Chapter Thirteen
Spencer
Tabitha must expect me to balk at the prospect of visiting her family”s tiny-home village. Maybe two houses don”t qualify as a village, but I”m not sure what else to call it. Do I care that her family enjoys an unconventional lifestyle? Of course not. Tabitha ought to have figured out by now that I”m not easily shocked. I gawped at her a moment ago only because I was having trouble envisioning what a tiny home might look like.
Three hundred square feet? Sounds like a fairy house.
I reach across the table to grasp Tabitha”s hand. ”Yes, love, I would like to meet your family and see those tiny houses.”
”Are you sure? My parents might have abandoned the commune lifestyle, but they”re still tree huggers and toad kissers.”
”Toad kissers?” I say with a chuckle. ” ”Tree huggers” is a term I”ve heard before, but never has anyone used the term toad kissers in my presence. Is it in the dictionary?”
”I think you know it isn”t. My parents came up with that phrase.” She settles her hand atop mine. ”If you come to Asheville with me, Mom and Dad can explain the toad thing for you.”
”Are you still trying to convince me not to meet your family? My parents and siblings aren”t average people either.” I lift our joined hands to kiss the back of her hand. ”Remember, my brother was a stripper and my sister knits possum sweaters. I”m sure our families will mesh perfectly.”
She gazes at me as if I”ve conjured a galaxy of stars just for her, right here in this restaurant. ”The crème br?lée is getting cold.”
”Is it? I was distracted by your glowing beauty.”
”Cut the crap, Spence, and feed me.”
I grab a spoon and ladle a mouthful of crème br?lée onto it. Tabitha parts her lips. I slide the spoon onto her tongue. She closes her lips around it and moans as I slowly pull the spoon free. ”Mm, that”s orgasmically good.”
Her throaty tone proves that point---and rouses my cock. I cough into my fist.
Tabitha licks her lips and smiles. ”Time to feed you, Spence.”
Her use of my nickname somehow makes her behavior even more sensual. I”m helpless to resist her, leaning forward so she can slide a spoonful of crème br?lée onto my tongue. She doesn”t pull the spoon away until I close my lips around it. Then she retracts it so gradually that I taste every minute element of the dessert---Chantilly, cardamom, ginger, and molasses.
Tabitha slants closer to me and...licks a drop of crème br?lée off my lips. ”Did you like it?”
”I fucking loved it.”
”Would you like to have sex tonight? Or wait until later, so the anticipation will make us even hornier?”
”I doubt it”s possible for you to make me any randier than I already am.”
She devours another mouthful of crème br?lée, then uses her tongue to slowly remove every last molecule of it from the spoon. ”Sure about that, hmm?”
”Absolutely not.” This woman is trying to seduce me, and I have half a mind to let her do that right here in this restaurant. ”Let”s pay the bill and go back to your apartment.”
She licks her lips again with even more leisure, then waves to our waiter. ”We need the bill, please.”
He hurries over to us. ”One check or two?”
”Just one, please,” I tell the bloke.
”Yes, sir. Be right back.”
Tabitha smiles. ”Your chivalry makes me so hot.”
Fortunately, the waiter returns with the check. I pay it and give the bloke a sizable tip. We did order quite a lot of food, over three courses. That”s a lot of running back and forth.
I keep a hand on Tabitha”s back as we hurry out of the restaurant. Duane is still waiting for us in the car. I can hear loud, muffled country western music emanating from inside the vehicle. Blimey, I hope we don”t have to listen to that for the whole ride back to Tabitha”s apartment.
Just as I pull the rear door open, the music shuts off.
I take Tabitha”s hand, helping her into the car, then slide in beside her. I can see Duane in the rearview mirror. ”I assumed you must have an entire country western band in the backseat, and I wasn”t sure Tabitha and I would fit in the car too.”
”Just enjoying my favorite tunes.”
”You can play them while we”re in the car---at a less eardrum-piercing level.”
Duane twists around to look at Tabitha. ”You seem like the kind of girl who”d love a good honky-tonk.”
”Sure do. Go ahead and play something twangy.”
”If you like the classics, I”ve got the best of Johnny Cash on my phone.”
Tabitha grins. ”Yes, please, I love the Man in Black. ”Ring of Fire” is my favorite.”
I decide to shock these Americans with a pronouncement. ”I love that song too. My mum loves country western music, especially Johnny Cash. I grew up listening to him, Patsy Cline, and other legends.”
Duane gapes at me. ”Seriously? I didn”t know Brits liked that kind of music.”
”Go on, Duane. Turn up the volume.”
Throughout our fifteen-minute car journey, the three of us sing along with the Man in Black. It”s invigorating. I can”t remember the last time I had such a bloody good time inside a vehicle. Or anywhere.
I accompany Tabitha to her door. But when she invites me to come inside, I kiss her hand and say, ”Not this time. We need to recover from our first date before we move on to...other things.”
