One minute she'd been feeling sorry for herself, the next she'd blurted out a sexual innuendo to Ted Lasso, and now, before she knew it, she was somehow walking with him and the dog, Welton, through Richmond to his flat. When she'd agreed to have dinner with him—which she still wasn't actually certain was a choice she'd knowingly made—she had thought a restaurant or something. But apparently Ted had decided he should cook dinner for her.
"Y'know, I'm not much of a cook. Well, I didn't used to be. Michelle did all the cookin' in Kansas. Then I got here, and I had most of my meals at the club or over at Mae's," he explained. "But I started learnin' some things when I was in Kansas. Michelle helped out, teachin' me stuff. And I've been practicin' since I got back. I think I can do a lasagna pretty good now. How's that sound?"
His folksy way of speaking still took her off guard sometimes. It was sometimes a bit difficult to parse through the accent. But she didn't mind it. She liked listening to the sound of his voice. It was out of the ordinary. And it was kind. It was Ted.
She smiled and told him that lasagna sounded good.
They walked a block or so quietly, and Rebecca found herself watching Welton. "He's very good on a lead," she noted.
"Yeah, he started out pretty good, but I've been workin' with him. He's real smart. Stubborn sometimes. Wants to go his own way, but we've got an understandin', him and me. I earned his trust."
"Sounds like he takes after his namesake," she quipped.
Ted grinned. "Smart and stubborn?"
"And has an understanding with you. You've earned the trust of me and that dog, Ted Lasso."
His smile softened, and he reached out without a word and took her hand.
Instantly, Rebecca batted him away. "Th-the press," she stammered in protest. Her heart was hammering in her chest at the immediate thought of headlines of 'Old Rebecca Gets Lassoed' or something equally horrid.
"Sure," Ted answered understandingly. "Sure," he repeated, convincing himself.
But Rebecca could see the hurt in his eyes even as he kept his attention ahead of them. Her panicked heart slowed down and cracked a little. She was worried about the press. She always was. But right now, she cared more about making sure Ted understood her feelings more than she cared about the possibility of gossiping newspapers. She reached out and took his hand again. Neither of them said anything, but she could see Ted was smiling.
And soon enough, they had arrived at his front door. He had to let go of her hand to get his keys from his pocket while he held Welton's lead. He gave her hand a small squeeze before letting go. "Here we are," he announced, opening the door and gesturing for her to enter. "Welton, ladies first," he said, preventing the dog from bounding into the house.
It was a nice flat. She knew it would be, since A.F.C. Richmond had arranged and paid for the housing for the new management team. Coach Beard lived somewhere nearby, she thought. Ted must like that.
"Well, this is the place. Sorry it's such a mess. I've still got a lot of my stuff from Kansas to unpack and figure out what to do with," he said, closing the door behind him and bending down to let Welton off the lead.
She watched the dog run into the living room and hop up on the sofa. Rebecca frowned. "I don't let him on the sofa in my office," she said.
"Yeah, he knows. He's allowed on this sofa but not on every sofa," Ted explained.
Certainly was a smart dog. "Well good on him," she replied. She turned back to Ted. "So, what now? Would you like me to help with dinner?"
"Nope, I said I'd cook, and that's what I'm gonna do. But you can come keep me company in the kitchen. I figure you'd wanna sit down after walking all this way in those shoes."
She looked down at the Christian Louboutin stiletto pumps that she'd surely ruined walking over the cobblestones. But she forced a smile. "I'm alright, actually. These shoes aren't too uncomfortable."
"Really?" he asked her dubiously.
Rebecca's shoulders slumped and she let out an annoyed groan. "No, they're fucking murder."
Ted's face fell with concern. "Alright, how 'bout this, you to take a load off on the sofa and put your feet up for a little while, and I'll start the sauce and come sit with you while it's simmering?"
She hesitated, not wanting to be rude. "Are you sure?"
"'Course!" he insisted. "I don't want you hurtin' on my watch, boss."
Rebecca sighed, "That actually sounds really nice."
He smiled. "Go make yourself at home." He ushered her into the living room and then made his way into the kitchen. He called over his shoulder, "Maybe you can try takin' some selfies with Welton. Keeley's been tryin', but she hasn't had much luck yet with him sittin' still."
