Page 4 of I see you Beauty

Instead, I step a little closer to him, and after a while, I lean my shoulder against a beam opposite him. My eyes wander over his skillful fingers, which perfectly command the instrument, and up his sculpted right forearm. My gaze passes the tightening biceps and glides over his bare chest, whose right pectoral muscle tenses repeatedly as he grips the strings. It’s a shame that the guitar obscures the view of his well-toned stomach.

As my gaze travels up to his face, our gazes meet, and we lock eyes. His intense stare makes my pulse race, and a strange feeling runs through my belly. I can’t describe it and know I shouldn’t question it. So, I lower my gaze and enjoy his heavenly music, which leaves me spellbound.

I don’t know how long I’ve been standing here listening to him play, but the exclamation of my first name suddenly jolts me back to reality, and I jump as I recognize my husband’s voice.

“Cora?” he calls me again, and as I look over my shoulder, I see him approaching us.

I immediately get nervous and feel bad, even though I haven’t done anything wrong. At least, that’s what I try to tell myself. I give Mr. King—who is about to stand up—a fleeting glance before I turn away from him entirely and walk toward Thomas.

“What are you doing here? And who is that?” Thomas demands to know, and I can tell from the way he speaks and approaches me he is anything but thrilled to find me here with this young and half-naked man.

I want to say something, explain myself, and appease him simultaneously, but unexpectedly, a smoky voice sounds behind me.

“Excuse me, Mr. Shepherd. I didn’t mean to distract your wife. I’m Ezra King, your new neighbor,” he replies with complete confidence, again with that cheeky grin, as he holds out his hand to my husband to introduce himself properly.

He holds his guitar in his other hand. He seems utterly oblivious to the fact that he is still only half-dressed. Unfortunately, it doesn’t make things any better. I stiffen and look at Thomas, who is standing before him, visibly startled and momentarily frozen.

“You must be quite close with my wife if you already know our names and marital status,” my husband replies coolly, punishing me with a bitter look.

The corner of Mr. King’s mouth twitches slightly as he lowers his hand, maintaining an air of indifference.

Fortunately, his gaze is only directed at my husband; otherwise, Thomas would undoubtedly be even more upset.

Thomas is a very jealous and possessive man. Although he has no reason to be, unlike me… But of course, I don’t tell him that. Instead, I tilt my head slightly and look down. I don’t want to say anything wrong that will upset him unnecessarily. Besides, I’m worried that the circumstances of our first encounter will be revealed now. Thomas would, of course, take it the wrong way, and I definitely want to avoid that.

“I asked for my neighbor’s names when I bought the property. I wanted to know a bit about my new neighborhood,” Mr. King counters with an amused undertone as he nods over to our house.

When Thomas takes his eyes off him to look around our neighborhood, Mr. King winks at me. I bite my lower lip to suppress a grin at his mischievous yet refreshing manner. You can’t look at him like that. My inner voice intervenes again, and I lower my gaze.

Thomas turns back to him, but nothing happens for a long moment until he nods at him.

“Have a good evening, Ezra. Come on, Cora! We don’t want to spoil another meal tonight, do we?” he reprimands me and leads me firmly off the porch with a hand on my lower back.

It didn’t escape my notice that Thomas intentionally addressed the young man by his first name instead of the more formal ‘Mr. King,’ likely to assert and clarify their power dynamic.

“Likewise. It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Shepherd,” he calls after us provocatively, and here, too, he can’t help but have an amused undertone. Oh my.

I don’t turn around as I don’t want to give Thomas an even bigger target. So I let Thomas lead me into the house. I know he has a bone to pick with me, but June is already waiting for us at the dining table, her head tilted in question. In the meantime, she has cut the pizzas into slices and is now placing them on plates.

“What took you so long?” she asks, looking at me inquiringly.

I know she’s wondering what’s going on with me today. Yes, I’d like to know that too…

“Nothing. Let’s eat. I’m starving with all this delay,” my husband replies, sitting at the table next to our daughter.

Silently, I settle down on the chair opposite him and take a slice of pizza. I’m not hungry anymore, but I force myself to eat.

I sit at the table with my family and listen to their conversations. Thomas eagerly asks his little girl, who she hasn’t been for a long time, about her studies. June stumbles over her words until, at some point, she makes eye contact with me, looking for help. Terrible timing, dear…

“Honey, don’t you think it’s quite late? June still has a long drive ahead of her.” I’ll try to end this evening now before this conversation goes downhill.

Thomas looks at me with a puzzled expression. He probably can’t understand why I want to end the evening so abruptly. Typically, I ask June to stay the night because I’m concerned about her driving back to college so late.

“Cora, what’s wrong with you today? It’s Friday night. Of course, our daughter stays the night.”

Irritated by my strange behavior, he shakes his head before looking back at our daughter.

“Sorry about that. I’m not quite myself today. Of course, June stays the night. Put a movie on, and I’ll clear the table and bring you another glass of wine, okay, darling?” I address them both with a smile and get up to clear the table afterward.

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