REBORN (Metamorphosis Book 1) (3 page)

"Regardless, I don’t know if this is a good idea."

"How will we find out unless we actually go out?  Besides, it's only dinner, and everyone has to eat."

He clinked his glass again to mine as if that settled the matter, and then went over to the couch and sat. I picked up the plate of fruit and cheese and followed him.  It seemed that I was not going to get rid of him that easily, not that I wanted to.

He sat in the middle of the soft beige L-shaped sofa facing sideways, leaving me no choice but to sit next to him.  His arm was draped on the back of the sofa, not quite touching me but close enough to tantalize me.  His fingers stretched in my direction, leaving me distracted.  Oh god, how I wanted to touch those fingers, to press them against my body.  I blushed when I realized where my mind was going and smiled to myself in amusement.  I found myself taking a deep calming breath again and holding onto my own hands in order to contain myself.

He seemed to move a centimeter closer, and my body began to respond to his.  His scent invaded my nostrils, connecting to parts of my body that had been asleep for more years than I cared to count.  I felt his fingers touch my nape ever so slightly, sending goose bumps down my arms.  His smile told me that he knew the effect his touch was having on me.  And then his hand was gone, leaving me lonely and needy and wanting to beg for more. 

He leaned forward, our gazes breaking for the first time, and grabbed a few grapes.  As he popped them into his mouth, I noticed a slight smirk.  He knew what he was doing, the bastard!

"So tell me about yourself, Ellie.  Where have you been the last two months?"  Is he trying to lighten the situation, really?

"How do you know I have been gone for the last two months?"  I was annoyed now.

"Security desk; I asked."

"Oh, I am going to have to have a conversation with them about that.  Part of the reason I moved into this building, in addition to the location and the view, was the security."  I was angry and I was going to let the front desk know that I was not pleased about them divulging my personal information.

"Its security is one of the best in the city, I can assure you.  Besides, it's not their fault; I can be very persuasive when I want to.  So tell me, who are you, Ellie McCabe?"  His voice was amused, his eyes bright; there was genuine interest in his inquiry. 

"I am beginning to see how persuasive you are.  Well, there's not much to tell."

"I hardly believe that."

"Let's see, where do I start?"  I figured I'd tell him the harsh reality first, just in case he wanted to run for the hills.  "I am a divorced mother of three," I warned, waiting to see if he would get up on the spot.

"Tell me who you are, not what you are," he replied in an even tone that brought a smile to my face. A new set of butterflies settled in my stomach.

We talked for hours, mostly about my trip to Europe, about my love of art and travel, and about my new job at the Art Institute of Chicago.  In his company, I had forgotten my need for rest, and before we knew it it was 11:30. 

Five hours, two bottles of wine, and a plate of cheese and fruit later and the only thing I knew about this man sitting in my living room for the last five and a half hours was that he was a widower.  I had done most of the talking and he listened patiently, appearing to be enthralled in the conversation.  I don’t remember having such a good time or feeling so at ease with a man for a very long time, not since the early years with Julian.  With that memory, I felt my heart tug me away from the conversation. 

All of the sudden Kayden stood. "I think I have over-extended my visit.  I don’t want to abuse your generosity; and besides, you need your rest."

Please don’t go, it's all I could think of as my mouth simply said, "Thank you for the phone and the company."

"You are most welcome, the pleasure was all mine."

"You realize that as much as you know about me, I don’t know anything about you," I told him, hoping that that bit of information would inspire him to extend the visit.  Instead he simply answered, "Perfect, now you will be forced to see me again if you want to satisfy your curiosity."

I followed him to the door. Before he left, he turned, gazing at me with those mesmerizing green eyes, and gave me the softest of kisses, on my lips!  His expert hand briefly caressed my arm and I had to fight the overwhelming need to be closer to him.

"Saturday, I'll pick you up at seven thirty, dinner," he said with quiet emphasis.  

I nodded in affirmation, hypnotized by his touch, and then he was gone.  I just stood there, in a spell with this warm feeling rising in my body, a feeling that I had forgotten all about but apparently my body remembered all too well. 

Yet, despite my flurry of happiness, in the back of my head a little voice screamed, "Don't be getting any ideas Ellie McCabe, your own husband rejected your body; what makes you think this man will want it?"

Despite the voice in my head, despite my own personal insecurities, I went to bed with a grin on my face and fell asleep to dreams of Kayden and those magnificent hands of his.  Oh my, what magnificent hands he had.

Chapter Three

I woke up to a loud banging noise on the door and a grin on my face.  I stumbled to the door to find out who was there, and then I heard the voice of my son Damien.  I looked at the clock on the wall and realized it was ten o'clock in the morning.  "When was the last time I slept this late?"  I said out loud, and then opened the door for Damien. He was livid!

He rushed right in. "Where have you been?  Everyone is going crazy looking for you." His tone was filled with anxiety and disapproval.

"Hello to you too, Damien.  As you can see, I have been home, sleeping.  My phone broke yesterday and I had to get a new one.  By the time I finished dealing with it I had to go to bed.  I was exhausted."

He looked around the room and noticed the two wine glasses and the dishes at the table and said mockingly, "But not too tired to entertain."

"Damien, my son, I'm too old for you to be scolding me.  I no longer need to explain myself.  But if you must know, my neighbor came over yesterday to help me set up the phone.  I was about to have a snack, the least I could do was share."  I was careful not to use any pronouns that would point to the gender of my neighbor, and to be safe I decided it was best to change the conversation.

