Tiganello In Mugs
Sunday went by in a blur. Olivia, Allison, and Vanessa binge watched movies, made cheap-fried bologna sandwiches, and played barbies until Allison conked out at four in the evening for a nap.
As she took the time to help Vanessa clean up the kitchen, she looked over at her sister, relieved to see some life come back into her eyes. Vanessa needed these Sunday family get togethers as much as she did.
“Hey, I’m going to head out earlier today. I have a thing. Is that okay?” Olivia said softly, crossing her arms and leaning her jean-clad hips on the counter.
She grinned as her sister’s face truly lit up with happiness.
“Oh my gosh, is it a date?!” Vanessa half squealed, taking her arms and hopping up and down excitedly. Olivia nodded her head, smiling back at her as she saw them as they were when they were teenagers and could afford to moon and laugh over boys.
It felt good to be able to live like that again, even if it was only for a second, and even if it wasn’t true.
“Yes. And he’s picking me up at my apartment, so I’m turning my location on again. Okay?” she grabbed her keys as she backed her way out the front door, leaving her sister to shimmy all over the living room in joy for her. She checked her phone.
Are you absolutely sure I can’t pick you up at 5? We can enjoy a glass of wine before heading out. -C
The text came through just as she pulled into her apartment at four thirty. She hurried down the steps to her apartment, unlocking and opening the door as she contemplated the text thoughtfully. Reacting to his text slightly better than she did previously.
Not much of a drinker, she figured it couldn’t hurt.
I can be ready for company by 6pm, that’s the best I can do. Also, I won’t drink if the bottle has already been opened. -O
Noted. Do you like red, or white wine? -C
I’m not really much of a drinker, honestly, so I’m not picky. I think red should be fine. -O
I’ll see you at six. Don’t forget to send me your location, Olivia. -C
Olivia quickly sent him her location and placed her phone down before looking around her apartment self-consciously.
She shoved the two dirty forks into the dishwasher along with the one plate, mug, and cup she allowed herself to have, before turning it on quick mode. It saved on water, and dishwashing soap to only have so little. Deciding to clean she wiped down her counter, and swept her small kitchen and living area in a fit of OCD, even though everything was spotless. She was never home, never had company.
Her place, though homey enough, had essentially been a crash pad for the last four years.
There wasn’t much to muss up, and not much to look at either. The beige walls were spotless still, not having any reason to be messed up either.
She threw herself in the shower, accidentally ripping through another ring of her rubber ducky shower liner. Going a little slower, she shaved quickly and washed her hair. With a frown she noticed she was out of body wash, so she finished washing with shampoo.
Spraying her hair generously with volumizer, she took time to blow dry her hair.
Olivia did her makeup lightly, not wanting Colin to get the wrong impression of their date tonight. She’d just wanted a nice dinner for once, and to not feel like an overworked slave horse.
Cautious regarding her safety, she slipped her taser carefully in her bra, in the space between her heavy breasts. Snuggling it deep just in case she had to use it. Turning to her closet, she pulled out the dress she”d been dying to have an excuse to wear since she bought it a couple years ago.
Olivia smiled with pleasure as she pulled it on, making sure the taser wasn”t visible within the neckline. Posing in the mirror, she gave a little twirl eyeing the skirt happily. The dress was an emerald-green maxi with pheasant sleeves that highlighted her eyes and cupped her breasts perfectly. It”s length made her look taller than she really was. Humming to herself, she moisturized the creamy swells of her breasts with a vanilla scented lotion, her hands gliding over her neck and shoulders gently.
She finished it all off with clear lip balm and she dropped the tube, surprised when she heard a polite knock come from the front door.
Frowning, she looked at her phone, seeing that it was only five forty-nine. Thinking was the guy neurotic or what. No one was this polite, or on time. Knowing it was him, she wrenched the door open without looking through the peephole. She shivered as she felt the cool fall air brush her dewy skin.
Olivia”s mind turned to mush again when she got her first look at Colin”s face. She shook her head slightly to put her brain back in order.
“It’s not six o”clock yet!” Olivia admonished, arching her neck, and meeting his eyes before even thinking about saying hello. The skin around his eyes crinkled as Colin hungrily assessed her face, the same as she was staring at him. Olivia licked her lips, suddenly feeling a hot, heavy pressure settle in between her legs.
