Page 83 of Sing For Me

Eli’s smile broadens a little, and I feel warm inside that I made that happen. It’s not even his best mega-watt grin, but I still soak it up like sunshine, relief that I made the right choice in coming loosening the knot in my chest. I’ve been more than a little freaked out by my boldness the other day.

Then Eli’s eyes drop to the giant bag I’m carrying. “You staying awhile?”

My cheeks pinken at the implication of staying, but I smile sheepishly. “I know I said I’d bring wine, but I couldn’t tell from texting if it was actually more of a hot chocolate, wine, or tequila kind of day, so…I brought all three.”

Eli holds the door open for me and I pass through, trying not to visibly inhale his scent as I do. He smells way too good for a man in his state. “Do you use those laundry booster things?” I ask.

“Huh?”

“Never mind. You smell nice.”Idiot.

Eli gives me a strange look, but luckily, he’s too distracted to notice my yammering.

A nervous energy sparks through me as Eli leans in close, taking the bag from me. For a moment, his eyes meet mine, which only makes that energy thrum hotter.

“I could have sworn you were avoiding me, Reese,” he says, turning away and heading back to the kitchen.

Thank God he can’t see my face, because he’d see right through me. “I’ve been busy,” I say. Which isn’t a lie. But it’s not the whole truth, either. The whole truth isI’ve been having way too good a time with you, Eli, and I was feeling good, so I gave you a blow job in my office.

Of course I don’t say any of that. I look away, trying to cool the heat in my face. I slip off my shoes, then make a show of looking around his place. I’ve never been here before. “You have furniture!” I say.

Eli shoots me a look, and I wonder if he’s not going to drop it. But his mouth turns up in a grin. “I still have those lawn chairs down in my storage locker.”

I laugh. “Good. I liked those chairs. So homey.”

I’ve never been to his apartment here, but when I first met him, he lived in a sad apartment building in Jewel Lakes County, New York. He said he’d taken the first lease he could find after the divorce, and it showed—his furniture consisted of a pair of lawn chairs in the living room and a new box spring and mattress set. That was about it.

Now, he has a proper couch and chair. In fact…I run my hand along the back of the couch, which is a stylish box style with plush navy cushions I recognize. “This is a ten-thousand-dollar couch, Eli.”

Something strange tickles my skin. “It’s from Restoration Hardware,” I say. I always wanted one of their living room sets. I used to order their catalogues just to daydream, even if I could never afford their stuff. And that tickling is a sudden vivid memory of him flipping through one of them at my place back in Jewel Lakes.

From where I am now, I can see Eli in the galley kitchen. He’s watching me, his lips turned up in a little smile. “I don’t know the first thing about decorating. But when I needed to buy furniture, I remembered that place.”

I pinch my lips shut.

Before all this, any recollection of our short time together all those years ago felt painful. Like a flash I’d rather forget. I thought doing that with him would only exacerbate that. But somehow, spending time with him has brought back the good memories I’d completely forgotten.

I have a sudden image of Eli lying in my bed, stroking my hair as I pointed out all the places in my bedroom I’d change, naming a Restoration Hardware product for each, him teasing me for wanting to decorate my place from a hardware store.

“It’snota hardware store,” I say softly.

Now Eli laughs, and my whole body loosens into a puddle. This is not good. This warmth I feel in my chest, this heat—the way his laugh makes me feel like there’s nothing wrong with the world—it’s dangerous. My pulse flutters in my throat.

Eli’s smile drops, and he looks quickly to the bottles on the counter. “Wine okay?”

For a moment, I wonder if maybe I should go now, before anything more happens. Because I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t bring all this alcohol over hoping it might make something happen. Was this a terrible idea, to let this turn from something fake into something suddenly a lot more real? I hear my sister’s worried voice in my ear.I don’t want you getting hurt, Reese.

But then I hear Nora’s.You said you missed fun, remember?

I nod, then realize he can’t see me. “Yes. Wine.” I think of the email I got this morning from the realtor in Sebastopol. New condos under construction and coming on the market around the time I plan to arrive.

Fun. That’s all this has to be.

I come over to the kitchen and sit up on the counter while Eli uncorks the bottle.

“This is a very decent bottle of wine, Franco,” he says.

“I thought tonight might call for the good stuff.”

---