They Say Love Is Blind (11 page)

Eventually reaching the kitchen, she decided to show him what
magic she could do in here.
She made a huge frittata omelet with potatoes and cheese, bacon, peppers and onions. He had two servings. As they ate, they talked mainly about her; about her being an only child and her parents living down in Florida now and how much she missed them.

"You seemed really happy when you were a kid."

"I was."

"But not so much now." He observed. "What changed?"

Her face fell. She wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about that yet. She pushed the subject into a different direction. "Well, it's just that being a fat woman in our society is tough."

"It seems that the worst of it is that it makes you feel as if you are less. When actually, I think you're perfect the way you are. But what matters is not what I think, but what you think."

"I think that I'm overweight. But I don't think that I would have been an unhappy fat woman if it wasn't for the way people look at me." He nodded and reached for her hand.

"You know that I don't dislike your weight. I like you—all of you."

"I know you mean that."

He sighed. "I think I'm ready to take a tour of the bathroom." She laughed and left him at the bathroom door to explore it all on his own.

"Tory." He called when he was finished. She was in the kitchen cleaning up. He was making his way down the short hall using his cane.

"I'm here."

"I want you to take me to the bus stop."

"What?"
"I want you to take me the route that you walk every morning...or should I say run?"

"I'm never going to live that down."

"You got a bus schedule
? I'm going to take you out
on the town, love
."

"Oh?" She grabbed her purse and keys then searched for her bus
schedule
. When they had everything, she looped her arm around his and led him out the door. He didn't put away his cane and seemed to concentrate more, yet he was still talkative and asked her questions about her neighborhood.
It only took them five minutes to get to the bus stop which was only around the block from her home.
He turned to her seriously. "I can come visit you Tory. This is very simple to navigate." She looked over her shoulder at the street.

"You'll have to cross that one street, and there's no stop sign or light."

"But it's a residential neighborhood, which means less traffic."

"True."
He nodded. "It can be done, though they need to put a stop sign there."

"You can go the other way around. It's longer, about twice as long but there is a crosswalk."
"I'll be okay. I can hear a car coming and I'll be using my cane. Now, let's take a look at the schedule. We're going shopping."

"Groceries?"

"No. I want to buy you something to put next to your other keepsakes; something that reminds you of me. Are you up for that?"

Wow. "Yeah. Thank you, honey." She read to him the times for the pickups and they decided to head back to his neighborhood where there were so many interesting little shops to explore. The bus picked them up a few moments later and Lee paid for the both of them before she
could even put her hand into her bag.

The
bus began moving before he was seated but he didn't even stumble. He sat down next to her and placed his hand lightl
y on her knee. "Home sweet home," h
e whispered playfully.

Back in Lee's eclectic little neighborhood, Tory led them to a second hand shop. Some people didn't like them, but she found great fines among the items that others had discarded as useless. Lee put away his cane and allowed her to loop her hands around his arm and to be his guide. She was pleased that he trusted her enough to do that, so she was very careful.

She loved watching him run his fingers along items, and the look of concentration on his face as he formed an image of it in his head. He looked like an inquisitive little kid and she realized that this is something that he probably loved doing but maybe hadn't had anyone to share with, either. Her heart opened up just a teeny bit more than it had previously.

After that shop, they went to a book store, but it was by his insistence not hers. "Wait." They paused just inside of the door and he pulled out his cane. He tapped the floor several times in different directions. He looked at her. "I can tell where things are by doing that."

"How?"

"The sound it gives off lets me know how close I am to things."

"If I let you
go will you bump into something?
"

"No. Let me go and I'll show you." She stepped back and he used his cane to test a tight circumference around himself as he moved forward. A group of people were talking and he went around them and they moved out of his way. A greeter came up to him.

"How are you today, sir? Can I help you find anything?"

"Books on tape please." The clerk offered her arm and Lee took it lightly.

"Sure, follow me. Was there something that you were looking for specifically?"

Troy followed, holding his cane perpendicular to his body as he was guided by the young woman. She gave him an appreciative look as she led him to the display where the books on tapes were located. Tory came up behind them.

"Hi honey."

"Hi babe." He responded and held out his arm for her.

The sales woman pouted but pointed out some of the more popular recordings.

"I can take it from here." Tory replied, and the woman left reluctantly.

"There are a lot of displays and you didn't run into any of them. I guess you don't need me around."
His
cell
phone rang before he could reply. He gave her a quick squeeze and retrieved
it from his pocket
.
"Yep? Hi Mace. No, Tory and I are out together."

Macey
--
his sister. Tory picked up a tape and pretended to be interested in it and not listening to his conversation. She suspected that Roz had probably run to them complaining about the slutty fat girl with the dirty apartment. Tory's face burned.

Lee moved the phone from his mouth.
"My sister says hi."

She smiled. "Oh, tell her I said hi."

"She wants us to come by for dinner, is that cool?"

"At the restaurant? Sure, that's fine."

"No, not at the restaurant, at her place. She's not working tonight."

"Oh, okay. Yeah that sounds good." She wasn't always comfortable in situations like dinner with people she didn't know well. And what if Roz showed up? What if Mace
y
was just checking her out, like this was a big test that she might pass or fail? But she liked Macey just from their brief acquaintance so she focused on that.

