Lisa
I changed out of my swim trunks since she was changing out of her bikini. I opted for a pair of jeans and a simple black Henley shirt instead. When I emerged from my cabin, I followed the sounds of pots and pans until I found her in the larger of the two kitchens, standing on her tiptoes to reach a sauce pan up top. I crossed the room in a few strides and reached up, grabbing the handle and lowering it for her. Our chests were mere inches apart as she took the pan, her cheeks turning crimson, and turned away from me to return to her cooking.
"I didn't know you could cook." I told her, trying my best to make casual conversation despite the thick cloud of tension hanging over us. "All I remember from college is cup o' noodle and ordering pizza."
She snorted and grinned.
"That's all I had access to, in a dorm room." she replied, bending over to fetch an ingredient in the pantry and giving me an amazing and presumably unintentional view of her ass in the tiny yellow sundress that she was wearing. I could just barely see the beginnings of a dark green lace thong before she stood back up and trounced away. I plopped into a barstool at the counter, readjusting myself so that my current predicament wasn't so obvious, and waited for her to continue. "My mom taught me to cook though, you know."
"Sure."
"You don't believe me?"
"I've just never seen any proof of this supposed cooking ability."
"Well, you're about to."
She grinned and whirled back around to continue what she was doing. I simply watched her. I'd never watched someone cook before. I'd never had any desire to. But as I watched her hum as she squeezed a lemon, dance a little as she grated the cheese, and suck the sauce off of her finger with a surprisingly erotic moan, I realised I could watch Jennie Kim cook forever and not ever get tired of it.
She concocted some sort of wine sauce pasta complete with citrus and chicken and vegetables. She plated it up and sat it in front of me at the bar.
"No." I said, while lifting my plate and hers and walking toward the dining table on the other side of the room. She grabbed two forks and followed after me, calling after me to ask what I was doing along the way. "A dinner this nice deserves to be eaten at a real table."
She smiled and sank into the chair that I pulled out for her before I crossed the table to set my own plate down.
"Wine?" I asked, gesturing at the bar behind us.
"Please." she answered with a smile and I went to the bar to pour two glasses of a delicate white wine that I thought would go with her meal. Then I brought her the glass and sat across from her with my own. We tapped them together in a mock toast and sipped. I dug into the pasta as soon as I could, amazed by the flavours as they melted on my tongue.
"Mmm..." I moaned out and Jennie's attention snapped to me at once. "This is incredible."
She grinned proudly.
"My mother's famous scampi." she explained. "One of the first things she taught me to make."
I smiled.
"Have you seen her?" I asked.
"Not yet." she told me. "I was hoping to visit her while I was here."
She hesitated, with her fork slowing as she twirled it in the pasta. I stopped chewing and looked up at her. It was the first mention either one of us had made about the fact that she was only here temporarily, that she could be leaving at any moment, and it clearly added some discomfort to the room. After a moment of awkward silence, she sighed and set her fork down completely. I did the same.
"Okay, so let's do this then." she said and I raised a brow. "Talk about it."
I nodded, sitting back in my seat and waiting for her to continue.
"Obviously, I'm attracted to you." she began and I couldn't help but smile as I watched her. She was speaking to me as if this were a business negotiation and she wasn't willing to budge on her terms but she was blushing the whole time and refused to meet my gaze. "I don't exactly... know how to do this. I just want you to know that, although we haven't been active participants in it for a few years now, our friendship still means a lot to me and I don't want to lose that."
I nodded in understanding.
"But I am open to... seeing where this goes, between us, finding out if it can be something real, like you've said."
It was as if I'd had a weight sitting on my chest and I could finally breathe again. I smiled at her across from me as her eyes flicked up, finally, to meet mine.
"Obviously, this isn't going to be your average dating arrangement." she told me, taking a shaky breath as she continued. "I mean, we're already married and living together, even sleeping in the same room. And I know that we have to keep up appearances for everyone around us but... it would be good if you could communicate to me what's fake and what's real."
None of it had ever been fake to me but it didn't feel like the time to tell her that. I was too worried I might scare her off, way too over the moon that she was willing to give me a real shot. I wanted nothing more than to slide this delicious pasta right onto the floor, pull her onto this table, and show her just how real my feelings were. Which reminded me that there was one other bit of discussion that needed to be had.
"So..." I started, carefully. "The 'No Sex' rule?"
She bit her lip, blushing furiously as she answered.
"I think that one... we can table. For now."
