like my tuna well done.”
“Yeah me too.” He agreed. “Not a fan of raw meat.”
“I’m making tuna salad if that’s ok.” She said.
“Perfectly fine.” He said softly. Kassie nodded at him.
“If the generator goes out, I think we have enough wood to keep us warm.” She was making light conversation and Tim couldn’t help but to wonder if she was uncomfortable around him now.
“Don’t explain to me.” He said softly. “You’re the boss, I’m the guest.”
“No way, we’re in this together.” She said with a slight smile. “That’s too much pressure for me; I’ve never been good at leadership.” They chuckled together.
“Mind if I take a shower?”
“Up the stairs, first door on the right and you can sleep in the room at the end of the hall if you’d like.” She said softly. “There’s a nice new bed in there, you can test sleep it.”
“Awesome, I haven’t slept worrying about Griff.”
Kassie nodded in understanding. “I’ll give you some blankets and sheets.” She said.
Tim was silent for a moment.
“You kind of hate me don’t you?” He asked quietly.
Kassie looked at him, shock written on her beautiful face.
“Why would I?”
“After the dinner and the way it all ended.” He shook his head in regret.
“Your private life is your business and you’re not having sex with me so why should I care what you do?” Kassie stated.
The problem was that she really did care. She cared a lot and it did hurt her a bit that he would do that right after their dinner. Like seriously, with the way he was looking at her, if he made a move that night she would have given in to him easily, but he had gone and done the deed with someone else! Kassie hated mixed signals.
“So you don’t hate me?” He asked.
“Why should I? You invited me to dinner. You didn’t ask me to marry you.”
He stared at her feeling a little pissed off that she didn’t pick up any of the signals that he threw out that night. But then common sense made him realize that even if she had picked up on them, she wouldn’t say anything now after his bad behavior. She was definitely on her guard with him.
“Can we please start over then?” He asked. “I mean I really enjoyed spending time with you. And as happy as Griff is here with you, I may have to drag him out of here.”
“Fine.” She offered her hand. “I’m Kassie Lawton, I’m an illustrator. Maybe you’ve seen my work?”
“I have.” He smiled shaking her hand. “I’m Timothy Baron. I play in a band.” He smoothed his hair back, coolly and Kassie grinned.
“Oh really? Is it a rock band?” She asked. They were still holding hands, little sparks of energy sizzling between them.
“No.” He said. “It’s an orchestra. I play the violin.” He mumbled, pretending to be embarrassed.
She laughed. “Well I’ll tell you, there are few instruments I like more than the violin.” She said softly.
“You like classical?” He realized they were still holding hands and Tim slowly took his hand away. A feeling of emptiness crept into his spirit. Kassie felt it too, but she quickly pushed it away.
“No.” She said, smiling innocently. “But I love a man who knows how to play with his fiddle.” He roared with laughter as she winked at him playfully and heaped half of the scallions into the marinating tuna.
“You should always smile. You’re so beautiful when you do.”
Kassie looked up at him and her cheeks turned a bit red.
“Thank you.” She said turning away from him and turning a peppermill over the tuna. He watched her a moment feeling the awkwardness begin to fade.
“So . . . I’m going to go take a quick shower.” He ran his hands through his hair. This was going to take some time.
“Towels are on the shelf in the corner.” She said.
He nodded and walked out.
She sighed lowering the knife. She didn’t want this to be weird. She wanted this to be so romantic it was unbearable. It would have been if he didn’t get with that slut. She could just image how far it would have gone tonight it that had continued their relationship from dinner.
Shaking her head, Kassie continued to prepare dinner as Tim went up to shower. They were both a little nervous now since those sparks had definitely become a slow burn and Kassie was starting to have doubts about letting him stay . . . and doubts about keeping her hands to herself. Tim was very attractive and so different. He was a breath of fresh air compared to Monroe and Nick. In a sense, he was exactly what she needed.
*****
He grabbed his coat and walked into the kitchen to find her making a small salad. He smiled at her, putting on his coat.
She leaned against the counter and smiled at him. “Be careful, if you get stuck under a snow drift, I’m keeping Griff.”
Tim laughed.
“Yeah I will.” He chuckled, “As much as he loves it here with you, that mutt wouldn’t even try to dig me out.” He whistled for Griffin who ran in with his cat toy. Griff dropped it in front of Kassie and took off out the back door behind Tim.