With a small laugh to herself, Rebecca shook her head and walked into the living room to join Welton on the sofa.
Ted hadn't lied when he told Rebecca he could do a pretty good lasagna. He could. Beard said it was good. And he wasn't one to give praise. Well, he hadn't called it good, but he hummed and ate two helpings, so it must've been good.
But Ted didn't want to be stuck in the kitchen while Rebecca and Welton were out on the sofa. The whole point of having her come to his for dinner was to actually spend time with her. And he wanted to. Boy did he ever want to.
He'd nearly kicked himself for trying to hold her hand while they were walking. Of course she'd pulled away, worried about the press. That was why he wanted to cook for her instead of taking her to a restaurant. Never mind that he couldn't afford the kinds of fancy places she was used to going, but someone there might have called some yahoo at The Sun and then some clever but hurtful headline would be all over the place like 'Old Rebecca Gets Lassoed' or something. Actually, that was kinda fun. Not the Old Rebecca part. But the idea of Rebecca getting Lassoed…
Ted shook himself and tried to get through chopping onions and garlic and basil as quick as he could while he started the water to boiling for the pasta and for the sauce. He had to focus so he wouldn't cut his dang finger off while he was rushing to get everything done so he could go join Rebecca and Welton.
She'd taken his hand. Gosh, he wasn't gonna stop thinking about that for a long time, he was sure. He'd shaken her hand. He'd hugged her. But held her hand? That was new. New and darn nice. She had soft hands. Strong and elegant and soft. That was all of Rebecca, really. Strong as heck, elegant and tall and gorgeous—a knockout, actually—but under all the swearing and the vindictive tendencies, she was soft. Soft-hearted. Ted had a knack for people like that. Hard shell with that soft heart inside. Those were his favorite kind of people. But none of them had ever been as pretty as Rebecca.
"Aw HECK!" Ted cursed. So much for paying attention. He'd nicked his finger when he was trying to chop that last basil leaf.
"Everything alright?" Rebecca called from the other room.
"Fine," he shouted back. He sucked on his finger and then took a look. It wasn't bad at all, actually, just a little cut. He'd be fine.
Ted quickly washed his hands and finished up with the sauce ingredients. The bleeding had already stopped. He put it all in the pot and gave it a quick stir. He put the big lasagna noodles in the boiling water and put lids on everything and hurried out to the living room.
He found Rebecca leaned back in the corner of the couch with her legs stretched out over the cushions. Welton was lying on the other side of her feet, and she had her phone out and pointed at him.
She looked up and saw him and scrambled off the sofa in alarm. "God, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have put my feet up on your…" she stammered.
"You're fine," he insisted. "Your dogs were barkin', so it's only right all the dogs are comfy."
Rebecca stared at him in confusion.
"Is that another American thing? I guess so. We call feet dogs sometimes." Ted shrugged. It was a silly phrase. He thought it was funny, though, what with Welton the actual dog sitting there staring at him. But Ted was focused on Rebecca right now. "Here, lemme…"
Ted came to sit where her feet formerly rested, next to Welton. The dog just watched, not moving. Ted bent down and put his hands around Rebecca's ankles, pulling her legs up and resting her calves on his lap. She tried to protest, but he wouldn't hear of it.
"I was the one who made you walk all that way," Ted insisted. And then he proceeded to take her right foot between his hands and massage the arch of her foot.
"Oh god," she groaned in pleasure and relief, her head falling back against the back of the couch.
Ted hadn't ever heard her make a sound like that before and it…well…he did his best to ignore the tightening in his belly. And in his pants. He just went right on massaging one foot and then the other.
Neither of them spoke, but Rebecca did continue to hum and moan in a way that made Ted feel like he was about to lose his dang mind. Welton might have fallen asleep, he was so quiet. But Ted wasn't paying attention to the dog right now. He only had eyes—and hands—for Rebecca.
But at last, he knew he was lingering more than he should. Reluctantly, he put her foot down and let go. "How's that?" he asked softly.
She lifted her head, blinking herself back to reality. "That was…"
Rebecca never finished that sentence. She sat up, her legs still on Ted's lap, and with very impressive flexibility, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.
