I gave her a wide smile and nodded. It actually wasn’t my favorite, although it was fine, but I really wanted her to order for me.
She looked down at me. “How do you like it?”
“Whatever way you think’s best. I’m in your hands.” I gave her an adoring smile. I could tell she wasn’t exactly comfortable for a second, but eventually the corners of her mouth lifted and she nodded.
“Ok, you asked for it.” One more customer and we were at the counter.
“How can I help you?” The girl, who was wearing a nametag that said ‘Katrina’, looked at us, and I just grinned up at Taylor, who stepped up to the occasion.
“I’d like a turkey club on white, grilled, and a cup of beef and barley soup please, and she’ll have a pastrami on rye with only spicy mustard, with a cup of the tomato bisque. Two drinks.” We took a plastic number and went to find a seat. I took the cups.
“What do you want to drink, sweetie?”
“Oh, um, Sprite, please.”
I filled the cups with ice and the lemon-lime soda. I set one in front of Taylor.
“Thank you, baby.”
I let my hand trail over her shoulder as I sat next to her. “My pleasure.” I flashed my eyes at her and dropped my voice. “And thanks for ordering for me, My Lady.”
I sat down and ran my leg up hers, smiling widely. Taylor returned my grin and shook her head. “You enjoyed that, huh?” I nodded, which made her chuckle. “And don’t think I didn’t notice how you got me to choose the restaurant, baby.”
My smile widened as my cheeks heated up. “So, I do have something I have to talk to you about. Remember how we were talking about my senior project? I want to ask you about it. I did a computer drawing, let me show you.”
I pulled my tablet out of my backpack and opened it to the images I’d shown the professor “What do you think?”
“Wow, Aly, this is amazing.”
“See, I thought this could be the event room, here with all the windows, great view of the beach and water. Can you imagine a whole bunch of fancy dressed people, music playing, happy bride and groom, or bride and bride, whatever?” I was grinning now. I really wanted her to be impressed, but I could see the wheels in her head turning. “What are you thinking?”
“You know what would be interesting? See how you curved this out?” She pointed to the huge expanse of windows that ran around the third floor overlooking the ocean and beach. “What if instead it were shaped like the bow of a ship, like it was ready to sail right off the coast and into the bay.”
My eyes widened as I saw it. “Yeah.” I grabbed the stylus and started making notes right on the screen. “And the top could be like a deck, with seating and tables.”
“Sure, and a food court shaped like a cabin.”
“Can you imagine the photos?”
“It would be amazing.”
We kept going, barely noticing when our food arrived. I did pause long enough to take a bite of my pastrami on rye, which was really good. Maybe the pastrami I’d had before had been second rate, or maybe it was because My Lady had ordered it for me.
As for the beach center, a lot of the technical things, like how much square footage would be needed for the command center, how big Jennifer’s office should be, would be for another night. Now we were just doing the fun, creative stuff.
And it was lovely. Taylor’s mind was so quick, and she could look at a picture and almost see it moving. I knew she was imaging herself at the apex of the bow, riding the waves as the sea breeze whipped around her. She looked really good doing that in my head.
“Hey? Where’d you go?”
“Hm? Oh, sorry, daydreaming.”
“Not paying attention when I’m speaking? You want a punishment already?”
I pouted a little. “I don’t even get a few hours grace period?”
Taylor’s eyes flashed and I hastily dropped my eyes. “I’m sorry, My Lady.” An excited thrill ran down my spine. And I shyly raised my eyes back to hers, watching her stern face morph into a wide grin. She put her hand behind my neck and pulled me into a kiss, one that I felt all the way down to my toes.
After a moment she looked deep into my eyes. “I forgive you, this time.” She kissed me again and I couldn’t help but giggle as the thrill of her proximity echoed through my body. We ate our lunch and talked about my project. My body never stopped humming from being next to her, which seemed to send my brain into overdrive. The exchange of ideas was incredibly natural, easy and productive. We spent about an hour after finishing our soup and sandwiches just going back and forth, and by the end I could really see it, the whole thing in my head.
Taylor sat back and shook her head. “Okay, no more work.”
