“That’s a great neighborhood. I love the North End.”
“At least it’s Italian. Mama will be happy. A lot of younger people are moving there now, so I’ll be happy too.”
“We’ll have to try out some of the restaurants in the area.”
Yay! Second date talk. “I’d like that.” She couldn’t help smiling.
“So, tell me about the apartment.”
“It’s small. Tiny, really.”
“A studio?”
“No. One bedroom. I don’t think I could handle a bed in my living space.”
“I have a studio. The high ceilings make it feel bigger, and during the day I have more square footage because I built a Murphy bed in the corner.”
“That’s the thing that folds up into the wall, right?”
“Exactly. And I built a desk into the underside so when I flip it up to put the bed away, I can simply unhook the desk and it folds down.”
“You sound pretty handy.”
“I like to work with my hands.”
I hope you do more than build furniture with them. “Let me see.” She turned his hand over so she was looking at his palm. Large, rough, oh yeah. I’ll bet those would feel good skimming all over me.
Putting on a fake Slavic accent, she said, “Let Madame Zola read you. Ah, I see you have a long lifeline.”
He laughed. “You have no idea.”
***
Drake had walked Bliss back to Claudia’s place. He accompanied her up the elevator, and then the inevitable, awkward first-date moment arrived. To kiss or not to kiss.
It was not their first kiss. She had gotten that out of the way when Drake emerged from her burning apartment building after rescuing her laptop. She hadn’t even thought about what she was doing. She’d just dragged his head down and planted her lips on his.
This time, all she did was open her mouth to tell him what a good time she’d had, and he pulled the same move. He dove for her lips, and at the same time he crushed her against his chest. Then he cupped her head and held her in place.
As if I might object and pull away. Ha!
Not about to protest, Bliss threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back just as enthusiastically. Drake’s tongue met and swirled with hers. Her mind had emptied itself of every thought. All she wanted to do was feel… until suddenly, her lips were on fire!
Bliss pulled away and sucked in a cool breath. She touched her lower lip and it tingled with heat. Drake’s chest was rising and falling, and he seemed to be panting.
“Good Lord, I’ve heard of hot kisses but that was something else,” Bliss said.
“I know. I felt it too.” Drake shifted uncomfortably, and Bliss wondered if he had something against hot, passionate kisses. Come to think of it, she’d thought “hot” was just a metaphor. Now she wondered about other words describing passion. Smoldering. Scorching. Sizzling. Searing. Every word romance novels used to convey desire seemed to begin with the letter S.
“I—uh, I’d better get home. Got an early day tomorrow.”
What just happened?
“But let me know when you’re moving,” he continued. “I’d be glad to help.”
Whew. He’s not blowing me off. In fact, offering to help someone move is the definition of a true friend, isn’t it? “Thanks. I might do that.” Yeah, I’ll definitely do that.
***
Bliss had another true friend. As soon as she walked into Claudia’s apartment, the willowy woman rushed out of her bedroom and hugged her.
“Guess what?”
Bliss had expected her to ask about the date, but apparently Claudia had exciting news of her own. “Jeez, did you win the lottery?”
“No, but you did!”
“Huh? He’s a great guy, but what are you telling me? Is he a Kennedy who changed his name or something?”
Claudia waved away her question. “No, I’m not talking about your date. I’ll get to that later. Listen, your mother called and said the apartment in the North End fell through.”
“Aw, shit. How is that like winning the lottery? Except for her?”
“I’m sorry. Listen, there’s more. You got turned down because you don’t have a job. They found out about your business going up in smoke and didn’t think you could afford the rent while rebuilding your whole portfolio for the competition.”
“Damn! I can’t get a job right now. If I don’t deliver the designs for the final taping in three weeks, I’ll lose and then I really won’t be able to afford rent, or anything else. Will you please get to the part about the lottery? Or do you just have a very skewed version of good news?”
“Listen, listen!” Claudia was practically jumping up and down. “I knew you’d be bummed out, so I called my boss and asked if he could use a part-timer in exchange for the apartment over the bar. The waitress who left last fall moved in with her boyfriend. Well, he’s her husband now, but in any case, there’s a room for you, if you want it. He rents the apartment to his employees at a drastically reduced rate. He usually requires the person to be a full-timer, but I pleaded your case.”