As soon as she realized what she'd done, Rebecca pulled back. What the fuck was she doing!? Ted—sweet, gentle, considerate, wonderful Ted—had massaged her aching feet and instead of being a normal person about it and thanking him and going on her way, she'd allowed the tingling sensation of her body and the warm wetness pooling between her legs to guide her into kissing him! Jesus Christ, could she ever possibly respond to anything like a normal fucking person!?
"Oh," she said. She was frozen where she was. Her face was still too close to his. Her legs were still draped over him. "Sorry," she muttered.
But before she could pry herself away from him, Ted wrapped her body in his arms and pulled her back toward him. Her first thought was that his mustache was softer than she'd imagined. His lips started to move on hers, and she kissed him right back. Holy shit, he was good at this. She hadn't really thought he would be. He was charming and folksy. Ted Lasso did not possess the arrogance one might expect from a man who would be a devastatingly good kisser.
His tongue swiped across the seam of her lips, and when she opened her mouth for him to deepen the kiss, all coherent thought was gone. She was a mass of sensation alone. His hands were big and strong and moving over her waist and back. Christ, she needed to be closer to him. To feel him properly.
Rebecca allowed her body to move on its own accord. She pulled away from his kiss just enough to swing one of her legs back and shift her body so she was straddling his lap. Her dress rode up her thighs, but she didn't care. She put her arms around his neck and leaned in to capture his mouth again.
Ted's hands found more of her body. One slid up her bare leg and clutched her bum, mindlessly grinding her against the rather impressive hardness in his trousers. His other hand found her breast and kneaded it in time with the way he guided the movement of her hips.
Just as Rebecca thought she'd explode if she didn't rip of his clothes right then and there, the dog barked. They pulled apart in surprise. Their only movement was their heaving chests with each gasping breath.
The dog barked again. "Gosh dangit, Welton!" Ted growled.
Rebecca started to laugh. She sat back on his knees as he stared at her in confusion. "I'm sorry," she said, still chuckling. "I'm just not used to my last name being said in that tone. Particularly from you."
He smiled softly at her. "I don't know if I've ever used your last name except that first time we met and you said Ms. Welton was your father."
She remembered, of course. "Well, I like that you call me Rebecca."
Ted's smile grew, and he kissed her again, just a few soft pecks this time. "I like callin' you Rebecca," he whispered.
Welton barked again, causing Ted to pull back and sigh.
"I'm sorry. It's his dinnertime."
"I suppose I should get off you, then."
"Believe me when I say that I wish you didn't have to."
A shiver went up her spine at that. The low, sexy tone of his voice. Good lord, who knew that Ted Lasso could be sexy?
Well, Sassy knew. But considering Ted hadn't just signed divorce papers, Rebecca was willing to bet that he was having a better time here with her than he had in Liverpool with Flo.
Rebecca reluctantly climbed off of him so that he could get up and feed the dog. She followed him, barefoot and trying to smooth out her dress with little success. But she didn't mind. Despite the interruption, she was feeling loose and relaxed and happy. Better than she'd felt in a long time. Well, Rebecca already knew that Ted made her feel better than most anyone ever could. Except perhaps Keeley, but that was different. Having a good girlfriend and having a kind, wonderful man couldn't be compared. Even if Keeley did keep teasing that she and Rebecca could 'dip their toe into the lady pool' together, Rebecca felt quite sure that she didn't want to kiss anyone other than Ted and his mustache for a long, long time. Not now that she knew how incredible it was.
Ted wasn't sure if he wanted to thank Welton or not. The interruption wasn't welcome, but maybe it was for the best. He and Rebecca hadn't just crossed a line this time. They soared over it like Michael Jordan dunking from halfcourt in Space Jam. This was something they needed to talk about.
He fed Welton in the kitchen like always, and he felt Rebecca watching him. Welton barking had helped solve the awkward problem in his pants, but he wasn't immune from the feeling of her close by. Not now that he'd…well, if he kept thinking like that, he'd be in trouble all over again.
"I better check on dinner. Probably can start putting the lasagna together now," he said, avoiding looking at her and going right over to the cabinet where he kept the casserole dish.
"Can I help?" Rebecca asked.
"Sure, uh, you wanna stir the sauce? I gotta drain the noodles and get the cheese," he said.
She did as she was told, lifting the lid and dipping the wooden spoon in the tomato sauce. "This smells incredible, Ted," she complimented.
