Page 3 of Bliss

“I guess I can see the similarities to a cape cod with the dormers in the attic. Whatever they call it, it’s a very attractive house.”

“Thanks.” Alex gently squeezed her hand, then led her around the car and up the geometric paving stone walkway to the front door. “Were you in real estate before Vine Designs?”

“No, my ex was a… No, I’ve never worked in real estate.”

The way Callie quickly caught herself after mentioning her ex wasn’t bothersome. Talking about exes wasn’t exactly an easy or fun thing to do, at least, for most people. Especially not on a first date, or non-date, whatever this was. But when Callie eased her hand free from Alex’s and slowed her pace, falling in step behind her, she felt the new shift in her mood as strongly as if someone had slammed on the brakes of a speeding car.

While she unlocked the front door, she looked over her shoulder and her stomach clenched, seeing Callie hadn’t joined her on the porch. She was standing several feet back on the walkway. Alex turned to face her, putting her hands in her pockets.

“Ready to meet Daphne?”

Callie slowly looked up from staring at her feet. Her delicate shoulders rose with a deep breath, then she nodded and closed the distance between them. Alex opened the door and motioned Callie in ahead of her. After closing and locking the door behind them, she gently tugged on the shoulder strap of Callie’s purse, then motioned to the iron hooks on the wall.

“You can hang that there, if you want, or you can keep it with you. Your choice.”

She seemed to think about it for a moment, then took the purse off and hung it from one hook, then took off Alex’s blazer and hung it from another.

“Thank you for letting me borrow that tonight. It was very comfortable.”

“You’re welcome.” Alex offered her arm, and when Callie accepted her invitation and looped her arm around her bicep, she felt their car shift back into drive, and she slowly led her through the foyer towards the back of the house. “Okay, Ms. Davenport, when you meet Ms. Daphne, there are some rules you need to follow.” Callie tilted her head with a quizzical lift of her brows and a cute little grin. “Rule number one: you have to let her greet you first. She’ll pass through your legs three times, rubbing herself against you, then she’ll sit on her haunches in front of you and tell you hello.”

“She’ll tell me hello?”

“Uh huh. It’s adorable.”

Callie chuckled, and asked, “What’s the second rule?”

“You have to say hello, Daphne, before you try to pet her. Rule number three: you have to hold your hand above her head and allow her to lean up into you, then you can pet her. If she doesn’t lean up into you, she doesn’t want to be touched. Try, and she’ll hiss and swipe at you.”

“Sounds reasonable. Is there a fourth rule?”

“Yes.” Alex stopped at the French doors leading out to the sunroom, and smiling, she told her, “You’re not allowed to steal my cat when you fall in love with her.”

Callie laughed, and argued, “I’m pretty sure there’s a law against petnapping, which negates the need to make it a rule.”

Alex just shrugged, said, “I like to be thorough when it comes to protecting my girl,” and placed her hand on the door handle to the right door.

Something like longing and need flashed in Callie’s eyes as her smile lifted. She blushed and licked her lips as she tucked her hair behind her ear, breaking eye contact for a moment. When she met Alex’s gaze, she said, “Okay, I’ll follow your rules.”

“Thank you.” Alex winked, then opened the door, and two seconds later, a long, sleek, white and orange cat with one golden brown eye and one blue eye leapt through the door. She meowed and purred as she passed between Alex’s legs, arching her back to rub up against her on each pass, then she sat in front of her and made two little chirps that sounded very much like hello.

Alex smiled down at her, said, “Hello, Daphne,” then knelt, allowed Daphne to lean up against her hand, then scratched behind her ears and stroked her back. “I brought a fan home to meet you.”

Daphne gave her a little chirpy meow, then turned to look at Callie, tilting her head for a moment, before she paced around and through her legs in a figure-eight a few times. Alex’s chest fluttered as she watched Callie light up and she was delighted when Daphne allowed her to pet her.

“She’s gorgeous. And her eyes are mesmerizing. I’ve seen pictures of cats with heterochromia, but I’ve never seen one in person.”

“It’s rare. Less than one percent of cats are born with it.”

Daphne turned to look up at Alex, meowed, then bounded into the kitchen, and Alex laughed and jerked her thumb, motioning for Callie to follow her.

