Aubrey (Revolving With Axis)

031:

I hurried to reassure him, I wasn't writing him off. His lips were so close, I just leaned across the counter and gave him a quick peck. "You're terribly animated and interesting, and I followed everything up till I started thinking about-- Cassie." I took his hands which he was leaning on. "And it was only for a second, really!"

He had this mock-serious expression on, and then broke into a smile, unable to hold the solemnity. "Who is Cassie?"

"My sister. The other black sheep."

"Um hm.... so are you sleepy? I think I am." It was well after midnight.

"Yeah." He took my hand, and like a dancer, twirled me around the counter, to wind up pressed to his chest. In a quick move onto sleek hardwood floors, he twirled me again, hummed a few bars of "The Way You look Tonight" and then sang in his best Sinatra impersonation-- which was unbelievably amazing, as we danced.

And it wasn't just a few beats, or a few measures, or a few anything. He kept singing, knowing all the words flawlessly, and how to sway and lead me, and actually dance. He bent me slightly back, twirled me expertly and brought me in close.

I loved-- literally-- loved the way our bodies melded to each other. It was the first time I'd ever been held like this by a guy. Most of my dates were-- well, honestly, at my age, they had been married and divorced, had some baggage, and weren't very romantic. They weren't very confident either, needing a lot of encouragement, and never knowing what I wanted, or needed. I almost always had to tell them. They never had to work for it.

Rafe was confident.

He was charismatic. He never took his eyes off me. And his gaze saw into my soul.

The dance ended, and he simply held me there, embracing softly. His touch was so gentle and so dramatic at the same time, that I don't even remember him leading me to bed.

He pulled back the covers on one side, and I got in and he wiped my almost dry hair back off my face and bent to kiss me. It was a sweet kiss, tender and unassuming. He twinked off the bedside lamp and then padded across the carpet toward the door on the other side of the bed. I was about to fall into a deeper sleep, thinking he'd gone to one of the kid's rooms, even convincing myself I'd heard the bedroom door click closed when the mattress jiggled and I felt the dip and sway of another body under the covers.

I could almost claim that I was befuddled. But I wasn't. I almost sat up. But then Rafe simply scooted closer, laid one arm around my middle the way he had that second night of ours and in seconds, he was snoring.

And I honestly didn't know what to say to myself.

There was nothing-- nothing to say.

I lay there another minute or two, and then finally decided to make the best of it.

I think I snore too.

*****