That afternoon she went to see Charlotte at a time when she knew Colleen would not be around.
As usual she let herself in, and was surprised to find Sully in the kitchen with Charlotte. Matthew was not around, so she wondered what he was doing there?
"Hi, Mike" Charlotte gave her a light hug and passed a cup of coffee across the table.
Michaela sat down, next to Sully.
"Hi.." they said in unison, and she blushed a little.
"Where's Matthew? " she finally asked him.
"School…" their knees bumped into each other under the small table.
"We're talking about what happens when he is off to college" Charlotte joined them, and they had to move closer together.
"Oh…" Michaela sipped the coffee to feign her loss of words. She had not considered that his reason for being around the family would disappear with Matthew gone.
She looked questioningly at Charlotte who added.
"That's why I asked him to become Brian's mentor"
This time she did not say anything, but met his eyes across the table. He gave her a sly smile.
"I'm going to need your help though."
"Why? Brian loves you?" she stammered, and they forgot about Charlotte for a while.
"Brian loves writing… I'm no good at helping him with that. I can be a role model, but I'm not a writer."
"And you think I am?" her voice went a little shrill.
They had only spent little time together and here he was making guesses about her skills and pretending he knew her so well.
However, she calmed down as soon her eyes met his.
"You're good with words" he stated nudging knee under the table, and Charlotte added "You're always helping Colleen out…"
Michaela nodded and blushed a little. Sully's knee was warm against her thigh.
"Sure I'll help…" she smiled at Charlotte.
"But we need to talk about Colleen. She… she has a crush on someone and I think she is taking it very seriously. I mean… she talks about it all the time."
Michaela fidgeted a little with her cup concentrating on Charlotte who nodded.
"I know… Sully and I have talked it over."
This information took Michaela by surprise.
"You have?"
Sully agreed with Charlotte.
"I'm not interested…" he smiled. "Besides she's a little young for me."
He shifted in his seat brushing his calf against hers in the process.
"Don't worry, Michaela, I'll speak to her. Besides Sully has his eyes on someone else…" Charlotte jovially winked at him,
and Michaela could do nothing but silently agree and sip her coffee.
"Thanks for the ride.." she looked down suddenly feeling a little awkward.
He had offered to drive her home after they had had dinner with the Coopers.
Dinner had been a strange menagerie and nothing like the family dinners Michaela was used to having in Boston.
Charlotte was warm and attentive, and it was evident that she cherished her time with her children very much.
Michaela knew she worked hard and she admired her determination and her devotion to her family.
"I really admire Charlotte" she had told Sully on the ride back.
"She's everything a child could hope for…"
Something in her voice told him there was more to it than that, but he did not ask.
Instead he just reached out and took her hand in his. She did not pull back her arm, so they stayed like that while he drove.
Now as he pulled up in front of her house the awkwardness came creeping in on her.
"Thanks for the ride.." she reached for the door handle, but he stopped her.
"Michaela…" she turned to meet his gaze full on.
"Yes?" He could not help smiling. She was intriguing.
One moment she was present and attentive, the next she looked like she wanted to flee like a deer.
Right now she looked more like the deer, her eyes questioning his.
Did he want to kiss her or?
"I wanted to call you" his choice of topic caught her by surprise.
She had indeed wondered why he had not called, but she did not want to ask him about it.
She raised her eyebrows at his words, and he continued.
"Only Matthew told me how hard you and Colleen were studying, and he also mentioned a test you had to take?" she smiled a little.
"I did not want to disturb, and besides there was another problem."
"What?" her voice was soft, and he ran his thumb over her knuckles holding on to her gaze.
"I never got your number"
For a moment she felt foolish. She had actually been a little annoyed with him, but now she realized she had no right to be.
"You could have gotten it from Charlotte…." She stated feeling her cheeks go warm.
He shook his head a little. "I could… but I'd rather I got it from you. Then I'd know you'd really want me to have it."
His eyes were burning their way into hers, and she felt a little dizzy.
He read her mind before she got a chance to say anything.
"Don't give it to me now. Just think about it for a while. I really like you."
Of course his words made perfectly sense. If she gave it to him now it could be because he had brought it up, and not because she wanted him to have it.
"Okay…" she was at a loss for words.
"Okay?" he asked, and she nodded never breaking eye contact with him.
"Okay…" her voice was a whisper, and she was not sure if she was saying okay he could have her number or okay she would think about it or something else…
The tension between them grew rapidly, and she could tell he was thinking the same as she was.
Sully mustered all his strength to hold back, her lips looked so inviting, and inadvertently she ran her tongue over them tempting him even more.
Oh, how he wanted to feel those soft moist lips on his.
For a moment neither moved it was as if they were both stuck in the thought of kissing the other.
Michaela was sure he was going to kiss her, but nothing happened.
Instead he gave her hand a light squeeze.
"Thank you for your time, Michaela" he smiled.
That evening she tossed and turned in bed.
Stop analyzing everything… her mind screamed, but she could not help it.
Any other man would have been happy to get her number there and then, would have tried something in that car, and… she frowned; he had thanked her for her time…
no one had ever done that before – least of all a man.
Why was he so unpredictable and why didn't he just act like the average male?
And the way he had looked at her… aaargh.
She buried her head in her pillow.
"I have to stop thinking about him like that.." she mumbled.
You have to text him, so he gets your number… her inner voice added.
If only she could make up her mind.
"Beep, beep" Sully grabbed his phone illuminating the darkness of his room and smiled.
He could not resist texting back. So you couldn't sleep either, huh?
When Michaela woke the next morning she was unsure whether she had actually texted Sully or she had dreamt it.
However, her phone bore the evidence of a longer conversation they had had during the night.
She was half dressed and brushing her teeth while going over the messages.
Several of them made her smile, but the last one woke her instantaneously. He was coming over now.
Thinking about it she was not sure what made her realise first - the text message or the sound knock on the front door.