"Now, what about a hug for your mother, who you haven't seen in two months?"

"I'm sorry, Mom, we were so worried about you; you're new to this area and this could be a dangerous place.  Besides, you should have sent an email."

"You're right son, I had every intention to and then just got distracted.  Now, let's make some tea and you can let me know what's going on in your life now that you're a college boy," I offered, trying to distract him.  While he was my son, he was always so protective of me, especially since the divorce.

"Man, college man, Mother.  Do you have any coffee in the house?"

"To me you will always be a little boy and yes there is coffee in the fridge.  By the way, don't you have classes today?"

"I don’t have classes on Thursdays, Mom.  You forgot?  I'll drive back tonight."

Damien was the baby.  He was a freshman in the engineering department at the University of Illinois.  He was very much like his father, which got on my nerves at times.  At eighteen he thought he was the man of the house now that his father and I were divorced.  Unfortunately for him his sisters and I were a bunch of independent, willful women, not easy to control.  His father tried, without much success.

"Okay, okay.  I notice you got the new iPhone, sweet."

The focus during the next hour became the new phone and all it could do.  We talked about school, how lame his classes were, and how he was thinking about pledging but was still unsure which fraternity. 

After a while I left him to play with my phone while I got ready for lunch.

"Who is K?"  Damien shouted from the living room.

"My neighbor," I responded.

By twelve Vickie and Emily had arrived, and shortly after, Julian.  We talked for a while, mostly about work and school.  Vickie, my oldest, had graduated from college that spring.  At twenty-one she was not sure what she wanted to do with her life so she went to work for her father's law firm until she figured out which direction to go.  Vickie was strong-minded, very much like me, so I did not know how long that arrangement would last.

Emily on the other hand was a free spirit whose goal was to travel the world; umm, also like me.  She was the artist in the family, so we were all surprised when she announced that she had accepted a scholarship to Northwestern University, when her dream had always been to go to the Art Institute of Chicago.  She was a junior now and was planning to go to France during the second semester on an exchange program.

For a brief moment I thought about Julian and our life together before the divorce; to the outside world he was the best of husbands, and we were the perfect couple.  But in private, when we were alone, he was a different man.  He was cold, testy most of the time and prone to violence.  For years he verbally abused me until my self-esteem was nearly destroyed; to him I was never good enough.  I had agreed to continue the charade in exchange for an easy divorce.  And in the end I wanted out so badly that I conceded too much in the settlement.  I agreed to keep his last name and to weekly dinners when I was in town, all for the children's sake he said; to give them a semblance of a family life.  Who knew how long this façade was going to last!

Julian had taken time off that afternoon from his law practice to be with "his family."  He still saw the four of us as his family.  He did not understand why I wanted a divorce and least of all why I would go through with it.  Very few things had changed in Julian's life since our divorce.  He still lived in the same house we bought twenty years ago, the house where our kids grew up.  He did not understand why I would want to sell the house, opting to buy me out instead.  To him this was just a midlife crisis I was going through; if he kept the house, the family traditions, I would eventually come back too.  But I knew better.  I knew I could never go back to that life again.   I wanted more than Julian was able to give.  I wanted to be loved and cherished, and I didn’t know whether Julian had ever known how to truly do either of those things.

We went for a late lunch to a cozy Italian restaurant within walking distance of the apartment.  We had been there before and the food was wonderful.  I brought my laptop with me and we looked at pictures of my travels while waiting for the food to arrive.  It was delicious; I ate every bit of it.  I had forgotten that the last time I had eaten a real meal was the day before on a transatlantic flight from Paris to Chicago.  Between the food and the wine, not to mention the time change and the late-night company, I was beginning to fade.  I needed to order something to keep me awake.  I opted for the flourless chocolate cake and a cappuccino.  The cake was scrumptious.  I was distracted in conversation when I heard my phone beep, alerting me to an incoming text. 

Thank you for last night, I had a wonderful time. K

Me too and thank you for the phone and company, although it was too much.  EMM

Nonsense, it was not enough.  Are you still busy tonight?  Let me know. K
 

A smile came to my lips after reading the text and I bit my bottom lip; everyone's eyes looked at me, puzzled.  I simply answered their unspoken question, "my neighbor."

I texted back,
"No."

"Great, eight pm, the lobby, wear comfortable shoes, warm clothing."

What is it with this man and his blunt messages!  I answered with a smiley face this time and put my phone away.

"I am glad you have friends in the building, it makes me feel better," Julian observed.

"Me too," I responded with sarcasm.  He looked at me quizzically, not sure what to make of it.

We returned to my building at six p.m., just in time to run into Kayden getting out of his Mercedes limo.  He looked striking in his taupe suit with green tie, which accentuated the color of his eyes.  He looked at me seductively and with such intensity that it melted me right on the spot.  I extended my hand to him as if to shake it and instead he kissed me on both cheeks.  Julian's mouth dropped, trying to figure out who this man was, and what he was to his "wife."

"Ellie, how nice to see you.  Is this your family?  Aren’t you going to introduce us?"

"Yes, of course.  Kayden Hale, these are my children, Victoria, Emily, and Damien.  And this is my ex-husband, Julian," I responded with an emphasis on the "ex."

"Nice to meet you.  Are you off to dinner?"

"No, no, we just returned from a late lunch," I said as the children and Julian stood watching.

"Then, I'll see you later," he said with a grin.  He knew he was getting to Julian and wanted to make the point that he wasn't just a casual acquaintance. Julian stomped away and into the lobby; Damien followed.