“See what I”m talking about? I have yet to get a hello from you in the four weeks I’ve been patiently waiting to make your acquaintance,” Colin teased. He flashed her a panty wetting smile and flicked his gaze to her lips. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?” he held up a bottle of some expensive-looking wine she’d never seen at a grocery store.
Olivia felt herself flush in slight embarrassment at his question.
Jesus, it’s like my parents didn’t raise me with manners, Olivia lamented to herself, as he smiled down at her. His bold text about her calling him ‘sir’ rushed through her head at that exact moment and she blushed even harder, pulling her bottom lip in between her teeth.
She scoffed and moved to the side, gingerly pulling back so his body wouldn’t brush hers as he walked in. Colin was so tall he almost had to stoop to keep from hitting his head on the short door frame. And for the very first time in years, she became properly embarrassed about her small home. So much so, her hands started sweating. She suddenly wished she’d put a few pieces of art on the wall, something to distract from how obviously boring and lifeless her home was.
Appropriate, she supposed. Like her. Lifeless and boring.
Softly closing the door behind him, she reached over to take the wine from him and walked the few feet to the kitchen counter. Her bare feet padded softly on the cheap gray linoleum floor as she went.
Olivia tensed as his eyes perused her form slowly as he got comfortable leaning against her peninsula. She bristled with embarrassment at her lack of stools, or dining room table and chairs. She’d wanted to invite him to sit on the sofa but wasn’t sure she wanted to sit next to him that closely. They had too much chemistry to be that close.
She could acknowledge that fact.
Placing the bottle with a soft clink on the countertop, she avoided his gaze while she desperately tried to tamp down her feelings of embarrassment. Thinking that this is why she didn’t date.
“You are beautiful. Stunning, actually,” Colin said, his voice came out rather gruff. His eyes lingered slightly on her breasts and her collarbone. “Do you have anything for me to open this with?” he asked, reaching over to pick up the wine bottle again.
Her eyes widened in pleasure at the unexpected compliment.
“Thank you. Uhm...I’m not sure I have a wine opener. I don’t drink often enough to need one. Well, I guess I don’t drink at all really,” Olivia said apologetically. She bent slightly, opening several drawers, and trying to ignore him curiously looking at her, and at the state of the mostly empty drawers.
The few items clanked loudly in the empty space as she opened and closed drawers, mentally willing a wine opener to appear out of thin air.
“Hmm,” Colin rumbled again, fishing around his pocket and pulling out his key ring and unleashing an opener. “That’s ok, I forgot I carry one on me. I’m usually relatively prepared when it comes to these things,” he offered, taking the wine bottle, and twisting the opener into it. He twisted it a few times before unexpectedly flicking his brown eyes to hers again, and she felt a heavy bang in between her legs and she clenched, actually clenched as he raised an eyebrow at her.
Olivia bit her lip at his expression, her eyes flickered away from his nervously, unable to hold his stare. She swallowed thickly, feeling uncomfortable with the state of her body. She felt strung tight, almost painful with her sudden rush of desire.
“Are you going to get a couple wine glasses? Do you need me to keep telling you what to do?” he asked suggestively, giving her a sexy grin as he tugged the cork out with a pop.
She nodded stupidly as she blindly felt for the dishwasher handle behind her and pulled it down. Taking out the glass and mug and placing it on the counter between them. She attempted to pull the door of the dishwasher up discreetly and prayed that he didn’t ask questions about why there was literally nothing in her kitchen.
“No wine glasses hm? Man, you really don’t drink do you?” Colin said, with a contemplative glance at her. “Do you cook at all? The kitchen looks really… stark. No offense. Do you eat out a lot?” he asked as he poured them each a healthy amount of wine.
Goddamn it, she thought. She pressed her fingers into her arm which suddenly throbbed.
For the first time, she truly paid attention to what Colin was wearing. Noting he had an expensive yet tasteful and understated style.
He boasted an obviously nice watch on his left wrist, different from the one he’d worn when he was coming into the diner to ask her out. His hips were encased in slate gray slacks, and a white button-down dress shirt pulled tightly against his thick muscular arms, and he”d opened a couple buttons at the top, letting his dark crinkly hair peek through. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing crisp dark hair on his thick forearms, and she saw the beginnings of a tattoo sleeve inching its way up his arm, hidden beneath his shirt sleeves.
