Imperfections (33 page)

"I seem to remember you loving every minute of it. Would you like me to remind you in real time, live and in color?"

"No, my memories are very vivid."

I frown to show my disappointment. "That's a shame; I was more than ready, willing, and able to perform that task for you—" I lean back and spread my hands down across the desk,"—with a little assistance of course."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you but you won't be getting any assistance from me until I'm properly attired."

"I've already taken care of it. When you were in the shower there was a delivery for you."

"How could there be a delivery for me? I didn't order anything and no one knows I'm here."

"I like to think ahead. Go into the living room." She turns around suspiciously. "Go ahead." I follow her into the room. Four bags are lined up against the window. She looks over her shoulder at me, kneels down in front of the bags and looks through them.

"Did I do good?" I ask.

"Yes, you did. You took a risk, what if I didn't like these clothes?"

"Your style has changed but underneath you're still a jeans and tank top kinda girl. Besides, I have great taste in clothes; even better when it comes to knowing what my woman looks good in," I tell her and she rolls her eyes at me. "As much as I would enjoy watching you walk around here naked all day I figured you might object to that."

"You figured right. Did you figure on underwear too?"

"Yes, but I don't know why you would need it."

"I would rather my crotch not be rubbed off raw in my jeans."

"That would be a good reason."

"There better not be all thongs in this bag. I do not want to walk around all day with a piece of string stuck up my ass like a super wedgie, that's not my idea of comfortable."

"When you put it like that no, it doesn't sound too comfortable."

"I'm not opposed to wearing a thong when the situation calls for it or going commando."

"Good to know. Don't worry, there is an assortment of every kind of underwear in there."

"I'll be back. I'm going to see if your fashion sense is as good as you think it is." She picks up the bags, walks in front of me and stops. "Shoes, you didn't think of that, did you?"

"They're in the room by the closet."

"You thought of everything, didn't you?"

"I like to be prepared."

"Of course you do."

When she comes back I'm very pleased. She's wearing black leggings, a fitted burgundy sweater and wedge boots with fur around the ankles.

"How do I look?"

"I approve."

"I knew you would."

"You found the blow dryer?" Looking at her hair I can tell she did.

"Thank goodness I did. My hair was starting to look like a frizzy curly kit."

"I like your hair natural, it reminds me of the first time I ever saw you. You look cute when it's like that."

"When you're a little girl it's cute, when you're an adult you can't rock that look without a lot of products to tame it."

"I'll take your word for it. I know how women are about their hair."

She sits facing me on the couch. I put my phone down and face her. "What do you want to do today?"

"I don't know, what do you want to do?"

My eyes travel to her lips all the way down her body back up to her warm brown eyes. I give her a wicked smile.

"Besides that."

"This outfit you have on makes you look like a ski bunny slash figure skater."

"I was thinking the same thing when I looked in the mirror."

"Then to Rockefeller center we go."

"For what?"

"We can't let this outfit go to waste, we're going ice skating."

"No, we're not! I haven't ice skated in years!"

"So?"

"So I don't want to fall flat on my ass."

"Don't worry, if you fall, I'll catch you. It'll be fun."

"Fun for who?"

"It's like riding a bike, once you know how you never forget."

"What if someone sees us together?"

"Like who? We're skating, not having sex on the ice."

"I'm supposed to be spending the weekend with my friend."

"And you are. Two old friends who happen to be in the same place at the same time."

"What a coincidence," she says sarcastically.

"Yes, it is. Is there some written law that says you can't be seen in public with me?"

"No."

"Then case closed, let's go."

I grab her hand pulling her off the couch; we put on our jackets at the door. Cat says to me with her hand on the door, "You didn't think of everything, Mr. I like to be prepared." She holds her hands up and points at her head. "No hat or gloves."

She keeps doubting me. I hold my index finger up for her to wait. I walk back in the room, come back out and hand her a white knitted hat and a matching pair of gloves to match her scarf. "I told you, I like to be prepared."

Cat reaches up on her tip toes, grabs me by the front of my coat and kisses me on the lips between each word with a smile. "Yes, you, do."

She lets go of me and races out the door before I can grab her back inside and kiss her senseless. Hopefully the rest of the day is this good.

"So are you ready?"

"Hell no!" she says, her arms wrapped tightly around my wind pipe.

"Cat, you're starting to choke me and people are looking."

"I should have never listened to you. I told you this would happen."

"You're overreacting; we didn't even get out on the ice yet. Stop being a big baby."

"Oh shut up, I am not!"

"Really! Look at the little kids skating around the rink. That one can't be more than three.  Now, let go and put your damn foot on the ice." If I didn't know it was going to upset her even more, I would laugh. Too funny!

"Fine, fine, fine! Are you laughing at me, Nick?"

"Who, me? Nooo. Why would I laugh at a grown-ass woman who's afraid of a piece of ice?"

"If this grown-ass woman falls and busts her ass, I'm taking your ass down with me!"

This time I can't help but laugh. This is like when we were kids. I shouldn't have done that, when she gets both feet on the ice she purposefully yanks on my arm pulling us both down ass first on the ice. "Ow! What did you do that for?"

"Next time you'll think twice before laughing at me, you big baby."

"I'm going to get you," I say, scrambling across the ice to get her.

We probably looked like two fools on the ice, it was comical. Cat scrambling to get up on the bars across the ice and me chasing after her, hands flailing in the air until I finally catch up to her. I grab on to her coat by the waist out of breath as much as I am, we fall back against the railing while other skaters fly by looking at us.

"You were right, this is fun."

"I told you, now that you've made a spectacle of both of us, do you want to tone it down and let me show you how to skate?"