Kassie sighed hard and rose from the counter. It felt nice to have a man around again but she wasn’t going to attach any romantic feelings to him. She refused to! A vision of that chick standing at Tim’s door mostly naked and glaring at her ended any ideas of starting something with him. In her heart though, she still wanted to take a bigger step. She wished she could be like so many of her girlfriends who had sex freely without attaching feeling to anything.
*****
They were silent through most of dinner, making polite small talk. The tuna was really very good and the salad was also. There was something about it, a sweetness that he couldn’t quite pinpoint and the toasted sesame seeds gave the dressing a warm nuttiness.
“Everything is excellent.” He said softly.
“I’m glad you liked it.” Kassie smiled graciously. Fill the blank space, she thought. “I know this is random, but how old were you when you got your first kiss?” She only asked because his yummy mouth was driving her to distraction!
“Fifteen.” He said reflectively. “What about you?”
“Eleven . . . at sleep away camp. He was crying. His name was Allen and he was twelve. Some of the other guys had played a trick on him or something like that and he had fallen. I was leaving the crafts cabin when I saw him. I knew he had a bit of a crush on me so I gave him a kiss on the lips, just a peck to make him feel better, and I remembered he smiled at me.” Kassie said. “He wiped his tears, stood up and limped away.”
“Ok, that’s kind of sweet.” Tim said softly.
“How was your first kiss?”
“Sweaty.” He said.
“Ewwww!”
“Backyard birthday party for this girl Annabelle who lived down the street, her dad still lives in that house.” He said. “Anyway, I went to drop off her gift, I hated almost everyone there because they teased me for being in jazz band, and she asked me to stay a while. Annabelle was beautiful; she wasn’t the kind of girl you said no to, so I stayed. We started playing seven minutes in heaven and I was about to kiss Edith Lansky, a cheerleader who was a junior. So we go into this garage and we start kissing, let’s just say it got vigorous because she touched my stuff.” He wiggled his eyebrows lasciviously.
Kassie laughed, waving her hands at him. “Oh m’ God! TMI! Please TMI!”
“So, I got my first kiss and made it to second base.” He said with a cheesy grin on his face.
“You’re a pervert!” Kassie was near hysterical.
“I love the ladies.” Tim said smiling. “Speaking of loving the ladies, Nora told me that you were married to one my favorite stars.”
“Monroe?”
“Yes.” He said. “What did he do to lose you?”
“That’s the first time anyone ever asked me what he did to lose me.” Kassie said gently. “He slept with any and every woman he could get his hands on.”
“Whoa!” Tim said shocked.
She sighed gently, “I just think of the betrayal. I think of how he hurt me so much and I don’t understand what I ever did to deserve lying and cheating.” Kassie said softly. “Especially when he knew how my life was before I met him.”
“How was your life?” Tim asked quietly, searching her face.
Kassie lowered her head and he could see the struggle going on inside of her. She looked up at him and smiled.
“That’s for another time.” She said softly and they left it at that.
*****
At nine, she went to get in the shower and he went to his room with Griffin. His laptop had been plugged up for hours and was now fully charged. He’d bought some DVD’s from home as well as his violin.
Kassie heard him practicing as she showered and there was something seductive about the tune that he played, almost as if he was calling her to him. It was as if every moan of the bow on the strings was some slow yearning call to her body and Kassie felt it all the way down to her toes.
When she got out of the shower, she quickly dressed and went down the hall to his room. Kassie hesitated for just a brief moment before knocking on the door, Tim called out to her, and she opened the door slowly, holding onto the doorknob.
“I just wanted to make certain you were ok before I go to sleep.” Kassie said.
He rolled his eyes over her slowly, unable to comprehend how night clothes could look so sexy. She was wearing a sleeveless t-shirt with a yellow duck in a bonnet on the front with blue plaid flannel pajamas bottoms. She wore no bra and her luscious breast pushed against the thin material, calling to him, begging to be touched. ‘You’re losin’ it Baron!’
He gave himself a mental slap. “Yes, we’re fine.”
She knelt and gave Griffin a quick scratch behind his ears, “Help yourself to whatever you want to eat. I stocked up, just to be on the safe side.”
