Page 53 of Between Now & Heartbreak

His eyes narrow and then in a quick move, he wraps an arm around my waist and drags me to him. My pulse leaps in reaction to the sudden movement, but my heart feels like it’s flying and I close my eyes for a second and savor how good it feels to have his arms around me.

I’m above average height for a woman, but, he’s above average height for a man and my eyes are level with his collarbone when I open them. I slowly drag my eyes up the smooth, tan column of his throat, past his square, lightly bearded chin, over the twin mounds of perfection that are his lips, up the tiny bump in the ridge of his strong nose and then into his eyes.

Lord help me, he makes me so weak.

My breath catches in my throat. He’s so close. And he’s looking at me like he’s just seen all my sketches of him and heknowsthat with just a flick of his wrist, he can have me any way he wants.

“Pretend you’re not here? You’re the only thing I can see, Beth,” he says.

His voice is soft and deep and vibrates between us. He runs a finger along my temple and traces my hairline before he scoops the back of my head with his hand. Gooseflesh ripples across my neck and runs up my scalp.

“I thought my memories of you were inflated, but they weren’t even close,” he says in a gruff voice. His fingers sink into my hair.

“In—” I have to clear my throat. “In what way?”

“Your skin is so soft. I’ve missed touching it. Seeing it,” he says and his grip around my waist tightens.

“I see.” My body is one big pulse point and I know that with every breath, he feels it beating in a strange back and forth with his.

God, why did I put on that stupid underwear?The devil on my shoulder grabs my collar and shakes me.

Because I knew this was going to happen and that it would be wrong.The angel wrestles me invisible web I stuck in.

I disentangle myself from the sweet cradle of his arms and step away. His eyes are full of frustration, but he smiles and nods before he walks back to the piano. I stare longingly at the broad muscles of his back for a beat before I sit down.

“You draw, I’ll play,” he recites it like a mantra.

He circles the piano, he runs the flat of his hand over the top in a stroke that’s reverent. He smiles to himself and skims his fingers along the keys before he sits down on the bench. As he observes the instrument he’s about to breathe life into, I observe the expression I want to capture in my painting. It’s a picture of a man in love…with his piano.

My eyes hungrily make a note of the way the left side of his face lifts a little higher than the right, breaking the perfect symmetry that makes him look aloof at times.

I start to draw.

It’s not surprise that I started my drawing with his mouth. I can’t stop thinking about kissing him. I move my pencil up the paper and draw his eyes instead.

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything,” he says and plays a bright, little melody as he talks.

“How profound,” I say, glancing up to make sure I’ve got the spacing of his eyes right.

He’s got a faraway look, his fingers move over the keys effortlessly.

“Plato said it.”

“Well, tell me what Carter Bosh has to say. I’m much more interested in him than Plato,”

He bites his lip and then laughs as he starts to use both of his hands now. I don’t recognize the song he’s playing, but right now it’s just background music for our conversation.

“The piano… is a miracle,” he sighs and it’s so obvious that he’s feeling that love right now.

And I wonder what it would be like to be loved like that. By him. God, please give me the chance to find out one day.

“A miracle?” I ask, wanting him to continue talking.

He nods. His fingers dance lightly over the keys, playing scales, slowly, deftly.

“Yes, it’s such a simple instrument - metal, wood and vibrating air, and yet it can express the subtlest of truths in a way that words never could. And yes, classical has been my medium, but it can play anything, jazz, pop, hip hop.” He plays a stanza of something.

“Why do you love that one you tattooed on your arm?”

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