Pawliday Love

5. Red Flag and Blue Hair

CHAPTER FIVE

RED FLAG AND BLUE HAIR

RICK

T he next couple of hours strolling through Midtown were probably the most fun Rick had had in a long time. Thalia was the best company. He didn’t think he’d ever felt quite this content walking and talking with a woman the way he did with her.

At Bryant Park’s winter village, they examined the goods in the holiday booths strung with Edison lights. When some folks tried walking between them, Rick pulled her arm and looped it through his so no one could separate them again. He enjoyed having an excuse to touch her, loved the feel of her hand on his arm even through the thick brown leather of his jacket.

She paused to sigh over some kitschy, colorful knit scarves, especially a bright neon pink with gold thread woven into the design. Rick pulled out his card and handed it over to the woman managing the kiosk.

“Even though I’m still pissed at you, you don’t need to give me any presents,” Thalia said.

“It’s more for me than for you. It bothers me seeing bare skin in the cold.” Rick wound the scarf around her neck, stepping back to look at his work with satisfaction. A very light snow began to fall. “See? You needed the scarf.”

“I’m so happy it’s snowing,” she murmured, looking up at the soft gray of the sky. “Do you get much snow out where you are in Oklahoma?”

“The company is based in Tulsa, but I’ve spent the last year traveling back and forth to a job site in South Dakota. It snows a lot there.” Rick’s mouth was no longer in a full smile.

“What do you do exactly? Your dad said engineering.”

“I work for an oil and gas company on infrastructure projects.”

“Huh.” Thalia paused. The air seemed slightly heavier. “Do you not like working on those projects?”

Rick took an even longer pause. “No,” he admitted. “When I was in school, I wanted to work on sustainable infrastructure. You know, seawalls, stronger bridges, high-speed rail. But I had crazy student loan debt, and the oil and gas folks were offering me a shit ton of money. Plus, I’d get to be near my mom’s family in Tulsa. Escape from New York, nah’ mean?”

She grinned at his “slip” into New York-ese. “You turned your back on us for money? Tsk tsk,” Thalia said. She made his smile reappear, at least for a moment.

“They put me on a pipeline project. It’s going through Native communities that don’t want it. There’ve been protests.” Rick looked at her, his dark eyes serious. “When I ask myself why I’m participating in making it happen, I can’t think of an answer that doesn’t make me feel like shit.”

“You’re thinking about quitting,” she said simply.

“Maybe.” He took her hand in his, intertwining their fingers.

“What do you have in mind?”

“I’ll tell you first when I know what that is.” He tugged on her hand with a self-deprecating smile. “Come on. Let’s go skating, Blue Hair.”

The makeshift ice rink nearby wasn’t crowded, fortunately. It was hilarious how many times she fell, almost pulling him down with her.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got you,” he said, holding her up. Thalia accepted his arm gratefully. “I used to be in the hockey league in college. I was pretty good at it, if I’m allowed to brag.”

“Ever think about doing it professionally?” she asked.

“For a hot second. It was either that or my hip hop career,” he said with a deep regretful sigh as she burst out laughing.

“Did you have a mix tape?”

“I did, actually,” he said. He nudged her with his shoulder. Then he gestured to one of the little glass domed structures set up near the rink. “Let’s go check those out.”

“Really?” she said excitedly.

Rick nudged her again. “Yeah. Let’s get up in there, woman. It’s freezing and I worked up an appetite carrying you around the rink.”

“Ha ha.”

The “igloo” was a heated glass enclosure with comfortable chairs and tables, on the second level where they could overlook the winter village. The sun had gone down and the lit city was laid out before them. Snow kept falling faster and by the time they’d finished their steak sandwiches and crispy fries, it had covered the enclosure in a thick white layer.

After they finished eating, Thalia pulled a shawl out of her bag and draped it over their laps. Sipping on her hot chocolate, she seemed content sharing about her daily life.

“You work at the library, you teach classes. You’ve got your daughter. It sounds like you’re always on the go. When do you relax?” he asked, and she shook her head with an eye roll.

“Never, basically. But I love what I do, even if it feels like there’s not enough of me to go around. I love teaching and talking about art, and I love the library. Too bad it’s closed right now, or I’d take you on a tour.”

Rick realized he was doing it again, gazing at her eyes and then her lips. This time he didn’t care if he was being obvious.

“What would you show me on that tour?” he asked quietly.

It seemed like the world outside, gleaming and covered in frost, was the outer shell of a snow globe and Thalia was its beautiful center. He couldn’t focus on anything else if he tried. She moved closer to him on the wicker loveseat, enveloping him in her warmth and that delicious scent. His fingers curled around hers, inviting her closer.

“More than I could show you here,” she said. She huffed a breathless laugh and suddenly tried moving away. “I’m bad at this. Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he responded, his heart picking up speed. He pulled her closer again. “I take it it’s been a while since you’ve flirted.”

“Yeah, it shows, huh?” With a wry head shake, she flung herself back in the loveseat.