Her head tilted as she unashamedly caressed him with her green-eyed stare and let herself admit that his tattoos were a major turn on.
Colin’s forearms looked incredibly strong. Hosting prominent veins, and were tight with sinew and cords. Indicating he took very good care of his body. His dress shoes were shiny, and he had a gold ring on his right ring finger. Olivia”s eyes flickered back up, seeing his dark hair was manipulated in a sexy style and every now and then, a strand would fall over his brow. Her fingers twitched to put it back in place.
Olivia swallowed a healthy drink herself before trying to answer his question. Surprised at the delicious flavor she paused as she looked rather bewildered at the contents of her mug. There was a pregnant pause while she thought to herself.
Maybe I’d actually drink if everything tasted like this, Olivia thought with a small grin she tried to bite back.
“I’m hardly ever home,” she answered simply, her emerald eyes met his plainly. Showing she had nothing to hide, and that he shouldn’t be looking for her here if he tried to come back. “And I can cook some I guess, I just don’t much.”
Anybitch. You don’t cook at all, that innervoice niggled at her, taunting her. She sucked her teeth in response, she really irritated herself sometimes.
“And,” Olivia added, her own eyes flickering over his form rather hastily again. “You don’t look too bad yourself. Rather good in fact,” she said with a small grin, feeling her cheeks pinken even more.
The redhead’s curse, always blushing. She wrapped an arm around her torso, her fingers digging hard into her ribs. Colin’s eyes tracked her movements, making her feel very seen.
She turned slightly, needing a break from the tension between them.
“Can you excuse me for a second? I still had a couple things to do before you came, eleven minutes early,” she edged her way around him and the counter before stopping abruptly, spinning around and hastily grabbing her mug of wine off the peninsula. She gave him a shaky smile as she took it in the bedroom with her.
“You don’t have to worry about that. I rarely come early,” Colin called out after her with a sexy, dangerous grin of his own as he leaned back and watched her walk into her bedroom.
How inappropriate, Olivia thought wryly. She grinned, amused at his double entendre before closing her bedroom door and locking it. She leaned against it and closed her eyes.
Oh my God, oh my GOD, he”s so fucking hot!And that damn accent, just kill me now why don”t you! she groaned inside her head. She pushed off the door, mentally steeling herself for a night of sexual torture.
Olivia placed her drink down on her dresser and quickly stepped into the bathroom. She sprayed her favorite perfume onto her wrist and collarbone before putting her favorite necklace on that said ‘Ally’. Flicking her eyes over her face in the mirror, she supposed she looked presentable before walking back into her bedroom.
Her eyes roamed to her closet, and the money hidden inside.
Eying the bedroom door, Olivia called out, “One second, Colin,” as she hurriedly took the shoebox down. She removed a one-hundred-dollar bill and silently asked Allison to forgive her. She just couldn’t let herself go out with a stranger with no back up-just in case. Silently promising to put it back if she didn’t need it, she replaced the box back under its home of scarves.
Turning, she closed her closet door and shoved the money in her purse before walking back out into the main area with her wine. Sipping it slowly as she went. She moaned a little in appreciation as wine was a knocker.
Colin was still leaning against the counter, patiently watching her with his arms folded as he sipped from the glass she gave him. She cursed to herself at how attractive she found him. Colin had a dangerous aura that perplexed her, and she contemplated why it was so alluring.
“Thank you for waiting, Colin. This is seriously amazing wine. What kind is it?” she asked as she rounded the corner back into the kitchen and looked at the wine bottle, smiling slightly.
She ignored the feel of his intense stare on her face. Colin”s nostrils flared suddenly as he picked up on her scent and her cheeks reddened in response.
“Tignanello, 2016,” he stated quickly, his voice slightly deeper than before. “An Italian wine, I’m so pleased you enjoy it. It’s my favorite, gotta love a beautiful bold red,” he said to her pointedly, his eyes flickering to her hair as sipped his wine some more, groaning appreciatively at the flavor.
Her eyebrow arched at the obvious parallel he made between her and the wine.
