Chapter 2: Flirting With Danger

Sometime later that evening as she helps the girls with the dishes, she lets her thoughts wander off to what happened with him and to that warm touch as the rock-hard body pressed against hers. Realizing that she must have a smile on her face, her oldest daughter Jaime smirks and then says sarcastically, “Mom, you are really happy tonight.”

“I sure am, I am lucky to have you two.” She says quickly before turning and hugging them both, so she never suspects anything.

“Now, what is she going to do about that little situation she got herself into earlier? What did Grayson mean when he said he was really close to Carrie? Were they just friends? Or were they lovers?” She finds herself wondering as she puts the kids to bed and then settles down for the evening.

The next day she goes back over to the new house to unpack some more things. As she does, she finds herself absent mindedly staring out the window, across the street. “No such luck! He’s not home right now.” She murmurs under her breath while pouting.

She was kind of hoping that they could finish what they had started yesterday. While wondering where it would have led, she starts to feel that warmth between her legs and that familiar ache. It has been such a long time since she had sex, that she had almost forgotten what it felt like to be touched by a man.

Cocking her head, she states, “Grayson does seem to be a deeply passionate man.”

Later, just as she is about to get in the car and pick up the kids, she notices him pull in his driveway slowly, but of course she must go. Sighing, she gets in her car and as she backs out of the driveway their eyes meet. Smiling, she waves goodbye, and then speeds off to retrieve the children from school regretfully.

When Kelly pulls up, she realizes that she has arrived right before the bell rings. First, out comes Lilly, then Jaime soon after with a smile on her face. They shove each other as they reach the car, trying to push in first. Finally, Jaime gets in the front and Lilly in the back seat. When Kelly turns to them, she asks cheerfully, “Do you guys feel up to pizza?”

When they both chime in yes, she picks up the pizza before they go home and eat. Of course, Kelly cleans up after everyone, then they all sit down for a movie.

Turning to them, Kelly asks softly, “Did you two have any homework? If so, make sure you get it done afterwards.”

Lilly and Jaime both shake their heads no and continue watching. As the evening passes on, the movie ends, and the children go to their rooms. A few hours later, they head off to bed and then the house becomes eerily silent.

As she starts getting ready for bed, she thinks about how Grayson got back right before she had to leave. It makes her wonder if he is trying to avoid her, so she begins to think to herself, “Perhaps he just had a busy day too. Maybe not. Why should I care what he does? It wasn’t a date. Just a kiss.” As it is it still makes it hard for her to sleep through the night.

The next morning, she drives over to the house early in hopes that she can get a lot of work done. After all, she just wants to officially move in and sell the old house. It will make things so much easier after she only has one house to worry about. So, she starts moving things and unpacking while dancing to music happily.

She works so hard that she does not even notice Grayson knock at the door a while later. Not hearing him at first, he knocks again. When she finally hears him, she briefly stops to open the door and becomes surprised as he stands there. As she does, she notices him smiling and holding a package of cookies.

“Hey, can I come in, I brought chocolate chip cookies, and you look like you really could use some help.” He asks before he grins seductively and licks his lips.

Kelly nods, and then lets him in before they both go over to the old white hard wood table and sit down. As he puts the cookies down carefully, he opens the package and gestures for her to take one. Inspecting them, she notices that they are mint chocolate chip cookies.

The aroma makes her mouth water and her stomach growl. She accepts graciously because she had no idea exactly how hungry she was and then enjoys every bite of it. As they sit there, staring at each other silently, he does the same.

Suddenly, he proceeds to ask with a big smile on his face as he wipes his hands off and looks expectantly at her, “What can I do?”

Smiling, she thinks about this for a minute, before she points and then asks, “Do you see those boxes over there? Will you take those to the corresponding rooms marked on them?”

Before answering breathlessly, he takes a long look down her sundress and then up again, “Yeah, of course. No problem.”

While he is taking care of the boxes around the house, she sets up the rest of the kitchen. It takes a while, but after it is all put away, she suggests to him to sit down for a few minutes back at the table. She grabs a couple of tall, fluted glasses and a glass pitcher of fresh pink lemonade, before pouring a glass for each of them and relaxing to drink it.

As he stares at her and enjoys it, he pauses to ask softly, “So, I bet you didn’t realize that you had so much stuff, did you?”

She laughs and then replies, “No, I didn’t. Then again, when you have children, they tend to complicate everything.”

Afterwards, they both laugh and sit back in their chairs to relax. Feeling a bit uncomfortable about the situation, she stares at her glass and glances over at him before she catches him watching her.

Laughing, she finishes her drink as she looks over and notices that the day has escaped them. Right before the clock strikes 3 pm, the door opens and the girls race in, yelling. “Mom, what’s for supper?”

She had arranged for her sister to pick up the kids after school. It was the one day her sister did not have to work the night shift and she sure was happy it all worked out exactly right.

