She studied him with calm intensity. That's when he saw the other thing, the hint of uncertainty behind everything else. He leaned onto the table, angling toward her.
"Falling in love and running away over the hills." A smirk creased his face. "Maybe it's already started."
She laughed, as though passing off the foolishness of his remark.
It would have been easy to write her off as perfect with a passing glance, but he would have missed the little bits of clumsiness in the way she manoeuvred the tiny side walk table and chair, or the whispered suggestion of awkwardness in her body language in the topic of conversation.
He got the sense even though she was meticulous with her looks, she wasn't entirely comfortable with them
"So, if I'm keeping up," she said, "one of us could end up doing something right now that would affect everything that comes next. So we should always be careful what we do because it could really mess things up. Right?"
She crossed her legs and he thought there was something about the fluid way her hip curled into her thigh, and the way her calf bulged as it rested against the other leg. Her beach skirt was tight and brief, curving to her shape like another skin.
"Pretty much everything except the part about being careful."
She smiled curiously. The sandal dropped off her crossed-over foot and her toe brushed his bare shin. "Because…?" she invited
John opened his mouth to speak glancing at her legs that didn't quite fit beneath the table. "Because," he said, slowly but without thinking, "sometimes the best way to do something is the wrong way."
Her smile became a grin. He smiled back but she looked down at the table again. Then he did something he'd been wanting to the last few meetings. He reached under the table and touched her skin. His fingers slid over the bulging part of her calf. When she didn't look up, he touched her with his whole hand, letting his palm slide up her calf to the bend. He pressed his fingers into the softness of the skin on the inside of her knee. She made a sound like she wanted to say something but changed her mind before it turned into words.
"Is this that moment that could make or break everything?" She chanced a brief look at his face.
"I don't know," he said, his hand moving higher along her thigh, pressing, squeezing slightly. "I'm not thinking past your skin right now."
"It's just skin," she said.
"Funny thing about skin," he said. "The way it wraps around a person, a woman especially, and makes the air feel a certain way."
"You probably shouldn't be touching mine."
"Yeah, I know." they both knew they wanted more, but didnt want to have more for fear of it going wrong and not being able to keep the deep friendship they had gained over the last 2 months as they somewhat dated. Could you call 3 meets in 2 months dating?
His hand slipped higher, moving toward the tautly stretched hem of her skirt. The muscles in her thighs flexed as they squeezed. She took a deep breath at the same time. She rocked her top leg and shifted her thigh so his fingers could slip between.