Page 36 of The Mating Frenzy
Oh. Him. She’d almost forgotten. Well, at least Kieran would behere.
The doorbell rang. Excitement pulsed through her.He’s here.She felt giddy as a schoolgirl with acrush.
Kieran stood on the landing, a bottle of wine in one hand, a bouquet of daisies in the other. In his black turtleneck, neatly pressed jeans, hiking boots and black leather jacket, he looked dreamy beyond her imagination. Her female parts sang withjoy.
Yes, yes, come upstairs and let’s getfamiliar.
Ella swallowed the sudden surge of pure lust, and brought him inside. He handed her the daisies. “Foryou.”
She buried her nose into the bouquet. “Thankyou.”
“I brought the white wine youenjoy.”
She took the bottle from him. As their fingers touched, a current of sexual arousal jumped between them. Ella squeezed her legs together and smiled, though inside she felt like dropping everything and jumpinghim.
Kieran’s eyes darkened. But he only shrugged out of his jacket and hung it on the coat rack by thedoor.
Remembering her manners, she nodded toward the kitchen. “Come meet mymom.”
As she placed the flowers in an old glass pitcher filled with water, he shook hands with her mother. Kieran asked if he could help with dinner and then insisted on sitting at the kitchen table when they told him they didn’t need help withpreparations.
He asked Nellie all manner of questions about her life. And he listened to a long story about her younger days. Fist resting on his chin, he paid closeattention.
Nellie glanced at the frying pan clock hanging on the wall. She’d purchased it at a flea market last year. “I don’t know where Stan is. It’s almost 6:45.”
“If we’re lucky, he’s dropped off the face of the earth,” Ella muttered. “Let’s eat withouthim.”
“I am hungry,” Kieranadded.
Ever the hostess, Nellie agreed. Ella helped bring the dishes to the table as Kieran carried the roast. His nostrilsflared.
“This smells like heaven, Mrs. Princeton. Rare and the right amount of spices. Thank you for all your hard work in preparing thismeal.”
And look at that, her mom blushed, twisting her hands together and stammering that it wasnothing.
Ella actually relaxed when they started eating. Kieran ate with impeccable manners. Patted his sensual mouth with a napkin. Made light conversation, asking her mother about the house, praising themeal.
And then he got her to open up about her days before Ella was born, when she used to dance at the local theater. It was fun, listening to her mother talk about the musicals she’d performed in, the shows she’d done. Kieran joked that he could not dance for the life of him and Nellie shot back that she could teachhim.
The joking between them made Ella laugh. With a start, she realized she hadn’t done that in more than ayear.
Neither hadNellie.
When did we get so absorbed in simply trying to survive that we forgot to havefun?
At one point, Nellie got up and went to the sideboard holding the liquor bottles. The liquor had always been for guests. Since Dad died, her mother never drank. Now Nellie gave Kieran a girlish smile. “Care for a little brandy? It’s special brandy I keep for my specialguests.”
Kieran’s gaze flicked to Ella. “Ah. No, thank you. Ella, do you drinkbrandy?”
She made a face. “Never. I like only wine and sometimesbeer.”
“Good,” hemurmured.
When Nellie vanished upstairs to find photos of her theater days, Ella smiled at Kieran. “Thanks for dragging Mom out of hershell.”
“Your mother is mostentertaining.”
Kieran sipped his water and patted his lips with the napkin. Ella studiedhim.
