Page 27 of The Wife
“This is fun, being out with you,” Carol said with a shy smile.
She had no idea. This was sheer and utter bliss. I wasn’t thinking about anything beyond her pretty hair, her pretty face, her pretty lips.
“Soooo… can I ask about your marriage?”
I tightened a little bit. “What do you want to know?”
“You’re really married, but notmarried?”
“Platonic. Platonic I think is the word you’re looking for. And yes. Ellie and I are… friends.”
I paused. Why did I pause?
“That’s got to be tough. For you I mean. For her too, when you think about it. And it’s really okay that we’re out like this? I don’t want to cause any kind of trouble for you.”
“No trouble at all.”
She smiled then. “Okay. Then this is the part where I say I like you, Jake Talley. You intrigue me.”
“Can I take you out for dinner then?”
Her smile flashed even brighter. “That would be a definite yes. I have to confess it’s been a really long time since I’ve done anything like this. I broke up with my boyfriend over a year ago. Let’s just say that trying to meet new people when I’m only in a place for a few weeks at a time is a… challenge. You know what I mean?”
It took me a second to process what she said. She broke up with her boyfriend a year ago. She hadn’t been on a date since.
Which probably meant she was as hard up as I was.
“I’m sorry,” she chuckled and then reached for my hand again. I liked that she kept touching me. “Oh my gosh, did that seem forward of me? I didn’t mean to be so…blunt.”
“No, that’s fine. I get where you’re going.”
See? This was even better. Carol was NOT a virgin. She was like an anti-virgin. A sexy mature woman who I think was telling me I could tap that if I wanted to.
A man, who had been trapped like I had been in the stickiest situation imaginable for months, couldn’t have dreamed a better solution to the problem than Carol.
“You’re honest,” I said. “I like that. I’m looking forward to getting to know you. Taking our time.”
I turned my hand and our fingers linked together. I didn’t think about how odd it looked. I was making sure I was on full charm.
She smiled. “Time, huh? Let me guess, you’re a guy who wants to be wooed.”
I smiled at the word. “I do like to be wooed. Possibly even seduced.”
“Seduced? Oh, now I get it. You don’t put out for just anyone.”
“Only when I like someone.”
It was the truth. Carol wasn’t going stay in town permanently, but she was going to be here for a while. So this wasn’t like my one-and-done weekend to Missoula. This could be a nice little affair for a couple of weeks. If that was going to be the case, we didn’t have to rush anything.
“Okay. Fair enough. I like that you want to take things slow. It’s very old fashioned of you.”
“Not too slow,” I said. “I don’t want you to think I’m a tease.”
“Thank God!”
We finished our lunch and I gave her a small peck on the cheek. Again, no need to rush anything. I told her I would need to check and see what the best night was for dinner. She was heading back to her aunt’s. It occurred to me I hadn’t thought to ask who that was. A town this small and I probably knew the woman.
I needed to head over to the post office before heading back to the ranch, so I left the truck at Frank’s and walked on foot.