"Hope it'll taste as good as it smells," he said, thankfully avoiding saying what had popped into his mind first, which was that Rebecca smelled pretty incredible herself.
The both of them seemed to calm down, having a task. Rebecca finished up the sauce and brought it over to where Ted was setting out the cooked noodles and the ricotta cheese. The rhythm of laying down sauce, noodles, sauce, cheese, sauce, noodles, sauce, cheese was soothing. Gave them something to focus on that wasn't the fact that they were standing so close together and she was barefoot in his kitchen in that tight dress looking like some kind of creation of his deepest fantasies.
But then the lasagna had to cook, and there was nothing to do but wait while it baked. Ted closed the oven door and turned to find Rebecca standing there, a good three inches shorter than usual and now just a centimeter—see, he was adjusting—shorter than him. Right at his eye level.
"I think we should talk," she said, taking the words right out of his mouth.
"Yeah," he agreed. "Do you wanna start, or d'you want me to?"
She opened her mouth and then closed it, frowning. "You start," she eventually said.
"Alright, well, I'd like to start off by sayin' that you're a mighty fine kisser."
Rebecca scoffed, but her laughter turned it into something of a snort, which Ted found cute as all get out.
"But as much as I like kissin' you and as much as I wanna do a heck of a lot more than that, I do recognize that the both of us just got divorced and haven't really been up to much on the dating scene, and the fact that you're the boss and I'm the coach makes this all a bit messy," he said.
She nodded in agreement.
"Well, that's really as far as I got," Ted said with a shrug.
"I don't think this is just a…fling," she said slowly.
"Agreed," he said, grateful she'd said it.
Rebecca went on, "I've thought about this for a while. I wasn't really entirely sure, actually, until…"
"Until what?"
"Until Welton," she said.
That surprised him. "Welton? The dog?"
She rolled her eyes. "No, Welton my grandfather. Of course the dog!"
"Well why did the dog make you think about…?" Ted wasn't actually going to finish that sentence.
"I don't actually know. I guess just having Welton in my office these last weeks, getting to spend time with him and having him be a constant reminder of you and how caring and enthusiastic and kind and sweet and funny you are just sort of…well, I don't think I really let myself consider beyond that with any sort of serious thought until today when you said you were jealous of him to have his head in my lap and I said I'd rather have yours." Rebecca put her head in her hands in embarrassment. "God, why did I say that again?" she scolded herself under her breath.
Ted couldn't help but smile. For all that she posed as the ice queen, she really was kinda goofy. Soft heart in a tough shell.
He took her hands from her face and kissed her fingers. "If the offer's open, I'm happy to oblige," he said softly.
She stared at him in amazement. "You don't mean just resting your head in my lap?"
"Maybe after I'm done," he quipped.
Rebecca's jaw dropped, and Ted didn't blame her. He wasn't really one for naughty talk, but something about this woman just brought out a new side of him. A side that wanted to be a little wild, a little raunchy.
"And for what it's worth, I'd be glad to have those legs of yours wrapped around me any time you'd like."
Her brow arched. "Oh?"
"Oh yeah," he said. His fingers twitched even as he still held her hands in his. He hadn't nearly gotten his fill of touching her yet.
Rebecca swallowed hard. "H-how long till the lasagna's ready?"
"About an hour."
"Then I think you ought to set a timer and show me your bedroom," she told him sultrily.
Ted's whole mouth went dry. "But I gotta take Welton out," he answered stupidly. Jeez, why was he giving excuses!?
But Rebecca just smirked. She took her hands away from him at last and said, "Why don't you do that, and I'll wait for you."
"You're gonna wait here?"
"I though I could wait naked in your bed," she offered.
Ted thought he might have blacked out for a second. The next thing he knew, he was putting Welton's leash back on, and when he hurried out the door, he looked back to see Rebecca's dress tossed out the bedroom door and into the hallway.
His hands shook as he grabbed the bags for Welton, and he silently begged for the dog to take care of business quickly, and he gave a quick prayer to the Almighty as he closed the front door. She must have been smiling down on Ted Lasso, because Welton went at the first tree he found, and Ted cleaned it up and raced back to the apartment.
He left Welton in the living room and ran into the kitchen to wash his hands. His cut stung a little, but Ted couldn't care less right now. He was glad to see there were still fifty-three minutes on the timer.
