Shoe Strings

of
her, his eyes alive with desire.   “Maybe we just shouldn’t speak.”
    Her first impulse was to object--it was too early, they had
to get back, it would make things more complicated than they already were.   But when he pulled the mug from her
hands and placed it on the counter, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled
her into his chest.   Foolishly, she
felt tears sting her eyes.   What was
the matter with her?   A tiny show of
tenderness had her heart squeezing tight?   How did he shatter the walls she’d spent years building with a simple
embrace?  
    He didn’t give her time to think.   He’d moved his mouth to the sensitive
skin of her neck.   If not for the
counter at her back, she’d have slid to the floor.   Powerless, she gave herself to him
again.   Somewhere in the far
recesses of her mind, she felt her conscience tapping her on the shoulder.   You know this can’t
last , it said.   You know you have no future together .   But for once, she didn’t listen.   Sensible, organized, responsible
Angelita Barros gave herself a rare treat.   Again.

 

 
    Chapter 23
    Kerri Ann had just finished her latest go-round with the
books and come downstairs to the bar for some tea when she heard the
clickity-clack of heels on the floor.   She looked up into the glow of Lita’s bright smile as her hands gripped
the bar like a dog begging for a bone.
    “Well, what’s new with you?” Lita asked.
    “Hummm,” Kerri Ann let her eyes drift to the ceiling.   “The new cutlery I ordered should be in
any day now and from my latest calculations we’ve had a profitable winter,
despite the drop in tourism.”
    Lita slapped her hand against the wood surface.   “You know I’m not asking about your
business.”
    “You’re not?   Strange, I thought my love life was my business.”
    “It is your business, but where’s the fun in keeping it all
to yourself?”   She sat on a barstool
and flung her parrot yellow hobo bag on the bar.   “I want details.”
    Kerri Ann rubbed away the knot that doing the books always
left in her neck and came around the bar to join her.   She’d wondered, earlier in the day, when
Lita would come sniffing around.   “How about generalities?”
    “Whatever.   Spill
it.”
    She drew in a big breath and let it out with a dreamy
smile.   “We consummated our
friendship and plan to do so as often as possible.”
    “Aaaahhh!” Lita screamed.   “I knew it.”   Her eyes roamed over Kerri Ann, from her
scuffed tennis shoes and faded jeans to her sauce splattered t-shirt.   “You look radiant.   I could tell by just looking at you.”
    She had to laugh.   Only Lita could understand the romance of the act and the
significance.   She was tempted to
share more of the details, like the way Bryce held her after they’d made love
and made her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world.   Like the way he called her, without
fail, mid-morning before the lunch rush to tell her he’d thought of nothing but
her since they’d last parted.   Like
the way he said her name and pulled her close when he’d see her, cradling her
neck in his hand and promising secret things with a kiss.   “I don’t know about that, but I do feel
good.”   She spotted a forgotten fork
under a table and got up to retrieve it.   She’d always wanted this with Bryce, talking to him every day on the
phone and in person, sneaking kisses and touches when they were together, and
it was better than she’d ever imagined.   But it couldn’t last.   Why
did everyone act like it would last?
      “I hear I’m not
the only one who had a date.   Cal
told me you and Jesse went rafting.   Word on the street is you were gone overnight.”
    Lita’s expression turned serious.   “How on earth did you know that?”
    Kerri Ann shrugged.   “Small town.   Things get
around.”   She sat at the bar and
looked at her friend.   She looked
troubled.   “So what’s the problem?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Lita,” Kerri Ann said and reached for her hand.   “What’s going on with you and Jesse?”
    Lita pulled her hand away and locked her fingers together in
her lap.   Her eyes bore a hole into
the bar.   “We rafted.”   She shrugged.   “He managed not to kill me and I managed
not to kill him in return.”  
    “And?”   If Kerri
Ann could admit she and Bryce had sex, the least Lita could do was reciprocate.
    Lita huffed out a breath and covered her face