Chapter 6
Celia
Icouldn’t say for sure why I obeyed and ‘came on in’ other than there was something so fascinating about Lanie that I couldn’t resist. Closing the door behind me, I followed her and the dog into the kitchen.
She leaned over to retrieve the cookies from the oven and her jeans pulled against her ass in a way I didn’t hate.
She’s chaos, I reminded myself. And way too young for you. Plus her singing is terrible.
I may have been grasping at straws there.
Lanie popped up and spun around quickly, giving me a little smirk that made me wonder if she’d felt me staring at her butt.
“So what’s your story, Celia?” she asked as she put the dog cookies on a rack to cool. Judging by the dog’s excitement, they smelled tasty. Mostly they just smelled like peanut butter to me.
“My story?”
“Yeah, tell me about yourself. What do you do for a living? What are your hobbies? Are you married? Do you have kids? Pets?” She pointed at a stool by the island. “Take a load off and spill. I’ll grab you a water.”
I blinked at the torrent of questions. There was something about me, probably what my sister called my “resting bitch face” that made people hesitant to talk to me if they didn’t know me.
And they certainly didn’t tell me to ‘spill’.
Clearly Lanie didn’t have that same hesitation. It was fascinating.
“I’m an attorney at Lachlan and Baker,” I finally said.
“Let me guess. Environmental law?” she asked. “Civil rights?”
“No,” I answered before I realized she was kidding.
She smirked. “Yeah I figured if you live in this building it’s probably, what? Corporate law?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
I’d always been proud of my work at the law firm, and I was one of the best attorneys there. Yet Lanie pegging me for a corporate lawyer stung just a little bit, although I couldn’t say why.
She walked over to the refrigerator, taking out two bottles of water and handing me one. “Enough about work, tell me about who you are as a person.”
I just stared at her. No one had ever asked me a question like that before. So I did what I did best as an attorney – I went on the offensive.
“Why don’t you tell me your story, as you put it?” I challenged.
She leaned against the counter, the position putting those reindeer covered breasts right in my line of sight. I couldn’t help but wonder what that thick fabric was hiding.
“I’m twenty-eight years old, born and raised in Seattle, and when I’m not taking care of big, goofy dogs for my friends I work as a social worker for a nonprofit that that helps homeless families get back on their feet.”
A bleeding heart social worker. Yeah, that tracked.
Lanie paused, then gave me an impish smile. “And I’m single, in case you’re wondering.”
I started to protest, but the fact was, I did want to know that.
No sense denying it. She was too young for me of course, and definitely not my type.
And yet, there was something so appealing about her.
I’d never felt this drawn to anyone in my life.
I had the strangest urge to take her home with me and never let her go.
“Your turn,” she prompted.
“I’m thirty-seven,” I answered reluctantly. “No kids, no pets, no significant other.”
“And what are you doing for the holiday?”
“Nothing. As I said before, I don’t care for the holidays.”
“Well you’re in luck, Miss Scrooge,” Lanie said cheerfully. “Arthur and I are going to adopt you for the holiday.”
I reared back in surprise.
“I don’t want to be adopted,” I said firmly, pulling out the domme voice I used at the club.
It had no effect on her.
“Too bad, we’re doing it anyway,” she rejoined. “Now how do you feel about Thai food? I was thinking about ordering something from Door Dash for dinner.”
I had no idea how I went from coming over to yell at Lanie about the noise to us ordering Thai food together.
Not that I knew it was her blaring Christmas music when I knocked on the door -- I assumed it was my neighbor John -- but for some reason, hanging out with Lanie was the most fun I’d had in ages.
As a rule, I hated being spontaneous. I liked my life calm.
I liked to be in control and follow a strict routine.
I had a plan for everything. But apparently today, I was just going along with the whims of my temporary neighbor.
It would have freaked me out if I thought about it long enough. Fortunately, I didn’t.
Lanie continued peppering me with questions while we waited for the food to arrive, each one stranger than the last. It was almost a relief when the courier arrived with our food. I tried to pay, but Lanie just gave me a wink and told me she’d already charged it to John and Amy’s account.
I’d have to write my neighbor a check when he returned from out of town. I didn’t like to be beholden to anyone, especially people I didn’t know well.
“Do you want to watch a movie while we eat?” Lanie asked as she set out the take-out containers on the coffee table in front of the couch.
“Okay,” I surprised myself by saying. “But nothing about Christmas. Or love. Or dogs.”
Lanie rolled in her lips like she was trying not to laugh at me. “So, something light-hearted then? Maybe Schindler’s List or Apocalypse Now?”
“You have a smart mouth on you, don’t you?” I said.
She arched one eyebrow, her expression pure brat. “What do you watch when you’re alone?”
“I don’t have a TV.”
She frowned. “At all?”
I shook my head.
“Do you just stream on your laptop then?”
“I don’t stream.”
She flung herself back against the couch with a dramatic sigh. “Wow, I can see I have my work cut out for me teaching you how to have fun.”
Once again I wondered why I’d agreed to stay here. I couldn’t explain it, but for some reason I was loathe to leave.
Lanie perked up. “How about if we watch Uncle Buck? That’s a classic and there’s no love story or holidays. There may be a dog though, I can’t remember. If so, it’s not a major part of the story.”
I shrugged. “Okay.”
We settled in with our food, eating while we watched the movie.
I was pretty sure it was older than my dinner companion, but I had to admit it was funny.
Once we were done eating, Arthur climbed up on the couch, pushing his way between Lanie and the arm of the couch.
She moved closer to me to avoid being squished by the enormous dog.
I was surprised John allowed the beast on his furniture.
It was hard to concentrate on the movie when Lanie was now pressed against me from shoulder to knee. The longer we sat there, the more aroused I became. And judging from the little glances she was giving me, Lanie was feeling something too.
I turned my head, and our eyes met and held for a long moment. I couldn’t resist lifting one hand to push Lanie’s hair behind her ear. She’d tried to tame the wild mass of curls into a ponytail, but it kept escaping its confinement.
I left my hand on the side of her face, and she leaned her cheek into my palm, watching me with those curious brown eyes.
“So… are you going to kiss me or what?” she finally asked.
I paused, surprised that she’d said the quiet part out loud. Pleased that she was feeling the same pull I was. Nervous that my ironclad control was slipping fast.
“Do you want me to kiss you?” I asked, stalling for time.
She rolled her eyes, then surged forward, pressing her lips against mine. I was so surprised I gasped, and Lanie used the opportunity to slip her tongue between my lips, sliding it against mine.
I was immediately overcome with a sense of rightness. I’d known her for less than eight hours, but somewhere, deep inside my soul, I knew this was what I’d been waiting for my entire life. This moment. This woman.
And then I took control of the kiss.