“Great, thank you.” He said softly, never taking his hungry gaze off of her. “And thank you for taking us into your home.”
“The more the merrier.” She said softly. “I enjoy the company.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.” He said. “Living alone can get lonely, that’s why Nora and Nat got Griffin for me.”
“Have you always played the violin?”
“Yes.” He said.
“What made you pick the violin?” She asked. He looked down at the instrument.
“My gramps played and I wanted to do everything he did. He played back in Germany when he was a teen in the thirties then he moved here in the early forties and played for orchestras up and down the east coast then here.”
“You’re German?”
“German and Italian on my mom’s side. Scot-Irish and English on dad’s.” He said.
“So you’re a mutt.” Kassie said. She scratched Griff’s stomach and crooned to him. “And he calls you a mutt, shame.” Griffin lay there like a log, enjoying her attention. ‘This dog is butt crazy in love with Kassie!’ He realized chuckling softly.
“Yeah.” He smiled. “But I mean who isn’t a mutt? Everyone I know is mixed with something.”
Kassie looked at him. “Will you play for me again sometime?” She asked.
He smiled picking up his violin and positioning it under his jaw. He slid the bow over the strings slowly. She sat down on the floor next to Griff cross legged and watched him as he stared at her and began to play a sweet note. He closed his eyes and the melody became a warm and beautiful refrain.
By the end, Kassie had her eyes closed as well; the melody was so sweet. She only started listening to classical music recently so she didn’t know how to feel about it, but something about this song made her feel . . . desired.
Tim smiled to himself seeing that the song did what he wanted it to do. He wanted to sway her, for her to understand that he wasn’t the ass she thought he was. But mostly a growing part of him wanted her, desperately.
Tim finished playing and for a moment there was complete silence as she was still under the spell of the music. But then he watched her eyes flutter open. She looked at him with heavy lidded desire in her eyes and Tim’s body responded in kind. He lowered the violin and took a step towards her. Kassie’s eyes widened and she stood up quickly, clearing her throat.
“That was very beautiful.” She said softly.
“I was hoping you would fall in love with Bach.” He said.
“Who?”
“Johann Sebastian Bach.” He said.
“Oh, it was very beautiful.” Kassie whispered stepping back from him toward the door and grabbing the doorkn
ob nervously. Tim noticed that the hand resting on the door knob was shaking slightly. “You’re an excellent player.” She pulled open the door.
“Thank you.”
“I’m going to go to bed.” Her voice was barely audible as she backed out of the room. “Like I said help yourself to anything you want.”
“Anything?” His voice had dipped to a deep sexy level and his eyes raked her body wickedly. Kassie found herself wondering what it would be like to hear that voice murmuring naughty things in her ear every night and her insides turned to mush.
“Yes, anything you want.” She answered breathlessly. Tim was suddenly in front of her and she snapped back to reality. She saw the look in his eyes, the need, the lust, and the want and it all worked inside of her. “In, in the fridge and . . . and cabinets. Goodnight!” She rushed out and closed the door behind her.
Tim grinned to himself looking down at his violin smugly.
“Holy crap you’re like a panty melter.” He said to the instrument and gave it a kiss. Tim wanted more than that though, he wanted her to be his forever.
*****
Kassie didn’t know what the hell just happened to her but she swore her insides trembled when he turned on that seductive voice. She was suddenly filled with fear. She wanted to sleep with him. Not be his friend or his girlfriend; she just wanted to fuck him, plain and simple. She wasn’t that kind of woman, she wasn’t loose or easy and she didn’t sleep around . . . but right now, she would gladly crawl into that bed with him. Kassie could just image how he would feel inside of her, what his hands and lips would feel like on her body and it made her yearn.
“Go to sleep Kassie.” She growled to herself pulling the blankets over her head.
No matter how he got to her, no matter how sexy he was, she wasn’t going to give in to her animalistic desires. No matter how good it would feel.
*~*~*~*
Chapter 16
The next morning Kassie made herself busy. It didn’t help that he offered to help with everything she wanted to do. Kassie couldn’t say no to him; just looking into his eyes, she became weak. The melody he played for her was still playing in her head, every time she was alone she heard it, seducing her. His nearness was also wreaking havoc on her will power.
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