Turning to Grayson, Kelly asks expectantly, “Do you want to stay for dinner?”

“That would be wonderful!” He exclaims as his face lights up when he smiles.

“It will give me a chance to meet my other new neighbors.” He adds as he smiles at the girls and waves at them. “So, who are these pretty ladies? I’m Grayson your neighbor right across the road.”

Lilly and Jaime smile but act shy before they glance at each other quickly and then hide behind Samantha. “This is Jaime my oldest, Lilly my little one and Samantha my sister is over there.” She states while pointing to Samantha as she waves.

Kelly starts to get out some things for dinner as Samantha and the girls go in the living room. She wonders where Grayson went when he appears at her side and states softly, “I have been told that I am a really good cook. You will have to let me know what you think.”

She turns to him and smiles before saying happily, “Why don’t we find out. Even if you can’t cook at all, it must be better than some of the meals I make.”

They stare at each other in silence for a few minutes, then she elbows him in the arm playfully before he begins to stir the spaghetti sauce, adding herbs and other ingredients while she cooks the noodles.

Once supper is ready, they sit down to eat. Simultaneously, everyone agrees that the spaghetti tastes wonderful. “Grayson, is this a natural talent or have you taken lessons?” Kelly asks before she licks a finger that has spaghetti sauce on it.

While watching her put her finger in her mouth hungrily, he secretly wishes it was him before he replies, “I have never taken a lesson in my life. My mom did not know how to cook, she burned water. So, if I wanted more to eat then mac and cheese, I had to make it myself. It has just always come to me naturally. I love to cook.”

Samantha laughs, “Well, you can really tell. The flavors all melt together and make your mouth ask for more. It is like a bomb went off in my mouth. A delicious bomb at that. Matter of fact, I wouldn’t mind having wonderful meals every day. Are you married? I am available.”

He smiles at Samantha before stating, “No I have never been married. Although, I believe that once you find something you want, you should grab it and never let go.”

His gaze drifts off to Kelly as Samantha watches. Understanding what is going on she finishes her food quietly and leaves it alone.

After dinner, everyone else moves into various rooms of the house to leave Grayson and Kelly stare at each other across the table. When he starts to pick up his plate, he asks thoughtfully, “Hey, why don’t I help you clean up this mess? After that I must get going, so I can get my project done.”

As she looks at him with desire in her eyes, she replies quickly, “Sure, thanks for everything. You have been such a big help today.”

Moving into the kitchen, she feels him next to her and his lips brush lightly over her cheek as he flirts with her shamelessly. “It is really no problem.” He says in a matter-of-fact tone of voice as she steps to the side and starts to do the dishes.

Once everything is cleaned up, he walks to the door and says sadly, “Goodbye, it was nice meeting you all.”

Looking up at him, she hesitates but then says, “Hold on a minute, I will walk you out.”

Hurrying, she meets him at the door as he waits for her. After they walk outside, she grabs his hand and pulls him over to the side of the house quickly, before kissing him hungrily. As soon as their bodies touch, she aches for him and whispers in his ear breathlessly, “I wish you had more time. I would like to finish what we started earlier.”

Knowingly, she flirts with danger by smiling at him as she starts to head for the door, but he doesn’t let her leave. Instead, he pulls her back into his warm, inviting, arms and then whispers in her ear, “That would take way more time than we currently have, but I will make sure that we continue this another day very soon.”

Afterwards, he says this, he kisses her passionately and then returns across the road before he looks back at her one last time. That night, Kelly has a really hard time sleeping.

Kelly keeps having dreams about something under her covers trying to get her. Sitting up several times, she decides that she is thirsty, so she finally ends up in the kitchen. As she walks sleepily towards the fridge, she notices something quite odd out of the corner of her eye. Seeing a strange shadow by the window, she turns around quickly and watches it disappear. She stops dead in her tracks, when she realizes that it moved as if it had a life of its own, so her heart begins to pound out of her chest.

A few minutes later, she finally calms down, then she opens the refrigerator to get some milk. As she retrieves a short glass from the cupboard, she hears a noise. Once again, she turns and sees nothing, but she just feels as if someone is staring at her. This time, when she looks down, she sees goosebumps on her arms and her heart starts beating crazy again.

Not knowing what is going on, she tries to calm down again, so she sits at the table and pours herself a cup of milk, takes a sip and then gets up to put the gallon back. By the time, she walks back to the table, the glass has moved mysteriously.

“Surely there must be someone messing with her.” She thinks to herself as she looks around but cannot find anyone in the kitchen with her. After looking around a little while longer, she returns to the table and finishes her milk slowly, half expecting to see something move again. On the way back to bed, she looks in on each of her children as they sleep, then she checks all the doors and the windows. Sighing, she murmurs under her breath, “Thank goodness.”

Relieved that they are all locked, she goes back to bed.