Page 75 of Love Me Carefully
“Why not?” he looked at her quizzically.
“I’m really tired, Leon.” She hoped that was enough to get rid of him, but soon found it wasn’t.
“I know.” He touched one of her braids. “This is new. I like it though.”
“Leon—”
“That’s right, you’re tired. You’re always tired after completing a wedding. That’s why you should let me take you home and rub your back or your feet. I know how that relaxes you.”
“No, thank you. I don’t really need a foot massage tonight. What I need is to go home and go to bed.”
“Leah, I really think we need to talk.” His tone was stern now, the look he was giving her of the barest tolerance.
Okay, now he was working on her nerves. She’d tried to politely refuse his offer, but now she’d have to match his tone and be more forceful. “What do we need to talk about? I thought we said enough the last time I saw you.”
“You said what you had to say, but you didn’t really give me much room to tell you how I felt.”
Damn.He was right, she hadn’t. And even though right now she could really care less, she felt that she at least owed him that much. “You’re right. You can follow me home.” But they needed to make it fast. She looked to Melinda and gestured towards the head table. “Can you handle the rest of this?” She gestured towards the head table.
“Sure, you go on home. You look tired.”
“Gee, thanks.” Leah rolled her eyes.
Leon motioned towards the door. “Shall we?”
“I guess so, since it seems I look so bad I’d better hurry out of sight. Just let me go to the bathroom first.” That hole in her stockings was bugging the hell out of her and as soon as she made it to the bathroom, they quickly made it to the trash can, and then she was on her way.
Leon walked her to her car, and she waited until she saw his truck in her rearview mirror before she pulled out of her parking spot. He followed her through the dwindling traffic and parked behind her in the parking lot of her building. On the ride over she’d planned to make this short and sweet. She’d give Leon a chance to have his say, then she’d say goodnight and grab a quick shower before Terrell arrived.
“Where’s your key?” he asked when they were at the door.
“Oh?” She checked her skirt’s side pocket, the small bag she carried with all her miscellaneous stuff in it, then fumbled through her purse until she felt the metal against her fingers and pulled out the crowded key ring.
“Are all these keys necessary?” He took the noisy contraption into his hand.
Leah hunched her shoulders. “I don’t know, I guess so.”
Leon pushed the door open and stood to the side while she entered the apartment. He handed her keys back to her and she flicked on the light in the living room. Crossing to the armchair, she plopped down and closed her eyes. “Whew! This has been a long day.”
She could hear Leon moving around, and wondered if he’d noticed that she’d purposely taken the chair meant for one person, leaving him no opportunity to sit next to her. She opened her eyes when she felt him lifting her legs to rest on his thighs. He’d taken a seat on the edge of her coffee table, and was now removing her shoes.
His strong hands carefully massaged each foot. Leah moaned with pleasure. She had been running non-stop since returning from her trip. Between the wedding and spending time with Terrell she was beat. Leon was right, she probably did look like she was dead on her feet.
“Better?” he asked.
She’d been so focused on the soothing effects of the foot massage that she’d almost forgotten the person ministering to her wasn’t Terrell. Abruptly, she pulled her feet down. “Much. Now you had something you wanted to say to me.”
“I’ve missed you in the last couple of weeks. You haven’t returned my calls and I haven’t seen you around.” Leon looked at her earnestly.
Leah hated that she didn’t share his feelings, hated that before their time tonight was concluded she’d have to tell him she was seeing someone else. “I know. A lot’s been going on.” That was an understatement.
“So I was wondering if you’d like to get away. Just to get some rest. We could take a trip or something?” he asked hopefully.
“Ah, Leon, I, um, I don’t think that’s such a good idea. You see, I’m kind of seeing someone right now.”
For a moment he looked startled. Then his dark eyes settled on her with a piercing glare.
“I see. So that’s why you couldn’t go any further with me?”