"Well, I guess so since I wasn't the only one out here making a fool of myself."

"When are you going to start believing me? If you look like a fool, then I'm going to look like a fool. I'm always going to be by your side."

We skate for a while before we are so tired and cold we can't skate anymore. She wasn't too bad. Eventually she let go of the bar but she wouldn't move more than an inch away from it. She's cute in her red pea coat and white accessories. We sit on the benches and I help her take off her skates. She is so relaxed she forgets about someone we know seeing us. She lets me put my arms around her to keep her warm while we stand watching people skate.

"You okay?" I say to her.

"Yeah. I love it out here, all the lights, the decorations, people happy. The only thing that's missing is the Christmas tree, which will go up in about two weeks."

"It's nice, festive. Gives you that holiday feeling."

"That's why I love this time of year."

"I know you do, but I haven't heard you talk about the holidays or your birthday. Why is that?"

"I don't know."

"You used to get ready for Christmas before Thanksgiving with your arsenal of decorations. It was like Christmas threw up in your house."

"My mother wasn't too happy about all my decorations taking over her house. My dad would tell her to leave me alone it was only once a year. He would say, 'tis the season to be festive.' My dad."

"What happened this year, I would think you would go all out?"

"My mother and Sophie can handle it, they did fine without me. I'm sure the house will be nicely decorated under my mother's instructions. Too many cooks in the kitchen is never good."

I kiss the top of her head and we go inside the café to get a cup of hot chocolate and a table.

"One year when I was a little girl my father came to my school to pick me up early. I asked him where we were going and he said anywhere I wanted, it was my special day."

"Why was it special?"

"As you know my birthday is on Christmas Day, he never got to spend much time with me because it was a busy day, with my mother's Christmas dinner and the parties they went to after we all had dinner together. We went ice skating right here. It's amazing how big things seem when you're a little kid. I loved everything about it. The Christmas tree was my favorite part of course."

"Of course." I put my cup on the table and watch her move the hot cup in her hands.

"We skated for hours. I was freezing but I didn't care, I was having so much fun with my daddy. He held my hand the whole time. He said, 'baby girl, don't worry I have you, I'm not going to let anything bad ever happen to you.' He told me he had a special surprise for me when we were finished. He took me to radio city to see Disney on Ice. I loved every minute of it. That was one of the best birthday memories I have. Me and my daddy. Sometimes I wish I could be a little girl again. Christmas through the eyes of a kid is wonderful. I guess soon you'll know what that's like?"

I look down at the table and run my fingers over hers. "Maybe." I look back up at her and she pulls her hand away from me to take a sip of her chocolate.

Putting her cup down she asks, "Ready to go?"

"I'm going to go to the bathroom before we leave," I tell her. I end up staying in the bathroom longer than I thought—on the phone. When I get back I see her talking to some guy. She's laughing at whatever he said and he's smiling like an idiot. I walk up and look at her ignoring the dude sitting in my spot. "Are you ready?"

"Nick, this is Ryan."

I barely look at him when he gets up out of my seat smiling. I nod my head toward him. "Hey."

"Hey, it's nice to meet you, Nick, is it?" He extends his hand and I ignore it. His smile falters and he puts his hand down.

Cat sees the look on my face and the whatever-look on his. She knows that's the only word I'm going to say to this guy.

"It was nice to meet you, Ryan, bye." She gets up, standing next to me.

"Maybe I'll see you again?" Douche says, looking at her.

This guy is pissing me off. I turn my head and look at him. "Trust me, you won't," I say in my calmest voice grabbing Cat's hand and leading her out the door, leaving him to look at our backs when we walk out, together.

"What the hell, Nick?"

"What the hell were you doing talking to that guy? What was with all the smiling and laughing? I go to the bathroom and you decide to entertain a random stranger like you're at a private dinner party for two."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"I was sitting there by myself for almost twenty minutes. I told him I was waiting for my friend to come back. He wasn't trying to pick me up."

"Yet. He was waiting to see what I looked like. He changed his mind after he saw me."

"Oh brother, where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

"I do not need one of those. I've had enough surprises to last me a lifetime."

"You'll like this surprise. Let's call it a trip down memory lane, a happy trip."

She looks at me skeptically but I know this will bring back good memories for her. I was right, when we stand in front of the building her face lights up with her pretty smile.

"I can't believe this. You got us tickets to Disney on Ice?"

"After you told me about you and your father I decided why not recreate one of your favorite days. This way, when you think about it, I can be a part of it."

"Are you sure you want to see it?"

"Of course I do, if it makes you happy and I'm the one who gets to put that smile on your face. Besides, I think Minnie is sexy as hell, I think I could give Mickey some competition."

"Minnie would never leave Mickey for a guy whose head was bigger than his and getting bigger every day." She smiles up at me.

After the show we go to a pizza shop not too far from my place. We decide to walk back to my place and she lets me hold her hand all the way back. It feels good when you can openly show your affections for the person you care about.

"Thank you for today. I had fun."

I open the door for her and we take the elevator up and I pull her up against me.

"The day's not over yet." I hold her chin up and do what I've been dying to do since we left. I kiss her bottom lip and run the tip of my tongue across it. Damn, I love the way she tastes and I love it when she returns my kisses the same way I give them to her. My hands move down to the small of her back. She moans when my tongue finds its way into her mouth. I press her up against the elevator wall just when it stops and the doors slide open. Pressing my arousal into her stomach, my hand goes down to her thighs underneath her coat. I cup her ass and she puts her hands on the sides of my face and sucks my tongue deeper into her mouth.