“I’m getting the message, so I’d say you’re doing fine.” Rick reached up, then hesitated, his hand hovering somewhere near her braids. When she looked at him quizzically, he explained, “My mom always told me hair retains energy. You don’t let strangers touch yours and vice versa, unless you give them permission. May I? Touch yours.”

Thalia nodded. “Your mom taught you right. Yes.”

Rick touched a braid gently, then sifted his fingers through the long mass. He was suddenly airless at touching her so intimately. They’d both shifted and were drawing closer. He took in every inch of her face and when their lips touched, hers were warm and his trembled. The energy that had sparked between them the first time they’d met crackled higher and hotter, racing along every nerve in his body until he pulsed with desire.

After the sounds of people in the next igloo penetrated their bubble, they finally separated. Rick’s hand had gone from her hair to cradling her face.

This was it. She was it. He knew it at that first sweet kiss.

Thalia was his.

“That was nice,” she murmured, still shivering.

“Really nice,” he agreed.

Her expression was now equal parts lust and longing then she regarded him seriously.

“I just want to say this now, so there’s no miscommunication. I’m having an amazing time tonight. I want it to continue but…I’m a little nervous, if I’m being honest.”

“Nervous about being with someone new after your husband?”

“Yes. He really did a tap dance on my self-esteem. Now I’m here with you and I’m feeling a little fragile and weird, and…I already like you more than I’m supposed to. But I think you have a savior thing going on.”

“Savior thing?” he repeated, wide eyed.

“Yeah. Ashley and Chase. Me and Ixchel. Overwhelmed single mother working a couple of jobs and sleeping on a pull-out couch in a one-bedroom apartment. I feel like if I look up in the sky over your head, I’ll see a signal for Captain Save a Hoe.”

He gave a shout of disbelief. “Captain Save a Hoe? Wow, that’s what you think I do?”

“I think you’ve got a big heart. But, yeah, maybe you pick projects instead of partners. At the very least you might be on a hardcore rebound. And me?” She shook her head. “I just hit forty, I’m recently divorced with a kid and I’m kinda bitter about the good years I wasted in that dead end relationship. If we were superheroes, your name would be The Red Flag and mine would be The Crone. We’d be bad news bears together. We would fucking ruin each other.”

Thalia’s blunt words hit him in a deep soft spot. But despite his savior complex, and her bitterness, this was already a forever thing for him.

“Your superhero name is Blue Hair. Yes, we both have shit to work on, but I don’t care. I want you,” he told her seriously.

Slowly, as if she were finding the words one by one, Thalia said, “And I want you, for tonight. I want to feel like me again. Thalia, before I had to become what my ex and my daughter needed me to be.” Her smile was so wistful, so full of desire and regret all at the same time.

“Whatever you want to do,” he replied. Sliding his hand under her hair, he pulled her to him for a kiss that went deep. “But this isn’t a rebound or a holiday thing. I want you to ruin me for good. Fuck me all the way up.”

The kissing continued as the snow fell thicker, blanketing the glass, cocooning them in the quiet. Thalia took his hand and placed it on her breast, giving him silent consent to explore. And explore he did as their tongues stroked softly. Tweaking her nipple, then pinching it, he pleasured the small hard peak then moved his hand lower. He unsnapped the button of her jeans, and she murmured when his hand slipped inside the waistband of her panties.

“Is this my next Christmas present?” she whispered against his lips.

He raised an eyebrow. “I hope you like it.”

“I do,” she said, her voice hitching as he ran a finger up her slick, hot center.

Rick rubbed her clit lightly as he kept kissing her, sipping on her soft noises of pleasure. She widened her legs, and he slipped a finger inside her wetness, then another. He stopped kissing her, his lips tormentingly close as he gazed at her while his fingers stroked in and out. Gently, he rubbed her clit with his thumb at the same time.

“What if someone sees?” Thalia asked, her breath fanning across his cheek.

He was enthralled by her, by how her pussy tightened on his fingers every time they withdrew. He could only imagine what that soft vise was going to feel like around his cock.

“Let them watch. Let them see how gorgeous you look coming with my fingers inside you. Getting you good and ready for my dick.”

Thalia hissed and clutched the cushion of the loveseat as the first wave of her orgasm crashed into her. Holding in her moans so no one would hear her blissful release, her legs went loose, and she shivered into his side until she could catch her breath.

“Good girl,” he said soothingly, satisfied when she finally opened her eyes to look at him. “That was beautiful, watching you come. Thank you.”

Before they could say another word, someone rapped on the glass, pulling them further out of the peace they’d created. Their ninety-minute time limit was up. Quickly, they disengaged, fixed Thalia’s clothes, put their coats back on and left.

Being back out under the glittering lights and the soft falling snow was disorienting. Rick leaned down and kissed her again. Her mouth still tasted like chocolate. He couldn’t get enough of her.

“What do you want to do, Thalia?” he asked, his voice thickened with desire. “Whatever it is, you got it.”

“Take me home. Build me a fire. And fuck me in front of it.”

His laugh was tight and harsh with need. “I think I can manage that.”