Page 22 of Someone Like You

Giselle & Casimir

GISELLE

I had an excellent night’s sleep last night.

For some reason, I felt more relaxed than I had in a long while, despite the fact that the day before, the insurance company had called me requesting more forms be completed and any pictures that I had submitted.

What part of everything burned in the fire didn’t they understand?

No, I had no pictures of the items I owned on my phone because who went around taking pictures of shit like that?

Last night, I decided to let it go and relax. And I had. I woke up feeling much better this morning. I was going to go into the office at nine instead of my usual seven. That was the other thing. I allowed myself to sleep in until seven instead of waking at five.

I stood at the stove and flipped the bacon just as the coffee timer went off.

I checked the oven to see if my biscuits were close to being ready because I didn’t trust the timer.

I had a can of six, and I would take some into the office for Imani.

I wasn’t about to eat six biscuits. I didn’t like leftovers, and I didn’t want to throw them away.

Just as I closed the oven door and stood up, I heard a sound behind me that caused me to turn around, jump, and then scream.

“Oh shit! What are you doing here? You scared the hell out of me. What are you doing here?”

Casimir chuckled at my reaction. He was so gorgeous in the early morning, despite the rumpled dress shirt and wrinkled slacks he wore. Despite the beautiful smile on his face, his eyes looked tired.

“Didn’t know you were a curser. Are you good?”

“I don’t know,” I replied with a hand pressed against my chest.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, but you’ve got the TV up somewhat loud, and I tried calling your name so that I didn’t startle you, but I managed to do that anyway.”

“Yeah. What are you doing here?” I repeated.

“I needed someplace to go last night, and I didn’t want to bother going to a hotel.”

“Oh. Uhm, do you need me to leave? Because I can get a hotel until Jude returns, and we work something out.”

“Why would you do that? I told you that this was your place.”

“Clearly yours too, if you can come in here whenever you want.”

He scratched the back of his neck, and his neck muscles flexed. Because his shirt was unbuttoned, I could see his abs through the cotton undershirt that he wore.

“Yeah, about that. I shouldn’t have taken advantage like that.

Things were just so . . .” He sighed and broke off as his eyes wandered around the kitchen but never back to me.

My heart broke just a little for him. I had no idea what he’d been going through, and after all, this was his place no matter what he or I said.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to be rude. You just scared me, and I instantly went on the defensive because I’m in your home.”

Casimir stepped inside the kitchen, and his nostrils flared, his eyes narrowed, and he looked like a hunter stalking its prey. My heart thudded loudly and out of control in my chest.

“Stop saying that.”

“What?”

“That you’re in my home. It’s your home too.”

“I . . .”

“Giselle. We’re two grown adults. People have roommates all the time. I think we can handle living here in this home together, no matter how temporary, until we both figure something out. Don’t you?”

“What? Think that we can live here amicably?”

“Yes.”

“I do. It’s not that.”

“Then what is it?”

I shook my head and mumbled, “It’s nothing.”

“No, tell me.”

“Nothing.”

“What’s wrong? Are you scared that I’m gonna devour your little ass?” he asked and closed the distance between us.

I shivered and nodded. Yep. That was exactly what I was afraid of.

“Don’t worry. I’ll only do what you allow me to, and I’ll enjoy watching you enjoy it.”

I crossed my legs, one over the other, and then gripped the edge of the counter to remain upright. Because, boy, he was doing a number on my senses and my core. My pussy was growing wetter by the moment, the longer he stared at me and the more I felt surrounded by his presence.

I knew this was a bad idea, coming to stay in his place. Yet, I chose to do it, so that was on me.

Casimir placed his index finger underneath my chin and tilted my head back. He stared into my eyes, smirked, and then said, “Breathe.”

I released the breath that I hadn’t known that I was holding, just as he turned around and walked out of the kitchen. How in the hell would I survive being in this place with him?

CASIMIR

I baked chicken and smothered it in a mushroom gravy sauce. I also made some quinoa, roasted asparagus, and bruschetta. I set the table when Erica from the front desk buzzed me and told me that Giselle had arrived.

I knew that she was skittish after our morning encounter, so I decided to work from home today, with my focus being on my business rather than on Glenco.

Working from home would prevent me from getting held up at the office and also make sure that I didn’t miss her in case she came home and ran back out or locked herself in her bedroom to avoid me.

Around four thirty, I stopped work to cook. As the hours ticked by, I worried that Giselle wouldn’t return home at all. I wondered if she’d gone to stay with a friend to avoid returning here to me.

When nine o’clock hit, I had given up hope. Just as I started to put things away, Erica buzzed me at 9:03 and stated that Giselle was on her way up. I immediately removed the plates from the warmer and took them to the table. I lit the candles and poured two glasses of wine.

The front door opened just as I stepped from the dining room. I walked toward Giselle with a glass of wine.

“What’s the occasion?” she asked in a tired voice as she set her bags down.

“Welcome home,” I responded and handed her the glass of wine.

She shook her head. “I probably shouldn’t accept this.”

“Why not?”

“I’ve had more drinks than I needed to have tonight.”

I took the drink back from her and then took her other hand.

“Where am I going? I want to shower and go to sleep.”

“I prepared dinner. Maybe I can feed you, and then you can go to sleep.”

There was something in her eyes when she looked at me, and I couldn’t decipher its meaning, but whatever it was, it spoke to my soul and made me want to put that look in her eyes more often.

I led her into the dining room, where I pulled out a chair for her to sit in. I took the chair opposite hers, and she looked around hesitantly. “It’s beautiful.”

