6. Chapter 5
Sarah
Worst timing ever for someone to come knock at my door. Mitchell and I were having a moment and we were about to kiss. I hate it when this happens in romance books, and now it's my life. Mitchell had stepped back abruptly when the knock sounded on the door so I move around him to see who it is.
When I get to the door, I open to see my neighbor Mrs. Bates holding a container with what look like cookies.
We both bake, so we keep trying to up one another with baked goods.
I open the door wide and give her a big smile.
She's a good, kindhearted person who was also a good friend to my grandmother.
"Hello, Mrs. Bates."
"It's Edith, dear."
"What brings you over today, Edith?"
It feels wrong to use her first name, but she insists all the time. I think it makes her feel younger when I call her by her first name, as if we're the same age.
"I just wanted to bring you some of the snickerdoodles I made this afternoon."
"You know I shouldn't be eating those, Edith. I'm already too curvy for my own good."
"Men love curvy girls. Just wait and see. And who do you have here?"
Mitchell is moving around the kitchen measuring things. I don't know what he's measuring, but it all looks very important.
"That's my friend, Mitchell. He's going to help me with repairing and renovating the house. Isn't it great?"
He moves out of the kitchen and comes to where we're standing.
"It's good to meet you, Edith. Let's see if Sarah will let me try one of your delicious snickerdoodles."
Edith actually blushes at Mitchell's words.
"Yes, well. Here you go, Sarah. Do take care of yourself. And you, silver fox, don't do anything you shouldn't do."
She turns around and leaves the house, leaving me with a smile on my face. She sure told Mitchell. The trouble is I don't actually want him to behave. I would like to get that kiss that was interrupted. I hand him the cookies and wait for him to go back to the kitchen.
He opens the container and takes a bite.
"Oh, my God, these are amazing."
"Careful, you're going to hurt my feelings."
"Does she bring you food often?"
"It's sort of a competition for us. You can take those with you."
"Your curves are beautiful and perfect."
I lower my eyes and blush at his words. This man certainly knows what to say to get a woman all flustered. I'm loving every minute of it.
"She was my grandmother's friend."
"It hurts when you see her."
"She reminds me of my grandmother. I'm pretty sure my grandmother asked her to look out for me."
"Your grandmother loved you. Her friend is also grieving her."
"Yeah, I need to remember that. It's just…It was me and my grandmother always. I don't have any close friends my age."
"You've got me now."
"That's right, I do. Don't I?"
"I'm here for whatever you need."
The words make my mind go a mile a minute. What I need, what I want is him, all over me. Kissing me and then taking me on the living room sofa. I can't say those words out loud because he would think I'm a crazy person. Heck, I think I'm a crazy person for having these thoughts.
Mitchell leaves the cookies on the dining room table and goes back to his measuring in the kitchen.
I go over and watch as he carefully takes measurements and then writes them in a notebook in tidy handwriting.
Should I go to college again? I got a simple bachelor's degree in arts that's not much to look at, but maybe I can dream higher.
Knowing a man like Mitchell, who is an architect, makes me want to be better. Maybe if I improve myself, I could be with someone like him. I don't care that he's older, it's part of what attracts me to him. I make a decision without even knowing what it was that I wanted.
When he's finished with his measurements, he turns around and looks at me, something dark in his eyes that I cannot decipher. I walk up to him and stand once again toe to toe with him. My heart is beating fast and I feel like I cannot breathe.
Mitchell's hand goes to my face and he pushes back the hair that covers part of my face..
"You're so young, and so beautiful. Something to treasure."
"I want to kiss you, Mitchell."
"You don't mind my age? My silver hair?"
"No. I don't mind if you don't mind."
He lifts my face slightly so that I'm looking up into his eyes. Eyes that have gone an even darker color than they were before. It looks like a storm is raging in his gaze, and I want to be a part of it. I don't care if I get wet.
"I shouldn't be doing this. I shouldn't want you as much as I do."
I can't believe the words he's saying to me. I savor them because it means we're both on the same wavelength. We both want the other.
"I want your lips on mine, Mitchell. Don't make me beg."
"Never. You'll never have to beg with me."
He lowers his face to where our lips are almost touching. I feel his hot breath against my face and I keep myself from pulling him down so he kisses me. I want him to do this on his own. He moves slowly, and his lips gently touch mine.
It's as gentle as the touch of a butterfly on a flower, and I make myself stay still. His lips start to coax mine so that I open my mouth to him. I let him. The kiss is still gentle and careful. Like he doesn't want to spook me. Doesn't he know I'm right where I want to be at the moment?
The kiss itself is disarming, and before I know it, I'm grabbing his shirt with my fists, trying to get him closer to me. After the longest while, as my loins are starting to ignite, he pulls back. His thumb strokes my cheek and he bops my nose with his finger.
"You're an angel, did you know that?"
"Kiss me again, Mitchell."
He now steps back and looks like he wants to run away.
"This can never happen again. I need to go, Sarah."
And with that, he leaves me completely befuddled, not knowing what the hell happened to scare him away.