“The princess is hungry.”

“Can I ask why you named her Daphne?”

While Alex opened a can of wet cat food and put it on Daphne’s dinner plate, she explained, “About six years ago, I was jogging through Mount Olive State Park, and when I stopped to take a water break near the stream, I heard this tiny little cry from down the steep embankment. I carefully climbed down and found her. She was barely bigger than my hand, muddier than the bank, and shivering like a leaf in the wind. I got her cleaned up and bundled her in my windbreaker and took her to a vet to get checked out. She wasn’t microchipped, so I adopted her. Daphne is the Greek name for a naiad, or female nymph, associated with fountains and bodies of fresh water, like streams and rivers. When I found her, she looked like she’d been birthed from the stream. It just seemed to fit.”

“Sounds like a magical experience. And I hate to think what would have happened to her if you hadn’t found her when you did.” Callie was smiling down at Daphne, watching her eat her dinner. “I thought you were going to tell me she was named after the Scooby Doo character.”

“Nope. But that’s what most people think, so you’re not alone.” She motioned to her coffee maker on the counter, and asked, “Should I get to brewing a pot, or would you like to go find a café?”

“We can stay here.”

Nodding, Alex turned to the sink to wash her hands, then walked to the end of the counter with the coffee maker. As she opened a vacuum-sealed canister of whole beans, and added several scoops to the coffee grinder, Callie sidled up next to her, resting her side against the counter to watch. She pulsed the beans a few times, then dumped the fragrant grounds into the filter basket of the coffee maker. The water reservoir was full and the carafe was clean, so she pressed the brew button, then reached up to grab two ceramic mugs from the cabinet above the machine.

“How do you take your coffee?”

“Black. You?”

“Same.”

Callie smiled and looked down as Daphne started curling herself around their legs. “Do I have to let her say hello and lean into my hand every time I want to pet her?”

“Yes. She’s uncompromising in being the one to initiate physical contact. Even if she jumps up into your lap, which she’ll probably do when we sit down, you need to hold your hand over her head and let her decide if she’s going to lean up or not. If she doesn’t, just let her sit there. If she lets you pet her, she’ll either jump down when she’s had enough, or she’ll look at you and chirp once.”

“Does she have claws?”

“Yes. She’s mostly a house cat, but she likes to sunbathe on the back porch and lie in the grass sometimes. I want her to be able to protect herself if another animal finds its way into the yard and starts trouble with her.”

“Has she ever tried to escape the yard?”

“Escape?” Alex laughed and shook her head. “She’s royalty here.” Alex squatted low, allowed Daphne to lean up into her hand, and while she brushed her hand over her head and back, she cooed, “Isn’t that right, Princess Daphne? You’re a spoiled girl, aren’t you?” Daphne’s eyes slid closed as she meowed and pressed in against Alex. “She’s never had any desire to go on a solo adventure or find greener pastures.”

When the coffee finished brewing, Alex filled their mugs and carried them into the living room.

While offering one of the mugs to Callie, Alex invited her to sit wherever she wanted, and she took it as a good sign when she sat closer to the center of the chocolate leather sofa than directly on the end or in one of the armchairs. After placing two coasters on the coffee table close to them, she took a seat next to her, leaving several inches between them.

Callie gently blew into her mug, steam billowing around her creamy cheeks, then took a small, tentative sip. Her eyes slanted and her lips curled into a smile with a quiet moan burring in the throat. The sight and tiny sound ignited a blazing fire in Alex’s core.

“This is amazing coffee. Where do you get the beans?”

“A tiny hole-in-the-wall café in Alexandria called The Drip.”

“Never heard of it, but I’m going to have to try to find it. This is delicious.”

“I can take you sometime. They have the best chocolate croissants I’ve ever had. Or if you prefer muffins or scones, those are really good too.”

Callie nodded around a sip, and after swallowing, she said, “It’s a date,” with a smile, and Alex couldn’t help but release a small laugh.

“The first or second?”

Her chest fluttered with another little laugh as she watched Callie pucker her lips and tilt her head thoughtfully. After a few moments, she decided, “The second.”

