You were whole heartedly confused by all of the flirty antics. You put your hands on either side of her body allowing yourself to stand once more. You turn around to unhook her legs and you hear her sigh dramatically. You let out a small laugh.
"Are you gonna walk in that or do you wanna borrow something?" you ask her while waving your hand in the direction of your closet area.
"I could definitely wear something else if you don't mind," she responded while pulling on the edge of her light pink blazer.
"Help yourself to whatever you like! I'm gonna throw some stuff together for Blue for our walk," you tell her, sauntering out of the bedroom door.
You grab the pet water bottle that you use for Blue and fill it up with cold water in the sink. When you turn back around, you accidentally catch a glimpse of Cate's reflection. The door remained halfway open upon your exit and you could see into the full length mirror. She was sliding on a pair of your white, cropped Nike sweatpants. You watched as the material glided up her long, muscular legs. You then see her begin to unbutton her undershirt and that is when you force yourself to look away.
God, you don't know what has gotten into you. You had to take your hand and physically wave the air towards you to try to cool yourself off.
She cannot feel the same way about you.
You hear the door creak open and so you try to make yourself look busy by tightening the already fastened lid of the dog's water bottle. When you look up, notice she had thrown on the matching oversized sweatshirt.
Even all covered up, she looked absolutely radiant. Her stunning blonde hair was thrown up in a messy bun and sun glasses rested on her nose, unfortunately covering her glorious orbs.
She must've caught you staring, as she asked, "Are you ready, darling?"
"Yes ma'am," you say dragging out and emphasizing the second word.
"You make me feel old calling me that," she tells you with a slight laugh.
"You can take the girl out of the country, but you cannot take the country out of the girl, ma'am," you inform her. "It's a respect thing, honey. You're just gonna have to get used to it."
You wink at her as you say this, upturning her lips once more. You then grab Blue by the collar and hook her leash.
"Let's go!" you proclaim with a beaming smile.
You walk ahead of her towards the door and she follows closely behind with Blue leading the way. You open your front door and exit it, moving off to the side as you get through the doorway. Cate proceeds to exit as well but doesn't move when you go to reach for the door handle. She is certainly in a playful mood as you have to reach around her right side to pull the door shut, leaving your faces just inches from one another.
The tension was unreal.
You pulled back after shutting the door, still leaving your hand on the knob, and whispered, "Excuse me, ma'am."
You slowly pull your hand away from the door and delicately, enticingly, brush the entire length of your arm, all the way down to your fingertips, across her own upper limb.
You then turned around dramatically, not letting yourself catch her facial expression. If this was a game, you were definitely winning...for now at least.
You proceeded to walk and talk about life. You don't necessarily love to speak about your personal life with how fucked up it feels, so you let Cate talk as much as she wanted to.
She told you that she had four kids with her now ex-husband Andrew, and she even spoke on some of the issues that led to their split. In times where you felt she was struggling to continue on, you would graze your hand over the small of her back or give her a soft smile of encouragement.
You didn't know why she trusted you so much. I mean, you met barely a day ago, and she's the overwhelmingly successful and talented human being. But for some reason, it was if she was drawn to you. You. Of all people, you.
It wasn't until she asked you about your home life and upbringing that you wanted to hide away.
"I think I've talked myself to death. Please, tell me about you, my love," she said with a smile.
You physically felt yourself get anxious. You swallowed the lump in your throat and would've done anything at that point to run, both figuratively and literally.
"Are you okay?" she asked, taking hold of your swaying hand, and peering in your direction.
"Um, yeah. No, I'm fine.." you told her as you looked down at your now trudging feet.
"You don't have to if you don't want to. I get it, family, home, it's complicated."
She spoke to you as if she could read every thought in your head.
"I want to...I promise. I just don't know where to start," you respond shyly. You were partially lying to cover up any doubts she had in her mind regarding your lack of speech.
You still see her gazing at you out of the corner of your eye.
"Well...how about...where did you grow up?" she carefully chose a more narrow subject to fill the conversation.
She was still holding your hand, lightly squeezing it to ensure you that it was going to be okay.
"A little middle of nowhere town in Ohio. On a farm, to be exact. Well...kind of. My parents divorced when I was a teenager, and so I lived with my mom in an apartment, visiting my dad seemingly only on special occasions." You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding in.
You noticed that she returned to face the sidewalk in front of her, letting go of your hand as well.
You got nervous, unsure of what caused her sudden change in physical position.
"Did I say something...?" you say out loud, drawing her attention directly back to you.
"What? No darling...it's just that 'd' word is still a little fresh that's all. I apologize," she confesses.
You felt insecure all of the sudden, ready to not speak another word in fear of upsetting her.
She notices your change in demeanor. Of course.
She brings her sunglasses to the top of her head and takes a hold of your hand once more. Although this time it was rather forceful, showing true intent as she entangled her fingers with yours.
She encouraged you to keep going. You didn't dare touch the subject of your mom's death, or your sexual assault, skating around the topics altogether with.
After nearly two hours of getting to know each other, Cate informs you that she sadly has to return to work. She didn't say what she was working on, but when she spoke of the project, the gleam in her eyes told you everything you needed to know and more.
"Is there anyway that I could just wear this and return it later? It'd keep me from having to change again," she asks, motioning up and down the length of her body.
"Of course! I'm not worried about it. You owe me a second date anyway, so I can just get them then. We can do dinner at my place, that way you can get the rest of your things you left."
You answer her in an almost pleading manner, hoping she'd agree to your proposal.
"I'd like that very much, darling."
Just moments later, the black Escalade pulled up once more. Cate looked toward the vehicle and opened the back passenger door. She said something to the driver that you couldn't really make out. Cate then proceeded to walk back to where you were standing.
She spoke, asking, "Do you want me to drop you off?"
"No, no, no! We will be fine! Blue and I will make our way back soon," you insisted looking down at your pup.
"Are you sure?" she asked again.
"Yes ma'am," you slyly replied, winking at her before turning away and walking in the direction of your loft.
After about ten steps you look back over your shoulder to see Cate standing in the same spot.
Her arms were crossed over her bust and a slight smile creeped onto her face. You gave a small wave over your shoulder, simply bending your fingers at the knuckle, and upturning your lips, knowing that you were certainly beating Cate in your imaginary game.
You turned around once more, dying on the inside from both excitement and desire for the next time you are graced with the Aussie's presence.
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A/N
Hello all! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I know the story is building slowly, but I wanted to try to create some real tension between the characters. As always, let me know your thoughts! Xoxo