”There”s one more thing I should tell you about my family. We have a hobby that makes some people cringe. We like to---”
I seal two fingers over her lips. ”Later, Tabitha.”
She watches me walk away and blows me a kiss as the lift door glides shut.
I might have met Tabitha last week, but I think I”m already falling for her.
When I wake up the next morning, for a moment, I can”t believe last night actually happened. Until this week, I hadn”t dated anyone, seriously or casually, in such a long time that I forgot what it feels like. I”m dating my assistant. That means we will need to fill out the paperwork today to comply with the company”s policies on relationships at work.
For Tabitha Remington, I would even move into a tiny house.
And yes, I want my family to meet her.
I whistle a Johnny Cash song while I shower, shave, and get dressed for a day at the office. Never have I felt this good about going to work. I even do something I swore I would never do. I text Duane to ask him if he could pick me up half an hour early, but the time isn”t the astonishing bit. No, I”m stunned because I voluntarily texted someone. I”ve hated text messaging ever since it first came on the scene.
Maybe I am evolving.
I”m still whistling when I climb into the backseat of the car. Duane glances at me over his shoulder and smirks. He also turns on a Johnny Cash album so we can both sing along to it. The ride to the office seems to take no time at all, and I know that”s because of the woman who blew me a kiss last night. We make two stops before heading to the office.
As we park in the underground garage, I check my watch. ”Thank you, Duane. We arrived right on time. Sorry I made you rise and shine even earlier than usual.”
”Don”t worry about it. Tabitha”s worth it.”
”Yes, she is.”
I dance my way across the parking garage and into the lift. I don”t stop dancing until the doors open on the sixth floor. Tabitha isn”t at her desk yet. I know she always arrives fifteen minutes early, so I needed to be here even earlier than that. How else could I surprise her? To complete the surprise, though, I need to hide.
Yes, I creep into my own office and crawl under my desk. After this, I”ll need a serious massage.
My watch tells me Tabitha should arrive at any moment.
I”ve just readjusted my position for the third time when I hear the lift door opening. My heart rate speeds up. Any moment, she will discover the first surprise.
She knocks on the door to my office. ”Are you in there, Spencer?”
If she read my note, she should believe I”m not in here. But I suspect she”s figured out I”m playing a trick on her. The note I left on her desk was meant to pique her curiosity.
”Spencer? Are you in there? If you don”t speak up, I”ll come in anyway.”
That”s the whole point of this exercise. I want her to come inside.
”Okay. Guess you”re not here, so I might as well sit down at my desk and get started with today”s tasks.”
The sound of her moving about out there is a bit too audible. She”s trying to trick me. Silence follows. After a moment or two, I hear her tapping on her computer keyboard. Then she stops.
Come on, Tabitha, you know you”re dying to walk in here.
Footfalls. Coming closer.
She jiggles the knob, now sure that the door is unlocked. Tabitha eases the door open slowly. I can tell that thanks to the shadow it casts on the carpeting. She approaches the desk inch by inch until she finally stands close enough that I could wrap my hand around her ankle if I wanted. I would love to kiss the delicate curve of her arch, but that would spoil my plan. My incredibly silly plan. Tabitha has brought out sides of myself I never imagined were there.
She taps the toe of one shoe while making humming noises. ”Where are you, Spencer? I bet you”re actually in the car with Duane, laughing your asses off about the great trick you pulled on me.” Her foot stops tapping. ”Wait a minute. What is that?”
Ah, she finally discovered the clue I left for her.
Paper rustles. Then she sighs. ”I”ve never been good at scavenger hunts. And your clues are too vague. ”Forget the jack in the box and free the Spence in the box”? If you”re hiding in a box, it”s not in this room.”
She”s too clever not to grasp the meaning of my clue.
”Ohhh,” she says at last. ”I think I know what this clue means. But I can”t figure out where the Spence in the box is. In this room, for sure. You want me to find you, huh? Well, I”m pretty sure you wouldn”t lock yourself in the file cabinet. You”re too big to fit in there. That just leaves the bathroom.”
Tabitha marches toward the bathroom. I hear the latch click as she opens that door. I am not in the loo, though.
She marches back to the desk. ”Spence in the box... No, it couldn”t be. You wouldn”t hide there. You might get stuck.”
I think she might”ve just realized where I am.
Tabitha stalks around the desk---and sees me. She wags a finger at me. ”Spencer Halfenaked, you naughty boy. What are you doing under your desk?”
”Getting bursitis and a kink in every vertebra in my spine.” I try to wriggle out from under the desk but give up. ”A little help would be appreciated. Maybe a crowbar too.”
She bends over, making her blouse fall away from her chest. I can see her lacy blue bra as she offers me her hands. ”Come on, sweetie, I”ll pull you out.”
At last, I”m free of my confinement. I stretch and groan loudly.
Tabitha straps her arms over her chest and shakes her head at me. ”What in the world were you trying to do?”
”Surprise you.”