"Okay, Mace. We'll be there. Yeah, that's fine.
Até logo
."
After returning the phone to his pocket he took her hand and smiled warmly.
"My brothers and sisters are good people. You'll like them."

"All of them?" She croaked.

"Yes. All of my brothers and sisters will be there and don't sound so nervous,
q
uerida
--Roz will not be present." Oh Roz she could handle. That woman was just a secondary fixture in his life. But if his family didn't like her,
now
that was a whole other story.

CHAPTER 8

Tory felt distracted as they moved from shop to shop. They stopped for coffee and Tory still hadn't found anything that reminded her of Lee.

"It doesn't have to be today. We'll find something to put on your mantle."

"You want to be on my mantle?" She joked
.

He reached out and took her hand. "I'd like to be among the things that you find precious." Tory moved her fingers, intertwining them with his.

"You already are," s
he whispered.

He kissed her fingers lightly and his rough growth of stubble tickled the back of her fingers. He had neglected his morning shave and the result was a rugged sexy look that kept her eyes glued to his face. She reached out and rubbed his cheek.

"So..." He said. "Are you getting tired of shopping? We can go back to my place and relax until dinner...?"
"Relax. Okay, I like to relax," s
he said breathlessly.

He retrieved his cell phone. "We're going to take a cab this time."

While they rode the short distance to his place, Tory leaned in and whispered to him.
"This is the
most
fun that I've ever had."

He nodded and leaned in. "For me, it's a toss-up between today and last night." She peeked at the cab driver and then quickly kissed him which caused him to laugh. Back at the apartment the two walked arm in arm into the building. Cat sauntered up to them, meowing loudly.

"Awww." Lee reached down and rubbed the tabby. "Did I forget to feed you? You didn't leave a gift in my bed did you?" He moved in a relaxed manner to the kitchen. "Honey, put on some music."
She gave the stereo a wary look. "Oh...ok." It was the type of entertainment center that looked futuristic to her. She had a turntable that still sounded great despite the fact that it had seen its hay day back in the seventies. She found a remote control and hit the power button. Immediately the system came to life, lighting up like a space ship, but no music. She pressed the button for cd/dvd 1. Immediately loud Latin music came over the speakers and Tory almost jumped out of her skin. After a few moments she found the volume button and turned it down to something less ear shattering.
"Sorry!" He called from the kitchen. "I was practicing my dance moves before the date." She tried to imagine him dancing here all by himself. It was a sexy image. He returned to the living room carrying two glasses of wine and she met him half-way. She took the glass but before she could drink he pulled her to him.

"I've
wanted to do this all morning," h
e leaned down and kissed her twice. The first kiss was light and gentle. The second kiss was deep and passionate; a sharing of tongues and the sucking of lips. She pulled back suddenly.

"What time do we meet your family for dinner?"

His hand rested on her rounded hip, fingers lightly stroking her there.

He sighed. "Actually, we can go over as early as we want but they'll be sitting down to eat at six." She knew that it was probably just after three o'clock now...

"How far away is it?"

"Walking distance. We could be there in fifteen minutes."

"So...we could leave here at five and be there at a decent time?"

His hands seemed to be having a fine time exploring her rear. "Is there anything in particular that you had a mind to do before dinner?"

She hid a grin and tried to sound serious. "Remember those sounds I made last night? Well, I was of a mind to make them again..."

Lee closed his eyes. "
O
h meu
it d
ues
...Do you know what you do to me when you talk like that?" She trailed a finger down his toned belly, over the button of his pants and then further over the slight bulge of his crotch. She felt him shudder. She was beginning to have an idea
.

"Mmmm.
” He sighed in pleasure.
“
You should use your fingers to see me...an experiment. Are you game?"

"Close my eyes and see you by touch only?" But she really liked looking at him with eyes...of course, running her fingers over every line of his body wouldn't be too bad either. "I'm game!" They quickly finished their wine and then Lee took the glasses and whisked them away to the kitchen. In the bedroom she quickly stripped out of her clothes, taking care to drape them neatly over the chair since she'd be wearing them to meet his family.

Lee was less careful and he was naked in less than thirty seconds. He climbed into bed and lay with one arm folded behind his head. She forgot to breathe as she looked at this gorgeous naked man, already semi-erect because he wanted her. Her.

She walked to the bed naked and didn't remember for a second that she was once ashamed of her body for at the present moment all she could think of was how beautiful he made her feel. Once she was on the bed she did as she had indicated and closed her eyes. He reached up once and ran his fingers lightly over them just to check.

For a moment she just concentrated on the feel of his fingers as they left a trail down her neck, over her collarbone and then innocently between her breast. She didn't realize that she had been holding her breath until his fingers fell away and she found that she was slightly lightheaded.

Without opening her eyes she started her exploration at the top of his head where his light brown curls began. She ran her fingers through his short hair, rubbing the strands between her fingers as he had done to her days before. She allowed her nails to lightly graze his scalp and he groaned softly. Her fingers traced his brow, memorizing the shape of his face and then the slope of his nose and the curve of his lip. She felt compelled to bend down and kiss him then, and his lips were already to meet hers.