Always Means Forever. Deborah Mello Fletcher

to move as it rang a second and third time.

      “Aren’t you going to answer that?” Bridget asked. “It might be important.”

      Darwin grinned. “I have voice mail,” he responded, lunging toward her.

      Bridget jumped out of his reach. The answering machine clicked twice then Darwin’s seductive voice filled the room. “I’m not in. Leave me a message and I’ll call you back.” The machine beeped and a woman’s voice replaced his.

      “Mr. Tolliver, this is Yvonne from Dr. Page’s office. Your sample of Viagra is ready for pickup, but the doctor would like to schedule an appointment to speak with you first. We’ll be back in the office tomorrow after eight o’clock, if you would please give us a call. Thank you.”

      The answering machine clicked off, the sound of the tape rewinding suddenly piercing through the quiet. Even Biscuit could sense the quick change in atmosphere, a blanket of embarrassment clouding the room.

      “Well,” Darwin said, clearing his throat. “If this isn’t an awkward date moment, I don’t know what is,” he said, turning back into the kitchen.

      Bridget was at a loss for words as she followed behind him.

      Darwin met her gaze as he returned back to the sink and the last of the dishes. His humiliation was acute and if it were at all physically possible he would have dug a deep hole in the center of the room and buried himself beneath it.

      They continued to stare at each other as she eased into the room, moving to stand by his side. Reaching for the dishcloth, Bridget swiped the last bit of moisture from a freshly washed pot resting on the dryer rack. Darwin heaved a deep sigh.

      “I guess I should have answered that call,” he said, finally breaking the silence.

      Bridget smiled. “Sounds like you’ve got a personal problem,” she said smugly, humor brimming in her tone.

      “Oh, so you’ve got jokes now.”

      She shrugged. “It’s always been my experience that when something like this happens, if you can laugh about it, then you won’t be inclined to cry about it.”

      Darwin leaned back against the sink, crossing his arms over his chest. “Well, now that you know my most embarrassing moment, what was yours?”

      A moment of reflection crossed her face. Her smile widened to a full grin as she leaned against the countertop beside him. “I had just passed the bar exam and it was my first week with Hartley, Liebermann and Stone. All the attorneys were in our weekly review meeting and I was making a presentation on a new case I’d been assigned.

      “I really thought I had things under control. New suit, Roshawn had done my hair the night before and I was working it. Well, I’m doing my thing and all of a sudden one of my new microbraids falls onto the conference table. Then another, and another, and before I realize it I have a trail of yaki hair following me around the room.

      “One of the partners reaches down, picks one up, examines it, and says, ‘Miss Hinton, I think you’re shedding. Please see if you can get a handle on that problem before you have to go before Judge Baines. He’s bald as a cucumber and might think you’re poking fun at him.’ I was so embarrassed!”

      Darwin laughed. “So, we will really laugh about this in a few years?”

      “I thought we were laughing about it now.”

      The man smiled, reaching to draw a warm palm against her arm. “Thank you.”

      “Besides,” Bridget added, “you probably don’t remember, but this isn’t nearly as bad as when you and I first met and I tripped into the room, right into your mother’s lap. That was my second most embarrassing moment.”

      Darwin closed his eyes, a faint smile pulling at his full lips. “But I do remember the first time I saw you,” he said softly, his voice just a hair shy of a whisper. “You were wearing a pair of those capri pants. They had a drawstring waist and your hands were pushed deep into the pockets. They were green, army green, and the shirt you wore was a pale floral print. It had these thin straps and one of them had fallen off your shoulder. I remember that I wanted to touch you. I was thinking that all I had to do was push that strap back onto your shoulder and that could be my excuse to touch you. I remember thinking that you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.” He opened his eyes and stared into hers. “Should I continue?” he asked, an air of seduction rising in his tone.

      Bridget hadn’t expected the comment and she stood staring at him, her mouth parted ever so slightly as a look of awe washed over her expression. A wave of something she couldn’t quite name twisted slowly in the pit of her stomach. Her voice caught in her throat as she tried to speak. She inhaled deeply, then tried for a second time. “You have a good memory.”

      Darwin grinned. “Only about the things that are important to me.”

      The man continued to stare at her and the room suddenly felt as if it were spinning in slow motion. Darwin swallowed every inch of her with his eyes, his gaze stroking each curve and dip of her body. He could see her quiver and he stepped in closer, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her tightly to him. Once she was in his arms he couldn’t begin to imagine the moment that he would have to let her go.

      Bridget slid her palms over his biceps, the muscles solid beneath her touch. Her hands looked small against his arms and she felt safe and secure with them wrapped so tightly around her. She hugged her own arms around his neck and pulled him closer, lifting her mouth to his.

      The kiss was tender, a sweet brushing of his mouth to hers. Neither moved, both lingering in the beauty of that first touch, the sensual glide of a duet they were starting to dance. Darwin deepened the embrace, drawing her even closer as he pressed his body anxiously against hers, his lips moving with more intensity against her mouth.