Summer Days

Chapter 14, part 2

We headed in after lunch, settling in the living room... he was checking something or other on his iPad and I settled with my Kindle, figuring if he was this relaxed about things then so was I. We clearly had plenty of time before we needed to go to the Opera.

I glanced up, blinking at the fact that he'd settled right next to me on the couch, he smiled and shifted even closer, moving my legs over his lap... like all the boys did, so that while I was still sitting on the couch, I was mostly on his lap as well.

I smiled. "Lonely my love?" I smirked at him.

He chuckled. "Something like that." He commented before we both fell into easy silence, just sharing space. I lost track of time at that point, he squeezed my ankle to get my attention form where I was gazing in almost a trance at my kindle. "Time to get ready if we're going to make our reservation before the opera." He said. "Go ahead and get ready in the master bathroom." He said, letting me swing my legs off of his lap.

"You're sure I have enough time?"

"Of course." He nodded a small nod at me and I smiled, bending down briefly to steal a quick kiss before I headed upstairs to his room and quickly gathered everything I needed.

~~

I almost was laughing myself silly on the way to dinner.

My hair had been twisted up into the up do that Gabriel had showed me last night and I was quite pleased that my make-up looked exactly as he'd told me to do it too. Owen had been very much speechless when I met him downstairs, his gaze sweeping me at least twice as he tried to find words to express his appreciation.

My dress was maroon and looked very classic, slightly high neckline but the back had a large cut out and when I turned to walk in front of him on my black heels, clutching my silver clutch purse, I'd heard his sudden gasp and I looked over my shoulder at him.

"You're amazing." He finally found something to say. "And even more beautiful than last night."

I smiled softly at him and reached my hand back for his as we headed out to the car he'd hired for the night. "Thank you my love."

He waited for me to get in the car first and settled again rather closer to me, his arm around me.

Needless to say, I very much enjoyed the ride into downtown Charleston to the Opera House.

Just couldn't stop giggling at how much of my lip-gloss was on his face and I quickly wiped it off of him and reapplied more to my lips.

~~

The opera, much like the movies last night, was fascinating.

I was happy to find that I didn't have a hard time following the story line and marveled instead at the singing talent displayed. We talked about it as we went a few doors down from the Opera House for dessert.

I definitely, enjoyed dessert. There's just something about chocolate cake that makes everything be about as perfect as it can be.

Wanting to be sophisticated, I had regular coffee and Owen was busy trying to keep himself composed as he watched me try the coffee the way he liked his. I'm sure the look of distaste that appeared on my face would keep him amused for ... oh, probably years.

He pushed the sugar and cream towards me. "Just keep adding... You'll get it fixed the way you can drink it soon."

He wasn't wrong about that.

It just took about 5 more sugars and the entire rest of the cream in the container before I could handle it.

"So... six sugars and ..." He peered into my cup. "Enough cream to make it look like pale chocolate milk?" He teased.

"Whatever..." I rolled my eyes at him. "You can't be serious in that you've always liked your coffee with one sugar and just a bit of cream." I said.

He shrugged before smirking. "True, but that honestly just explains the fact that most of the time I prefer tea."

I laughed and ate more of my cake before trying some of his crème brulee, finding that I liked that just as much.

He paid and helped me out of my chair when he saw me yawn. "Time for us to head home then..."

"I really did enjoy myself." I said as he slid his hand down my spine to rest at the base of it, the warmth of his hand warming the skin there that was exposed by the cut out of my dress. I shivered once as we went out the door, not really because I was cold but more from anticipation and the idea that I couldn't hardly seem to get enough of him now that we were unrestricted by the bonds of teacher and student.

"Are you cold, darling?" He asked, not waiting for an answer before he shrugged out of his suit coat and draped it around my shoulders before claiming me back again, pulling me into his side as we walked.

"I'm certainly not cold now." I said softly, smiling up at him when he looked down at him, his head tilted towards mine as we walked. He smiled back as we approached the car, waiting again for me to get in before he joined me in the backseat.