Chapter 13
Cara
Caden showed up at my house ten minutes early. I peered through a slit in the blinds and again felt my heartbeat accelerate. Watching him get out of his car, after checking his hair in his rear-view mirror, I again couldn't believe how lucky I was. Not that looks were everything—I wanted, no needed, a man that was kind and stable. Caden’s looks were definitely an added bonus. His tanned and muscular arms were showing through his blue t-shirt. His khaki shorts fit just right to show off his calves. None of that was a match for those blue eyes, which I could picture even from the window as he made his way to my door.
Flinging open the door and practically jumped on him as I wrapped my arms around his neck. He stumbled backward, then caught his balance and hugged me back. “Now that’s a hello!” he joked.
“I can't wait to see your place,” I said as I let go of him and grabbed his hand to lead him in to the house. “But first, let me show you around.”
“This is a beautiful house, Cara,” Caden said, looking around at the open downstairs. I had painted the rooms myself, all in neutral colors that brought in the slightest hints of other colors. The downstairs focused on shades of sandy beige, with hints of orange in the family room, which was supposed to encourage comfort and conversation. The kitchen brought in a bit of yellow, and the hallways faded in to a more basic beige. The furniture had deep oranges and reds to brighten up the place, and strategically placed bright blues for contrast. The paintings around the house were my own creations, abstracts using left over shutters, pallets, and canvas.
Caden walked around, admiring the paintings. “Who painted these? They’re fantastic!”
“That would be me,” I said, feeling my face grow hot. “I haven't painted in a while, but it's fun to see what your hands can create with just a few colors and old pieces of wood.”
“Cara, seriously, these are amazing. I was already impressed with you, but this goes even above that. Is there anything you can't do?” Caden’s blue eyes widened in disbelief. “I would totally commission you to redo my house and our offices.” He paused, then added, “Speaking of the office, there's something I want to talk to you about.” Another pause. “But, let's see the rest of your house first, and we can talk in the car.”
After looking around the rest of the downstairs, we ascended the stairs. “I love the wood floors,” he said.
“Thanks! You haven't even seen the best part yet,” I teased.
I had not had much money, even with LJ helping, for this house, so we had decided on a renovation project. The house was in a nice neighborhood, but had been a renter’s house, and not well taken care of. In order to get rid of the house, the seller had practically given it away in order to not have to deal with repairs. I had always been a do-it-yourselfer, and although the amount of work seemed daunting at first, I had delved in to it the first two months, completing everything from replacing the toilets to replacing the floors. LJ wasn't much for handyman work, but he did pay for some contractors to fix cracking and add stability to the crawl space.
As Caden walked around upstairs, I looked at all of the work I had done, once again remembering how happy I had thought LJ and I would be here. I had added a smaller pile frieze carpeting upstairs with flecks of color that still blended to neutrality. Our master bedroom was full of grays and whites, as that was what LJ had wanted. The guest room was the one I wanted Caden to see, though, and I let him enter it first. I was a romantic at heart, and this room bared it all, literally. Here is where I let my imagination go crazy in my paintings. The bedding was a soft brown, mixed with some plush, barely pink pillows. There was my “reading chaise,” and my bookcases, full of my classic favorites, as well as my newer beach type reads. But Caden’s eyes had already fixated on something else.
“Did you….” he looked questioningly at me, without finishing his question.
“Yes. I painted those as well,” I admitted.
“Did you have models?”
“No. Just the ones in my imagination,” I shrugged. I had never shared these with anyone except LJ, who had always thought they were too risqué to display anywhere else. No one ever used the guest room other than myself. The paintings were in the same color shades of soft pinks, browns, and beiges: the nudes. These paintings also had an abstract feel to them, but they had definite forms. The forms of couples doing a sort of dance with one another. In each painting, I stroked my feelings of sensuality and sexuality using the forms of bodies. No distinct faces, nor crisp lines, just the floating wisps of paint. The shapes of love and love making.
“I have never seen anything so beautifully representative of couples in love. It's not the bodies or the lack of clothes, but it's like they’re…”
He was still searching for the right words, so I added for him, “dancing their love with their bodies.”
“Yes. Exactly. Cara, this is magnificent. You are extremely talented.” He was shaking his head in disbelief.
I exhaled. Even though I had been worried about his approval, I’d wanted him to see the paintings. To see what he thought. The bodies in my paintings reminded me of Caden and me, of the dance we were starting to do as we began to want more from each other. I'd never seen myself and LJ in the paintings, but I knew that there was someone. I had finally found out who that was.
He spun around and pulled me toward him, kissing me with a gentle neediness that became more intense as our tongues connected and brushed and couldn't get enough. We kissed like people kissed when they realized they had completely fallen; hard and soft, tasting and inhaling each other’s essence. Finally, he broke away, holding my hands and staring in to my eyes.
“Cara, I don't know if I have ever wanted someone as badly as I want to feel you right now. There are things I want to experience with you, right here and now, but I don't want to overstep my bounds. Please tell me you're feeling the same.” Caden’s eyes begged me for affirmation.
“Yes,” I breathlessly answered, and my heart pounded so loudly that it was echoing in my ears. “So much yes. Though, maybe we should at least have dinner first.”
“You're right. I do know that the way to your heart is through your stomach, anyway.” He laughed, pulling me in for one last squeeze before leading me back downstairs.
As we opened the door, I noticed two of my nosey neighbors looking over, mouths just about hanging open. I'm sure they were judging me for another man being at the house, and probably also green with envy over Caden as well. Caden noticed them as well, and gave them a tentative wave.
I decided that I may as well give them a show, and I pulled him closer to me as I kissed him again, hard, and grabbed his ass. He responded well, grabbing my ass and wrapping his other arm around my back to draw me against him. When I pulled away, he had a longing, but surprised look on his face.
“I've been waiting quite a while to do something outrageous in front of those catty women. Thank you for being my helper.” I winked and walked to the car.
He followed, chuckling, and opened my door. I gave the ladies a huge smile as I leaned in and saw the roses sitting on the seat.
He reached over me, made a grand gesture of handing them to me, and kissed me again. Swooning, I finally took my seat. Take that, I thought as I felt something I hadn't realized I was missing for a long time: freedom. I’d loved LJ, and I didn't think I was missing out on anything by always staying around town, or at least within driving distance, in case anything came up with his business. And even though by virtue of my job and our social events, I could always dress casually, I still had to act the part of the politically correct girlfriend. His business relied on the people who lived around us, so I couldn't ever step out of line or utter a mean word, or let someone see us disagree, because of how it looked to his customers. The taste of freedom was sweet, and I breathed it in as Caden put the car in gear and began to drive down the street. I stared right at those neighbors and waved, a huge smile plastered on my face.
“Hey, Cara,” Caden began in a serious tone, “if you ever feel the urge to show off in front of someone, I'm your man. I mean, seriously, any time.”