Everything around her was so warm and so comfortable like she was wrapped up in a pair of arms that she started to live for. For a split second she thought she felt someone move behind her and her thoughts drifted to Stanley, and that she was in the mansion, but then she remembered he was in a foreign country. She buried her nose in the blanket and inhaled. It smelled of something spicy, something strong, and it reminded her of Will.
Karen sat up in bed, her hands immediately going to her chest and she made sure that she was fully dressed; yet she was in his bed. Her hair was down, the way she liked to have fallen asleep. She ran her hand over her face, tangling her fingers in her hair. She didn't kiss him; she would remember. She didn't sleep with him, or else she would have been naked, possibly wrapped up in him.
She heard something drop and rattle from the direction of his kitchen. It was suddenly nice to know she was not alone. Tossing the covers over, she got out of bed, her feet comfortable against the carpet. She wiggled her toes, attempting to rid of the feeling of the pins and needles.
Will put the lid of the skillet into the sink, the culprit of the incessant racket. After Karen's tearful admittance to him last night, about Stan, about the potential divorce, all she needed was sleep. The day was almost half over and when he checked on her she was still asleep. It had been a long time since he slept on the couch, and he had forgotten how uncomfortable it was, but the last thing he wanted Karen to do was jump to conclusions about him and his intentions.
He heard her soft footsteps behind him, before turning around to look at her. She was dressed one of his white dress shirts, something he had had convinced her to change into when she arrived. Her clothes were soaked through and the last thing he wanted was for her to be sick and the blame laid on him. He had instructed her to strip down to almost nothing and he left, giving her privacy. Now her hair, which was on the verge of curly and straight, looked like it had fingers run through it all night. She looked, in a simple word, sexy.
"What time is it?" She asked, shifting one hand to lie on the top of her head. He caught his breath as the shirt moved up, revealing her more skin. She was cheating at a game she didn't even know she was playing.
"Almost noon," He smiled. She dropped her hand looking at him with wide eyes. Time must have escaped her.
"You're kidding," He shook his head. She went up the few steps into the kitchen and leaned against the counter, tilting her head, a small smile playing at her lips.
He looked good dancing around the kitchen, cleaning, making things; domestic yet normal. He was in a pair of sweats with a t-shirt, his hair was a mess and him look of being disheveled was good on him. She couldn't help allow her smile to grow wider as he presented her with a glass of water.
"How did you sleep?" He asked, offering her two aspirin, a joint necessity with the water. She downed it in one go and set the glass down, with a raised eyebrow, almost as she were questioning it.
"Pretty good," She smiles. "Thanks for the shirt. In between all the yelling, the crying and the screaming, I don't think I thanked you last night."
"No problem." He nudged her with two plates. "Go. Sit."
Karen laughed and sat in a white chair with her one of her feet propped underneath her. She smiled as he placed the dish in front of her. "Thank you."
"I hope you like it," It was a plate of eggs with toast and a bowl of fruit. It was a simple and nice gesture on his part. He could have just kicked her out telling her he didn't want her there when the roommate came home. Or
Stan had been gone nearly a month now and Will had spent enough time with her since his departure to know when she was avoiding something. Her face was at ease, but she wasn't focused on a certain thing. Instead she would stare off into space until she herself drew out of it or something did it for her. This was one of those times. She took small bites of her food and he just watched her.
He started to laugh lightly and that was when she looked up, poking at her food before shoving a forkful of it into her mouth. She smiled as he shook his head. This was easy for them, to slip into some sort of easy silence. With Stanley it would be awkward and the conversation was forced. It didn't bother either one of them to convene in some silence.
"My family has this cabin that I want to take you to," Will informed her. "It's not too far, up and hidden away, but it's nice and family like."
"Family like?" She questioned. If there were kids, it was the last place she wanted to go.
"My parent's decided to put up a tree house for my nephew and some other things for him to play with." Will informed her. "But there's plenty of things for us to do, or you yourself. We have a Horse stable for you to ride horses if you'd like."
"I haven't ridden a horse since I was seven or eight." She said shrugging. "But that doesn't seem like a bad idea,"
He couldn't get enough of her smile he had decided. He liked the way the corners of her mouth twitched up and the way her nose wrinkled ever so slightly. Her eyes brightened with something untouchable and he couldn't get enough of it.
Her eyes lit up first at the sight of his parent's very delicate and very old fashionable summer home that now substituted for their winter cabin. The white Victorian-esque building had been decorated in snow, the front lawn covered in it. He watched her get out of the car; she was in a trance of some sort.
She took the hand that Will offered, using it as leverage to get out of the black town car that had come and picked them up and drove them into the middle of what seemed like nowhere. And beyond the wall of trees and the gridiron gate, this gorgeous four floored mansion appeared at the end of the grovel stone slowly let go of his hand and walked towards the staircase leading up to the house. Her fingers danced along the railing, leading up to the front porch. Will followed slowly behind her, a bag in each hand; his instructions were to pack light.
Standing at the top of the wooden staircase Karen turned and looked at Will, who was a few steps below her and smiled. He couldn't get over the way she looked, standing there in her navy blue suit, enough white blouse sticking out in order to demolish any pretenses that she might be nude under the jacket.
Her eyes danced happily as she watched him finished his way up the stairs. She wasn't too thrilled when he showed up to Club 33 the night before all but ordering her to come with him. He wasn't even dressed to be in the club, but because of the membership, they were forced to let him in, even in his jeans and t-shirt. She wasn't completely sure, either how he had got a bag of necessities for her when he didn't have a key, but alas there was a bag in the car when she got in.
They had driven for 11 and a half hours and when she woke up, mid way through the ride, her feet were propped up in Will's lap, her head tilted up against the window. Will had been asleep, his head tilted back against the seat, his hands placed protectively across her ankles, his fingers brushing the sides of her leg. He was a nice man, a gentle being, yet strong willed and incredibly mysterious. There were a few questions of his sexuality bouncing off the walls of the Club, but she paid no mind to it. The comment he made, still lingering in the back of her mind.
When he stood in front of her, the bags in his, Karen placed a palm against his cheek, her thumb tracing his bottom lip. There was no missing how Will's mouth opened ever so lightly at the touch, almost anticipating more. She took another step closer to him, he doing the same, trapping her against the frame. He dropped the bags and buried his hands in her hair, something he had been wanting to do for sometime. Karen lifted her head up, her thumb tracing his cheek, before succumbing to him.
This time it was more gentle, more need was behind it. Her hands wrapped neck, bringing him closer to him. She smiled into the kiss and when he pulled back there was no shame, no feeling but more. They needed more. Karen leaned over and took her own bag, following Will into the house that was going to change their lives.