Colin ignored her surprised expression at his bold words. He turned to point his glass towards the small living room. “What’s the story behind that?” he asked curiously as he turned back to face her.
His eyes bored into hers curiously.
Confused, Olivia scrunched her eyebrows before craning her neck to look behind him, only to see her worktable that sat across from a lamp and sofa. She didn’t even have a television.
“Oh, I don’t have a dining table,” she said, misunderstanding him, she shrugged her shoulder. “The space really isn’t big enough-“
“No, I’m talking about the blueprints on the worktable over there. What are they? They look important. Are you building something?” Colin inquired, curiously.
His gaze met hers once more, making her freeze in place.
Olivia’s hand stilled on her cup as something confusing hit her coiling hot in her belly. She attempted to ignore it and concentrate on what he was saying, he was just so damn handsome she couldn’t manage it. She felt like she couldn’t breathe around him, like there just wasn’t enough oxygen for the both of them inside her little apartment and for some reason it was all being allocated to him instead of her.
“Oh,” Olivia paused, she pursed her lips slightly as she cradled her wine in her hand. Wondering if she wanted to share this piece of herself with him.
She turned and walked to the worktable slowly, feeling him following behind her. They stood side by side, seeing the blueprints and the architectural measuring and drawing tools spread next to them. Nervous, she reached forward and straightened a slightly crooked straight ruler before clearing her throat.
“There’s not much of a story. I used to be in architectural school at Rhode Island School of Design, and this was one of the last projects I was able to complete before being forced to drop out. I kept it because I loved it, for the memories. I always thought I’d end up building it for myself to live in. But my career didn’t exactly turn out the way I wanted it to,” she said, finishing the wine and turning to him. She took a slight step back when she realized just how close he was to her. His arm was almost touching hers.
Colin’s eyes looked at her with more than curiosity, and her eyes widened slightly in response.
I”m not used to being seen, she thought sadly.
He smiled as his eyes flicked to her lips momentarily, causing her to wet her lips with her tongue. Colin’s nostrils flared again at her movement, and his eyes slid from her face as he smoothly turned his attention back to the blueprints.
Olivia took another miniscule step back, desperately trying to put more space between herself and this man. They were obviously attracted to each other. And Olivia wasn’t sure if she was up to dating, much less dating a charismatic man such as Colin. His energy was a lot to deal with, it saturated her and stole her senses. And she needed all her senses intact.
“This is beautiful work Olivia, you must be incredibly smart, you”re most certainly wonderfully talented,” Colin praised in his deep voice, caressing over her skin with its smoothness.
Olivia felt herself break out in goosebumps; her breath hitched slightly as he moved over her designs. He’d leaned forward and put a hand down that wasn’t holding his wine, his fingertips spread over the paper momentarily before he caressed it confidently.
Watching his slow movements, she swallowed hard observing that Colin oozed unadulterated confidence. She found herself inching closer instead of away, drawn into his aura, wanting to take some of it for herself.
“Thank you, that’s a very nice compliment,” Olivia murmured, her eyes flickering around the room as she desperately tried to pull herself together. She felt like a thread had come loose and he was slowly starting to unravel it. Her arm burned as she gripped her ribs tighter, digging her fingertips in, needing to ground herself.
“The master bedroom is my favorite spot in the home. The way you’ve drawn this makes an already intimate space seem more so. Almost like you designed the house around the bedroom,” Colin mused almost thoughtfully.
His eyes followed her measurements, taking in how some rooms required more and what didn’t. “The spare bedrooms are so far from the main one. I wonder what made you have that idea? It’s rather unusual. I wonder the reasoning as to the extreme privacy,” he enquired again, that smooth voice feeling like it was caressing straight into the center of her brain. His head tilted as he looked down at her, expecting a reply.
She bit her lip before taking another sip of her wine.
“Because it is intimate, and private. Where private things happen,” Olivia surmised with a slight snort, wanting to say ‘duh’ out loud. Feeling like she just told him the most juvenile thing possible.
For not the first time, she wondered how old he was. “Well, I mean I guess all bedrooms have private things happen in them, huh?” she tried to joke, correcting herself awkwardly, knowing she was blushing. Which was made even worse when he tilted his head once more to look down at her, making a little scoffing sound in the back of his throat.
