After an hour, she had selected two overstuffed chairs, a sofa and a glass coffee table. “Make sure they are delivered this afternoon,” Michael said to the salesclerk drooling over the large sale.
Darcy’s head was spinning, and it wasn’t because of her new purchases. Michael was pulling her along, hand in hand to his car. And she liked it way too much.
“I think you need a cup of coffee and then on for a new kitchen table,” he said, glancing down at the list of furniture Darcy had written up before leaving her house.
Three hours later, she pulled up to her house, Michael behind her and a delivery truck behind him. The delivery men moved her new family room furniture into place, and then left quickly.
“Look at this!” she said excitedly. “It is wonderful,” she said and almost danced around in her excitement.
Michael sat down on the sofa and stretched out, enjoying her excitement and the fact that he’d helped bring it to her. “See? I told you life was more fun than work,” he replied. “Now you have to make me dinner because I don’t have the energy to do anything else.”
Darcy bit her lip. She thought about the contents of her refrigerator and knew there wasn’t much in there. Smiling, she walked over to the fireplace and leaned against the mantle. the inside. steaming vegetables that are delicious and al dente?” “Let me see. How about freshly baked bread, crusty on the outside, soft on Tomato sauce with savory spices, two kinds of cheese melting all over and
Michael’s mouth was already watering, but not from her description of the food. His body was on fire for her because of the way she looked as she described it. Darcy’s eyes were half closed and her body was coiling with tension as she thought about the possible meal. She looked like she was in the throes of passion and every cell in her was anticipating his next touch. Michael grew hard as he thought about that possibility. Clearing his throat, he nodded. “Sounds great.”
Darcy laughed and gracefully walked over to the phone. She dialed a number from memory and a moment later, spoke to the person who answered the other end. “Hey Joe, Can you deliver my usual but make it an extra large?”
Michael threw back his head and laughed. Pizza. Delivery pizza at that.
Darcy put on a jazz CD and they feasted on pizza and red wine. Michael was a die hard republican and Darcy a democrat. So they argued about the issues ranging from capital punishment to education as well as everything in between.
They laughed and argued and Darcy learned again how nice it was to talk about anything that occurred to her. No matter what she said, Michael took her seriously or allowed her to be silly, tossing back wild or ridiculous ideas himself.
Darcy was laughing at something he said and her head fell backwards. When she looked back up, he was staring at her oddly. The moment grew and she licked her lips, wondering what it would be like to be kissed by his firm lips. She noticed him staring at her mouth and her own opened slightly. The silence was heavy and laiden with tension. She glanced up into his eyes, then back down at her wine glass, not wanting him to find out how much she wanted him to kiss her, afraid the need would be in her eyes.
“I’d better leave,” Michael said, feeling an overwhelming need to kiss her. He didn’t want to act on that need, afraid he’d scare her away. He also reminded himself that she worked for ATI and he was a vice president. It wasn’t a good thing to force himself on an employee. He stood up and stretched, wanting to pull her into his arms. Her cheeks were rosy from the wine and the laughter. She looked especially lovely tonight since she was relaxed and laughing instead of feisty and concentrating on work issues.
Darcy glanced at the clock and gasped. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it was so late.” She jumped up and grabbed his wine glass, putting them into the sink. He followed behind her with the empty pizza box. The kitchen was small, just large enough for one person to move around while the other sat at the table. With two people moving, and one as large as Michael, the space seemed even smaller.
“Sorry, I was going to throw this away for you,” he said, looking down into her eyes. He slid between her body and the table, holding the box above her head.
“No problem,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. She couldn’t think while their bodies touched. Her breasts rubbed against his chest as he made his way across the small space. Darcy moved out of the kitchen quickly, not wanting to be trapped by his large and incredibly male body again.
Darcy walked him to the front door, her knees shaking from the contact in the kitchen. “Well, I guess I’ll see you at the office on Monday,” she said, opening the front door.
Michael hesitated. He knew he should leave. But he wanted to kiss her, had been dying to kiss her ever since she’s started describing the pizza hours ago. Hell, who was he kidding? He’d wanted to kiss her ever since she’d walked into his office last week, scared but defiant while presenting her ideas to him. He’d instantly wanted to take her into his arms and kiss the fear away, promising that he could make things better for her.
He looked out the door into the darkness, knew that he should leave her alone. He was her employer and kissing her would cause all sorts of complications professionally. Besides being morally wrong, it was probably legally wrong of him to kiss her. But staring at her full lips as they trembled slightly, it dawned on him that she was waiting for him to kiss her. With that knowledge, all sense of professionalism slipped out the door.
Michael grabbed the front door and pushed it shut, an action which surprised Darcy enough to have her stop looking at the floor and up at his face.
With a groan, Michael pulled Darcy into his arms and gently kissed her lips.
With the first tentative touch of his lips against hers, Darcy closed her eyes and let the feelings crash over her. His lips started off soft and tender, but when she didn’t pull away, he tightened his hold on her arms and increased the pressure, asking for, and then demanding entrance to her mouth. She gasped at the latent passion and he took that opportunity to deepen the kiss.
His tongue mated with hers and she was helpless to follow his lead. He was holding her head, his fingers tangling in her long, brown hair. Darcy leaned into him, unable to support herself as the kiss took over. Unable to think, she just let herself feel. The desire was quick in coming, had been simmering under the surface all evening long.
Darcy let her arms creep up his chest, reveling in the muscles underneath the soft sweater that sprang to life as soon as she touched them. He pulled her more tightly against him and she could feel the evidence of his desire against her stomach. Darcy whimpered and let her arms go all the way around his neck, her fingers carefully touching his hair as it curled over her fingers.