Nodding, Alex said, “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“You do that.” As Callie leaned against the back of the sofa, her body shifted closer to Alex. She took another sip of coffee, then asked, “Have you read all of those?” and nodded in the direction of the floor-to-ceiling red cedar bookcases on either side of the stone fireplace.

“Many but not all. I’m more of a book dragon than a bookworm. I hoard books I want to read and read them when I can, rather than immediately devour every book I bring into the house.”

Callie chuckled and nodded. “If that’s the definition of those terms, I’m also a book dragon. I can’t walk into a bookstore without buying something, even if I have dozens of books at home waiting to be read. And sometimes I just get the itch to go shopping for new books. I love shopping for new books.”

“Same.” Alex nodded and took a sip of coffee, then quickly stood up. “I think you’ll like this.” She walked over to the bookshelf on the left side of the fireplace and grabbed a five-by-seven-inch polished wood block with a laser-engraved quote. “Joselynn gave me this for Christmas last year.”

Callie took the block, and read aloud, “ Think not of the books you’ve collected as a to be read pile. Instead, think of your bookcase as a wine cellar. You collect books to be read at the right time, the right place, and the right mood .” She looked up, smiling. “I love this. Is there a rule about stealing this as well?”

Alex laughed and shook her head. “No, but there are laws against stealing.” She winked as she accepted the block to put it back on the shelf.

“Who’s the guy? Luc van… I’m not even going to try to pronounce the last name.”

“Donkersgoed.” Alex shrugged and sat down next to her. “Don’t know much about him. I believe he does computer coding or something and he’s from the Netherlands, if I remember correctly. Joselynn saw the quote on social media and said it made her think of me.”

“What’s your favorite genre?”

“I read a little bit of everything. Depends on the mood I’m in. I like suspenseful thrillers, but not if they’re super dark and twisted. Like no stitching someone’s mouth to another person’s butthole or making them saw off their own body parts like in some of those really disturbing horror movies.” Callie’s face scrunched and she shook her head in agreement. “I like when a good mystery makes me have to use my brain to pick through the clues to figure out the who and why. Fantasy and science fiction are always fun escapes from the real world, and romance, well, who doesn’t like some romance from time to time. What about you? What’s your go-to genre, if you have one?”

Daphne suddenly leapt up onto Callie’s lap, startling her, and she did a little hop in her seat, saying, “Oh!” then laughed and relaxed, watching Daphne circle her lap a couple of times. She pawed her thighs like a baker kneading dough, and when the orange and white cat settled, she resembled a little loaf of bread, and Callie chuckled as she placed her hand over Daphne’s head. The cat didn’t lean up against her palm, so she pulled her hand away.

“Try again in a little bit, and she may allow you to pet her.”

“Okay.” She watched Daphne for a moment longer, before answering, “I read mostly sapphic romance and mysteries. I like stories with strong female leads, like detectives, firefighters, and bodyguards. Rugged and tough on the outside, but sweet and gentle on the inside.”

They spent the next hour discussing their favorite books and authors. They’d read some of the same books, and it seemed to please Callie just as much as it did Alex that they could discuss what they liked and didn’t, often agreeing with each other or respecting the other’s differing perspective.

When Callie shivered, and lifted her mug to take a sip of coffee but found it empty, Alex stood up, holding her hand out. “Would you like another cup?”

“Sure.”

Daphne tilted her head up, eyeing Alex standing over them, then stood on Callie’s lap, stretched with a rumbling purr, then leapt off Callie’s lap and sauntered out of the living room. Callie smiled as she stood and brushed a few cat hairs from her dress.

“It seems Daphne has tired of our company.”

Alex smiled and nodded. “She’s probably off to take care of business before climbing into her cat condo.”

After turning off the warming base keeping the coffee hot, Alex filled their mugs, then quickly emptied the filter and washed it and the carafe.

“Can I get you anything else?” she asked, while drying her hands on a towel? “Would you like something warmer and more comfortable to change into?” She lightly drew the back of two fingers over the barely noticeable goose bumps on her right arm, instantly making them leap from Callie’s creamy skin. “Or I can build a fire.”