“Some bedrooms desperately need to be more private than others for obvious reasons. Some maybe not so obvious as well,” he whispered, his eyes flicking down to her lips before bringing his mug up and drinking from it. “Is yours private? Is that why you locked yourself in there just now?” he dared to press, probing, trying to see an in.
Olivia pursed her lips in shock before flushing, her eyebrows furrowed.
“May I have some more?” Olivia asked dismissively. Turning and walking the small area back to the peninsula and waving at the wine bottle.
He joined her again, and she freshened both of their cups before recorking the bottle with effort, making him chuckle at her antics. She turned to open her fridge, wincing at the eerily empty sound it made as she placed the bottle on the bare shelves and closed it quickly. Hoping he didn’t notice.
“So, why’d you never finish? There’s got to be a story there,” he pressed, wanting to know details.
“Not one I wish to discuss, and not one you need to know,” Olivia snapped, trying and failing not to sound mean.
She bit her lip and closed her eyes briefly before opening them once more. His eyes were on hers intensely. She pressed her fingers against her hips awkwardly, digging in. Wishing she had something to do, perhaps an amazon echo dot to be able to put music on in the background. The silence stretched uncomfortably between them.
She quickly gleamed this was a man who did not subject himself to coddling social cues. If a faux pas was made, he expected it to be addressed. He also didn’t seem to shy down from intensity, rather seemed inclined to revel in turning it up. She pouted her lips slightly, wishing he would say something to break the tension between them. She realized after a second, he wouldn”t be coming to save her in that way.
“I’m sorry that was rather rude of me. I didn”t mean for that to come out the way it did,” she apologized, feeling her face heat up as she blushed. He just stood there in that stance, regarding her quietly.
“Apology accepted. If you don’t wish to talk about it right now, I understand,” Colin said, tipping his mug and finishing his wine and handing it to her.
He waited silently as she rinsed out the glasses and dried them before placing them into a yet again bare cabinet. Again, inwardly wincing at the loud echoing bang her bare cabinet made when she closed the door.
She grabbed up her purse and her phone and walked him to the front door.
Olivia took a second to slide on some matching green heels, using her side table to support herself as she stood on one foot and slid them on. He watched her, amused.
“Oh, wait,” she said breathlessly, touching his arm absentmindedly. She glanced at him before walking back to the kitchen, her heels tapping loudly.
Colin watched quietly as Olivia maneuvered around the small space and turned on the light above her stove, then walked over to the lamp in the living area and switched that on. She then hurried back to her bedroom, not caring that he’d see her purple room and the cheap frame of her bed as she walked inside.
Olivia busied herself turning on a small lamp by her bed and a nightlight in her bathroom, not wanting to come home to a dark apartment. Attention diverted; she missed the look that passed over Colin’s face at her actions.
He walked her out and kindly put a hand on her elbow to escort her up the stairs that led to the parking lot. Olivia only pulled away once, when she tried to divert to her car, he steered her purposefully and efficiently to his vehicle instead.
After a small tussle in the parking lot in which he told her sternly that “under no circumstances” would he let her drive herself, she relented and let him place her into the passenger seat of his car.
When Colin closed the door, Olivia placed her purse on the floor and took a second to take in the soft leather seats, the muted lighting of the car and the smell.
God. Who knew a car could smell rich, her lips twitched slightly as she tried to reign in her feelings. She was in wealthy people’s company a couple times a week with her clients. However, she was busy focusing on inflicting pain in those scenarios, and not worrying about her surroundings other than her safety.
“Do you have any music preference?” Colin asked, hooking his phone up to the system and her eyebrows hit her hair line once again as ‘Sex’ by Sticky Fingers dominated the car, even flashing the title on his fancy computer system.
Colin didn’t seem embarrassed to Olivia, and she rolled her lips as he turned the music down and stared at her intently, waiting for a response, not bothering to change the music.
“Oh, uhm…. how’s Aaryan Shah?” she said gently, as he handed her his phone to put the artist in. And appropriately in her case, ‘Is this The Life I Chose’ came on as he pulled out of her parking lot and into the street as the sun went down, not needing GPS to guide him, which she didn”t catch.
She also missed the look he gave her at the mention of the artist.