Chapter Four
Joey walked up to Wilder's front door and knocked hard, he opened it within seconds. Joey smiled; it was a clear sign that he'd been waiting for her to arrive. He'd been waiting by the door for her to knock on it.
" Hey you," he smiled, moving aside to let her come in. She walked inside, only the third time so far but it still felt like the first – illicit and somehow wilful. Joey Potter was finally doing something that she wanted, damn the rules. She wanted to be there, she wanted to be with David Wilder and she didn't want to leave. She placed her bag on the floor next to the coat stand and slid her long cream coat off, hanging it up before moving through to the living room and sitting on his sofa. She didn't say a word; she just sat there. There was a book open facedown on the coffee table and a glass of wine sitting next to it, he'd been reading while he waited. He poured another glass of wine and set it down in front of her.
" You know I'm under-age!" she grinned, taking a sip. He laughed softly and sat beside her, his fingers instinctively moving to her hair, pushing it from her face and behind her ear. She moved her head into his hand so that his fingers were touching her cheek; she closed her eyes and smiled. He leaned forward and kissed her lips, softly and gently, her hands went to his face and they sat kissing for what seemed like hours though it was only minutes.
" What am I going to do with you?" he said as he pulled away, picking up his glass of wine and leaning back into the sofa. Joey picked up her own glass and took another sip; she picked up his book – Great Expectations – and smiled to herself. She had never pictured Wilder as a Dickens fan, his writing was so descriptive and verbose, an attribute that Wilder hated in his students.
" Do I get to call you David now?"
" Well, seeing as it's my name, I would say yes,"
" Okay, that's gonna be really weird. What with you being my professor and everything. It's bad enough seeing you in class, you just pace up and down looking at me and I just can't help imagining…"
" Imagining what?" smiled Wilder. Joey grinned into her glass, she could feel her cheeks burning and knew that his eyes were burning into her. She could feel his gaze trying to infiltrate her soul; she would freely let him in if he asked. She put her glass down on the table and placed her hands on his, she looked up into his eyes. His smile just melted everything inside her that was telling her to slow down, her resolve quickly melting under his fiery eyes.
" Just silly stuff. Like what it would be like if we were a real couple. Y'know, restaurants and flowers and kissing you whenever I wanted to and…staying here if it got too late to go home," Joey smiled nervously, hoping that all this talk of fantasy wasn't scaring him away. He just sat there staring at her, smiling that smile that made her feel like the only woman in the world.
" Is it too late for you to go home?" he smiled, moving closer to her. She brushed her hair behind her ear and shrugged, shyly looking around the room. Anything to not have to look at him in the eyes, anything to not see him, anything for him not to see her. She felt vulnerable, she had told him what she wanted from him and he wasn't running away. He was staying still and he wanted her to stay still with him.
" I guess it is a little late," she whispered as he untied her scarf and began softly kissing her neck, his arms moving around her and gathering her up, bringing her to him. " I guess I could stay if you don't mind,"
" I don't mind," he whispered into her ear before kissing her earlobe. He moved her around so that she was sitting on his lap, facing him. She looked into his eyes and smiled, her nerves were floating away. Audrey's voice was in her ear telling her to "just do it", Jen telling her that if she was happy then nobody else mattered and as Wilder continued kissing her neck and throat she heard herself say his name:
"David,"