“As are you.”

She cast her gaze at her plate and remarked, “It’s also romantic. Casimir, I—”

“Don’t read too much into it, Giselle. It’s just a nice, relaxing, and quiet dinner at home. Nothing less and nothing more.”

“Well, it all looks so delicious,” she remarked sleepily through a yawn.

“It is. I just want to make sure that you get something into your body before you fall asleep.”

“Thank you,” she whispered as she opened her mouth to take the first bite of the chicken.

“I was starting to worry about you.”

“Why?”

“It was getting late.”

“Mm. This is so moist and delicious,” Giselle complimented after she had finished the bite.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I went out with my friends to unwind. It’s been a challenging week.”

“Because of me?” I asked.

“Because of lots of things,” she replied and stared into my eyes. “My friends tell me that I’m wrong.”

“About?”

“You. They want me to leave and come stay with them.”

“What do you want?”

“To stay with you.”

“Then do that.”

“It’s too complicated. They reminded me of the same things I’m afraid of—losing my license and being a rebound.”

“You’re nobody’s rebound, baby.”

“I don’t know, Cas.”

“I don’t want to create problems for you, Giselle.”

She sighed and toyed with her food for a moment before she replied, “You’re not. I just need to get my head together.”

“Regarding you and me?”

“Casimir, there can be no you and me.”

“Eat your meal,” I ordered.

She frowned but did as I suggested. When she finished, I gathered our plates and took them into the kitchen, and Giselle followed me.

“Where did you learn to cook?” Giselle asked through a yawn as I rinsed the dishes and put them into the dishwasher. She sat on the counter beside the kitchen sink and swung her legs as she watched me.

“My mother. She was a military wife, and as the wife of a high-ranking officer, she often held dinner parties for my dad.”

“And you would hang out in the kitchen with her?” Giselle asked as I grabbed a dish towel and wiped down the countertops.

“Yeah. Asking different questions, making suggestions and things like that. She’d let me try whatever I suggested, even if she knew it wasn’t a good idea. She always told me that experience was the best teacher. That was how I learned what spices mixed well and which ones didn’t.”

“That was very sweet and patient of her. I don’t know that I would have had that same patience to let you mess up dish after dish or have to throw all that food away.”

I chuckled. “No, I learned quickly, especially considering my dad wasn’t that patient. I got that shit in order real quick.”

“I like that for you,” she replied.

“What about you? Who taught you to cook?”

“Both my parents and a little bit of me being creative when I was home alone.”

“Did you ever mess up anything so badly that you got in trouble for it?”

“No. Like your mother, my parents were very patient and forgiving. They supported whatever my sister, Genevieve, and I wanted to do.”

I finished cleaning the kitchen, and we walked back into the living room, where she curled up on the couch with a pack of cookies she snagged on the way out of the kitchen.

Giselle grabbed the remote and turned on some music while I poured myself a glass of Malbec. I sat down beside her and stared at her for several long seconds as she finished a cookie.

“What?”

“I’m not trying to pressure you, and I don’t mean to stress you out, Giselle.”

“Then don’t,” she replied and dropped her gaze back to her cookies.

“I want to address the elephant in the room.”

She hesitantly peered back up at me.

“No elephant. Just you and me.”

I chuckled. “I know when I first offered you this space, it was on the condition that you could have it for yourself. And you still can if you’d like.”

“What I would like is for your friend to get on his job before I have to hire someone else.”

“Is that what you really want?” I asked her.

She rolled her eyes and rested her elbow on the back of the couch. Setting her cookies in her lap, she rested her head on her palm.

“I don’t know what I want, Casimir. You confuse me.”

“Why is that?”

“You’re this overwhelming presence in my life right now, and where I could normally walk away from something or someone who I’ve made my mind up about, I can’t where you’re concerned.”

“And is that a bad thing?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“You’re fresh out of a marriage. You were my client, and I feel that I had a negative impact on your marriage, and I could lose my license.”

I leaned forward and removed the cookie pack from her lap.

“I wasn’t finished with those.”

“Yeah, you were,” I replied and stood.

I reached for her hand, and she gave it to me. When I pulled her up to stand in front of me, I wrapped an arm around her waist.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to make you forget about everything that you could lose.”

“Why?”

“Because I’d rather you focus on losing yourself in this.”

I lowered my head and brushed my lips softly against hers as Raveena Aurora’s “Honey” poured soothingly from the speakers.

Giselle lifted her arms and wrapped them loosely around my shoulders.

We swayed softly to the music while we lost ourselves in a passionate kiss.

Her tongue was soft and sweet as I took my time and sucked it.

When I finally let it go, our lips remained pressed together, and a subtle sigh was my sign that she was satisfied.

“Although I feel safe in your arms, you scare me,” she whispered just loud enough to be heard above the music.

“Don’t be,” I replied.

“I’m afraid that I will drown in you.”

“I’ll be your lifeboat.”

“You’re so involved with someone else right now.”

“No. That was business, business that I tried to make something more. It didn’t work. But you and me, this . . . it could definitely work. Stop overthinking things.”

“I can’t, Casimir. What if I fall?”

“My arms are wide open, baby, and strong enough to cushion your impact.”

She closed her eyes and bowed her head. I placed my hand at the back of her head and pressed it deeper against my chest, and my other arm remained wrapped around her.

I would do anything to protect her.

But she pulled away.

“I need some time, Casimir.”

I watched helplessly as she walked away from me, leaving my heart open and yearning for her.