charming way.
"You think so, do you?" Her grin
was slightly shy. Her blush was back, and he found himself becoming enchanted
with her once again.
"A man can always hope." He touched
his glass to hers and swallowed some beer, never looking away from her face the
whole time. She shook her head again with a slight smile on her face and
sipped her wine. Then the waitress came back again to take their order, and
they concentrated on the menu selections.
The next hour and a half passed as a
fun, relaxing time, and Ben found himself enjoying her company immensely. He
found out that she was single that morning, an important piece of information
to his way of thinking, but learned that evening that she was once engaged. She
did not elaborate about why she and her ex-fiancé broke up, and he did not
ask. They also talked about the tour ride that afternoon which, he found out, was
not much fun because of a surly female passenger who complained throughout the
tour about everything from the chairs to the water spray and wind that messed
up her hair.
They reminisced further about their
times on the island and discovered that they liked to do many of the same
things in addition to kayaking and biking. He did not tell her that he owned a
company because he did not want the knowledge to influence her one way or
another about a relationship with him. He skirted that topic of what he did when
she asked by just saying that he was in the manufacturing business. He found
out that Anne was on summer break from teaching and also worked as a business
consultant.
Ben also discovered that she enjoyed
football, namely the Seattle Seahawks and the University of Washington Huskies,
just as he did, and they got into a lengthy discussion about the Seahawks draft
picks and the upcoming season. She must be a fan because she followed them
closely via satellite television and never missed a game. He forgave her for
not liking basketball and for her take or leave attitude for baseball, and she
forgave him for not liking to read for pleasure.
He especially found her charming when
she described growing up on the island and at the inn even though he had heard
her say it all before. She lit up from the inside when she described some of her
adventures and the many guests they had over the years. Then he told her that
he was thinking about either buying or building a vacation home on the island
and asked her opinion about the best places to build. Considering what he
liked to do, she recommended finding a place close to Eastsound because of its
central location on the island, although there really wasn’t a bad location. She
also told him to talk to her parents because they would know where to look and
who to talk to about buying.
All evening long, he watched the play of
emotions across her face and how she talked with her lovely hands. He
remembered that she was always expressive. She could not talk without her
hands moving. He was surprised that she never wore rings on her long fingers.
She smiled frequently as she spoke, and he had a strong desire to taste her
lips again. The little freckles he remembered on her nose were no longer there,
covered now with powder, and her lightly tanned skin looked soft and warm to
the touch. She never was able to develop a deep tan, being fairly light
skinned, and always wore sunscreen to prevent burning.
The skin of her chest was slightly
lighter than her arms and shoulders, and he remembered how she looked in her
bikini. He longed to run his fingers along her throat and down through the
deep V of her dress. He could just see the beginning of the under curves of
her breasts and her hard nipples again. The sight aroused him and he moved in
his chair to ease his discomfort. She did not seem to notice. Her hair curled
around her face, over her shoulders, and down her back in soft waves. The dark
brown color was streaked with red highlights caused by the lighting in
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