Chapter 3
Vivian stood at the stove, gently stirring the marinara sauce and silently fuming. Of course he didn’t call her on the cellular phone, which he knew she always carried. NO, chicken-shit Ethan had his secretary leave a message on the machine at home saying that he wouldn’t be home until tomorrow night. She wasn’t sure if he was testing her fidelity or encouraging her to test the waters with Willem, but either way she wasn’t too happy that Ethan had put her in this position.
“Smells delicious.” Willem joined her at the stove. “I’d almost forgotten what you can do with a jar of sauce.” He teased.
She jabbed at him with her elbow, which he easily sidestepped. “Hey, I used real meat!”
“Now there’s an improvement from college.” He said laughingly.
To hell with Ethan. He had all but told her last night to have sex with Willem. But for tonight she wasn’t going to worry about it anymore. Vivian was going to take this time with her best friend and just enjoy it. And whatever might happen along the way happened.
Vivian scooped a bit of sauce onto her spoon and blew on it a bit to make sure it wasn’t too hot. “Here, want a taste?” She offered, holding the spoon out to Willem.
He bent toward it before hesitating. “Are you testing this on me?”
“Sure. If you don’t die then it must be okay.” Vivian put the spoon against his lips. “Don’t be such a baby. Just try it. I haven’t poisoned anyone in weeks.”
Eyes twinkling merrily, Willem closed his lips around the spoon. He had a very nice mouth, very kissable. “Second best thing I’ve tasted today.”
“You are too smooth. No wonder the women can’t resist you.” Vivian laughed, waving him off. “Would you mind making the salad? The vegetables are all in the crisper drawer in the fridge.”
Willem pulled out the vegetables and put them on the counter next to the cutting board. “Is Ethan going to make it home for dinner?”
She pulled a bag of pasta out of the cabinet next to him. “Sure. Tomorrow night.”
“So it’s just the two of us tonight?” He asked with a mysterious half smile on his face.
Viv looked up at him. “You’re math skills are astounding.”
“You can’t imagine how good I am at biology.” Willem rebutted, waving the cucumber at her.
“Yes I can if you wield other things as well as that cucumber.” She said with a wink before returning to the stove top to check the water.
They fell into a familiar routine, having shared many dinners together in college when they lived next door to each other. Strangely enough, there had not been the kind of sexual tension between them then as there was tonight. Or had she really been that unaware. Vivian’s brain was starting to hurt from all this second guessing.
“Wine?” He asked, standing directly behind her at the stove.
Damn he smelled good tonight. “Uhm, sure…the bottle opener is up there.” Vivian pointed to the cabinet over the stove and she could feel the delicious press of Willem’s body as he reached past her for it.
He dropped a kiss on that little point where the ear meets the jaw the wooden spoon she was stirring the sauce with slipped out of her hand. “Thanks.”
Viv gulped. No, she definitely would’ve remembered if he had done something like that in college. Okay, if Willem wanted to turn up the heat she could handle it. But two could play at that game. She slipped her hand up to her blouse and undid another button, ensuring that there was an ample amount of cleavage displayed before joining him at the table. She lightly ran her hand down his back, lingering briefly at his waistband. “Better be careful…I may get you drunk and take advantage of you.”
Willem poured a glass of cabernet sauvignon and handed it to her, the back of his hand brushing against her breast. “That would be awful.”
“Just terrible.” Viv took a sip from her glass, her eyes never leaving his. She slid a bit closer to him and would have said more when the timer started blaring loudly in the kitchen. “Pasta’s done.” She explained apologetically, setting her glass down and returning to the kitchen to finish preparing dinner.
‘How in the hell had this never happened before?’ She wondered to herself as she strained the pasta. There were so many sparks flying between them it was amazing the house hadn’t burned down. Maybe it made a difference now that it was out in the open, or that Ethan had essentially given her the green light to go ahead and explore whatever was between her and Willem, but it was like the candy store was open and she could eat whatever she wanted. It was heady and thrilling and she wasn’t sure what she wanted to try first. But she knew she wanted to taste a little bit of everything.
While Vivian finished putting dinner together Willem set the table and lit the candles that she always kept strewn about the house. A saxophone wailed softly from the stereo, adding to the atmosphere. “Nice. Very subtle.” She commented after putting the food on the table and taking her seat across from him.
“I don’t know what you mean.” He said innocently. “We’re just two friends having a nice, relaxing dinner together.”
She nodded, picking up a bread stick from the basket and playing with it idly. “Just a nice, relaxing—” Vivian put the breadstick up to her mouth and flicked her tongue over the tip. “—friendly, dinner.” His eyes dilated slightly when her lips closed around the bread stick.
Willem sipped from his glass of wine and watched her closely. “So, tell me about your fantasies.”
“Pardon me?” She asked, her eyes widening in surprise.
“The list that you and Ethan made.” He explained with a playful smile. “I have to admit I’m intrigued, aside from how we all stand to benefit because of it.”
“Well, it’s really not a big deal.” Vivian said, spooning some salad into a bowl. “We were talking one night about all the stuff we wanted to try. Sex on an elevator, on the beach, a blow job in his office, Kama Sutra stuff, fun with food…”
“Fun with food?” A fork full of spaghetti hung about an inch from him mouth when he stopped to stare at her.
“It wasn’t me and a carrot, Hunney.” Grinning, Vivian reached out and guided his hand to his mouth. “The food was an accessory. Whipped cream, chocolate sauce, peanut butter,” She giggled as a particularly wicked memory flitted across her consciousness. “And we topped it all with a maraschino cherry.”
