Remembering the easy recipe her mother had taught her, she chose the green beans and got to work. She watched as Noah pressed a few buttons on his phone then set it on the table next to what looked like speaker and soon Christmas carols began playing.
“Well that’s cool.” She had to admit.
Noah laughed. “That’s like one of the easiest things you can do on this phone. The more I play with it the more awesome I think it is.”
“Still too extravagant for me. I’ll stick to my dumb phone thank you very much.”
Noah promised to sell her on it yet and said he’d find an app just for her that would make her go out and just have to get an iphone for herself. The conversation made her feel like an old unyielding geezer afraid of change like the ones she used to work with who were angry anytime there was an upgrade to their computer system. She decided to change the subject by singing along to the music. To her surprise Noah sang with her. Veronica laughed at how seriously intense he got at certain parts of the songs, then blushed and stopped singing when he told her he loved her voice.
“No, don’t stop. That’s the best part. I was waiting to hear you sing it.”
She sprinkled the fried onion topping over the casserole and smiled chewing her lower lip. Her face was on fire now and she refused to look up at him. It was just a compliment. Geez. How old was she anyway? At the moment she felt like she was five in the middle of her elementary school yard and someone had just declared their love for her in front of the rest of the giggling student body.
“Lemme see?”
She knew what he meant. He wanted her to look up but she shook her head. She could feel him staring.
“Look at me, Roni.”
Spinning around so she wasn’t even facing him now, she took her time placing the casserole in the oven. The music still blared away. When she finally turned to face him his smile was so genuine and it was all for her, it made her heart speed up. “God, you’re adorable when you’re embarrassed.”
“Okay, so stop embarrassing me,” she said, feeling the heat from her face rush south down her neck and back. She wiped the counter and cleared her throat. “Is that it? Are we done?”
The smile was ever present and she did everything in her power to try not to stare at those suckable lips and how his normally intense eyes almost twinkled now. “Well looks like you are but I’m not. You wanna give me a hand with these potatoes?”
She walked over and helped him peel and cut more potatoes. A few minutes later, ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ started to play. It was one of her all time favorites so she gave in and sang along. Noah smiled and to her surprise he knew all the words so he sang the male part to her female part. She playfully leaned in to him singing. And he’d lean back when it was his turn. She noticed his gaze became heavier as the lyrics got more and more flirtatious but she kept singing. “So nice and warm.”
He glanced at the window amazingly not missing a single lyric. “Look out the window at that storm.”
She gulped knowing what was coming up. “My sister will be suspicious.”
His eyes were on her lips now. “Man, your lips look so delicious.”
Veronica pretended not to notice how his voice changed ever so slightly with that last line. “My brother will be there at the door.”
His eyes were still on her lips. “Waves upon a tropical shore.”
Giving in to temptation, she glanced at his lips as he licked them. “My maiden aunt's mind is vicious.”
He stopped singing and spoke the next line. “Gosh, your lips look delicious.”
Feeling a sudden heat, she forced her eyes away from those lips and stared at the potato in her hand. “I think this is enough potatoes.”
He was quiet and didn’t even move for a moment. She was almost afraid to look at him. When she did, his playful expression had gone hard and he cleared his throat. “Yeah, that should be enough.”
She scrambled across the kitchen and pulled a pot out of the cabinets near her knees. “You can use this,” she said handing him the pot.
His expression looked almost as stunned as she felt. “So that’s it. I think I’ll go shower now and get ready for our feast. Looks like we’ll be eating all day.”
Nodding he glanced at her, his eyes making a stop at her lips again before turning back to the pot in his hand. “Okay I’ll put these on to boil and do the same when you’re done with the shower.”
Shaking away the sudden visual of his hard body under the shower, she walked away quickly to the bathroom.
Once safely behind the closed bathroom door she allowed herself to let out the trembling breath she’d held back when she’d been so close to him in that kitchen. This had to stop and she would make sure nothing like that happened again.
At Noah’s age sex was probably eternally on his mind, and she was certain that’s all he was thinking when he looked at her the way he did sometimes. As young as he was, he was an adult of sound body and mind. He knew what he was doing so if things ever escalated but didn’t work out between them she was certain he’d be okay with it. In fact she hated to admit it but that’s exactly what she was worried about. Not only would he be okay with it, most likely it was what he’d prefer. And why not? Why on earth would a guy his age, looking the way he did be thinking about settling down? It would be selfish of her to expect him to.
She shook her head. “Nope, nope, nope,” she whispered turning the shower on.