Blushing and biting her bottom lip, Callie rubbed her arm. “A fire sounds nice. And maybe…” She bit her lip again, and asked, “Do you have a hoodie or something I can borrow?”

“Sure. I’ll meet you in the living room.”

Nodding, Callie picked up their mugs and walked back to the living room. Alex watched her progress for a moment, appreciating the subtle sway of her hips with each step she took and the way her dress flowed and framed her narrow hips and small, pert bottom. Alex swallowed a sudden rumble of desire and rushed out of the kitchen and sprinted up the stairs, taking two at a time to her bedroom. She grabbed one of her favorite lightweight zip-up hooded sweatshirts, then raced back down the stairs.

She slowed her pace in the foyer and walked back into the living room as casually as she could, finding Callie standing in front of one of the bookcases, head slightly tilted and fingers lightly tracing the spines of the books. As she stepped up behind her, holding the sweatshirt open, Callie looked up at her over her shoulder, then smiled as she eased her arms into the sleeves and pulled the halves in around her body.

“Better?”

“Yes, thank you.” She rubbed her arms a few times, and as she sighed, “It’s so soft,” she leaned back against Alex’s chest, causing a blazing inferno to erupt in her core.

“It’s one of my favorites.” Her breath was thick and heavy in her lungs, making her voice huskier than usual.

Alex tentatively lifted her hands to Callie’s shoulders and firmly dragged them up and down her arms, trying to help her warm up, and further stoking the heat in her own body. Callie further relaxed into her, and when her breathing seemed to deepen, causing her chest to visibly rise, Alex wondered if she was feeling as aroused as she was.

Not wanting to make her uncomfortable, Alex asked, “See something you want to read?”

Callie opened her mouth to answer, but when Alex gripped her shoulders, massaging her thumbs into the tight, thin muscles, a quiet moan escaped first, making Alex smile. She nodded and cleared her throat, then said, “Many,” and released a breathy laugh. She drew her fingertip across the spines of three paperbacks, and asked, “Have you read this entire trilogy?”

“Yes. The Nearly Departed by Elle E. Ire are some of my favorite books of all time. They have everything. Romance and passion, mysteries, magic and supernatural elements, violence, enemies to allies to friends, found family, and they’ll make you feel all the feelings.”

Alex continued to rub and massage Callie’s shoulders and arms while she watched the beautiful, smaller woman pull the first book from the shelf to read the description on the back.

“Can I borrow this?”

“Sure.”

Callie tilted her head back to look up at her, smiling, then slowly turned to face her, hugging the book to her chest, so Alex dropped her hands. “Thank you. I promise I’ll take very good care of it.”

“You better,” Alex intoned, with her best stern scowl, then placed her hand on the middle of Callie’s back and gently steered her back to the sofa.

After she was seated, Alex knelt in front of the stone hearth and expertly arranged tinder and birch logs in the cradle of the fireplace grate. In just a few minutes, a blazing fire that mirrored the one scorching Alex’s insides crackled and danced in the fireplace, filling the living room with a pleasant, warm light.

When Alex joined her on the sofa, Callie sighed as she leaned into her, so Alex lifted her arm to drape over her shoulders.

“This is nice.”

The whisper gripped Alex’s heart, the intimacy of the moment suddenly reminding her that whatever was happening here could lead to heartache in the near future. She tried to push the thought away so she could just enjoy the organic chemistry that was unexpectedly brewing between them.

“Alex?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m…” Callie sighed as she shifted away a few inches. She looked down at her lap and fiddled with the zipper of the borrowed sweatshirt. “I don’t know why I…” She exhaled hard and shook her head, before looking up with glassy eyes, the sudden appearance of the threatening tears causing Alex’s entire body to tense. “I’m so sorry for what I said and how I behaved earlier. I don’t…”

“You don’t have to explain, Callie. I already forgave you.”

Shaking her head, Callie argued, “No, I do need to explain. What I said was so awful and…” She quickly swiped at her eyes. Looking at her lap again, and still fiddling with the zipper, she explained, “I didn’t mean what I said. It was the opposite, actually.” She slowly looked up, holding Alex’s gaze as if she wanted her to see the sincerity in her words. “When you tapped my shoulder, and I turned to face you, I felt … safe and excited and … I was attracted to you. Joselynn talked you up so much, saying how great you are, and then to have that powerful of a reaction just looking at you… It scared me. The last time I felt so strongly for someone so instantaneously, she turned out to not be the person I fell for, and it took me way too long to accept that.”

She cleared her throat and wiped a couple of tears away, before continuing, “What I said, what I did, it was something she would have done. She was so nasty sometimes, but I was blind to it for so long. Or I made excuses. Or she did, blaming me or others for what she had to say or do. I was so afraid of being hurt by you like she had hurt me that I suddenly became her. Because what better way to protect myself than to become the very thing that can actually hurt me?” She shook her head, then looked up and apologized again. “I’m sorry, Alex. I really like you and I want to see where this goes, if you do and if you can forgive me.”

“I do and I already forgave you. When you hunted me down at Bliss, and we talked a little more, I suspected there was another reason for how you rejected me. I have a past too, and I’ve let it keep me from being open to dating and trusting anyone with my heart again for a little over two years. Part of the reason I agreed to this blind date was to appease Joselynn. But the dominant part of me was ready to put the past behind me and move on. Are you ready to do the same?”

Callie slowly nodded, and answered, “Yes. I have to admit that I was kind of terrified about the whole thing. I mean, I’ve never been on a blind date either. Meeting someone in that kind of setting that I didn’t know or hadn’t previously met through a friend made me feel … vulnerable, I guess is the best word for it. But I kept telling myself that Joselynn was smart and sweet and perceptive and she wouldn’t set me up with an asshole.” Her face pinched, as if pained by something. “I’m sorry for calling you that. You’re not an asshole. Not at all.” Alex nodded her acceptance, so Callie continued. “I accepted the date because I was tired of allowing what my ex did to me to dictate how I live my life. But I got so in my head about everything, I nearly ruined it all.”

She tentatively took Alex’s hand, holding it on her lap. “I’m not going into this expecting some fairy tale romance and happily ever after. If it works out that way, great. But I don’t want us putting that kind of pressure on ourselves. I don’t want us to get so caught up in the idea of love and happiness that we don’t really see what’s happening between us. Right now, in this moment, I really like you. I can see a future with you. But I don’t want to look to the future. I want to be here, in this moment, and every moment that follows. I want the future to just happen to us, whether we fall in love or we decide we’re better off as friends or we just don’t want anything to do with each other. My ex kept me so entranced in the visions of the future, the promise of marriage, the perfect house, pets, children — the dream — that I didn’t even realize I wasn’t happy anymore. It wasn’t until after she crushed me and I wasn’t in the relationship anymore that I could look back and see everything clearly. I don’t want to be sequestered in the future anymore. I want to be in the present.”

Alex softly smiled as she lifted their joined hands and lightly kissed Callie’s knuckles. “Thank you for sharing that with me. I like you too, Callie, and I’d like to see where this goes. And I don’t want us to sacrifice the journey for the destination either. I read books from front to back. I never read the ending first or skip ahead to see how something is going to work out. I think people who do that are shifty little creatures. Unpredictable and a little untrustworthy.” She quirked her left brow with a grin, and asked, “You don’t do that, do you?”

Callie laughed and shook her head. “I hate spoilers.”

“Good. So, we’re going to give us a chance, but we’ll keep our visions of the future close to the present, not planning too far beyond our next date or whatever happens to be appropriate to the present stage of our relationship.”

Nodding, Callie agreed, “Yes, I like the sound of that.” Her smile fell and she bit her lip as she looked down. But when Alex gently lifted her chin, she asked, “Are you going to be dating other women, while you date me?”

“No. I like a good potluck or buffet, but I don’t want to experience my relationships in that fashion. I give my focus to one woman at a time, for however long it lasts. But that’s my preference. If you want to date other…”

“No, I don’t.” Callie vigorously shook her head. “I want to focus on this.” She motioned between them. “I like how this is developing so far, and I don’t want to distract from it or jeopardize it.”

“Okay.” Alex eased her hand free from Callie’s to drape her arm over her shoulders, pulling her in closer and making Callie smile. “Do you want to watch a movie?”

“Sure.”