“That’s fine. I’ve got it from here I think. Except I’ll need to talk to Jennifer.”
“We can call her tonight.”
We went for a walk in a local park, our hands joining naturally as we did. Taylor casually mentioned she had to go grocery shopping at some point tomorrow.
“We can do that now, if you want.”
“You want to spend our time at a store?”
I swung her hand back and forth. “We can get something for dinner tonight, make it together. It’d be fun. There’s a Trader Joe’s just over there.”
Taylor grimaced. “I’m more of an Aldi’s girl. Lifeguarding, not as lucrative as you’d think.”
“My treat, come on.”
As we walked into the store, still hand in hand, I grabbed her arm and looked up at her. “So what was your favorite meal as a kid? What did your mom make that you miss? You said she was a good cook.”
“I don’t like to think about it.”
I cocked my head to the side and gave her my best coquettish expression. “But, we could start making some good memories.”
“Fine. Beef stroganoff over mashed potatoes. Most people serve it over noodles, but when you’re from Idaho, well, dad preferred potatoes.”
“Do you have a recipe?”
“Not really. I’ve never made it. Vicky makes it for me sometimes.”
“Okay, well let’s see.” I pulled out my phone and did a quick search. “How about this one?”
“Sure, looks right.”
We made a quick list based on what Taylor said she had in her kitchen, as well as picking up some potatoes. Meat, mushrooms, beef stock, a few seasonings and sour cream, and we headed back to Taylor’s apartment.
Taylor looked over at me as I drove. “So do you cook at all, or do you leave that to the servants?”
“We do not have servants, silly. We’re not that rich.”
“So your mother cleans her own house, your dad mows the yard?”
I gritted my teeth. No, that didn’t happen. “Okay, but we don’t have a maid, it’s a cleaning service.” My blush deepened. “And a landscaping service. But no one full time.”
Taylor gave me a ‘See what I mean?’ look.
“I’m sorry. Does that make me a bad person?” I pouted a little.
“Oh, yes, and one that needs to be punished tonight.”
I stuck my lip out further. “Really?”
“Besides, I’ve been thinking about all kinds of delicious things to do to you.”
That sent a shiver down my spine. I imagined myself helpless as she pinned me down making me pleasure her, her hands running over my body and …
“Hey, hey, road, road!”
I snapped back to reality and realized I’d been drifting onto the shoulder. I gave a sheepish grin. “Sorry.” I made myself concentrate, but it wasn’t easy with the area between my legs still tingling, and I breathed a sigh of relief when we pulled into Taylor’s drive.
We carried in our groceries and put them away.
“So, Aly, you never did answer my question. You don’t know how to cook, do you??”
“Um.” I twiddled my foot. “Not really? I mean, I can do the basics, I know how to boil pasta and scramble eggs and stuff.” I pulled out my phone and brought up the recipe. “I mean, it can’t be that hard. See, it’s just sprinkling and coating. And sauteing. We can saute things, right?”
Taylor laughed and shook her head. “Yes, we can saute things. One of us actually can cook some. Why don’t you get started peeling the potatoes while I prep the meat?”
“Sure thing. Um, how exactly do I do that?”
It was stupidly embarrassing, but after she showed me how to use the potato peeler I got the hang of it eventually. After a lot of mistakes and laughter, and a few eye rolls from Taylor at my pathetic cooking skills, we managed to get dinner made. It was the most fun I’d had all week, sharing stories from school and the beach as we ate. As we cleaned up, I let myself imagine what it would be like to come home to this every night. I was humming to myself, dreaming a little about warm June days and white dresses as I finished loading the dishwasher. Two strong arms wrapped around my waist.
“Hey, baby, was that good?”
I leaned back against her. “Yeah. So what now?”
“I’d say we need to digest some. Snuggle on the couch until I decide I’m ready to take you to bed.”
“Yes, My Lady.”
She slipped her arm around my waist and led me over to the sofa, where she sat down and pulled me into her lap. I laid my head on her chest as her arms went around me.
“Baby, what are you in the mood for?”
“Something romantic. Something that’s going to make me want to do fun things with you later.” I kissed her on the cheek. “You know, put me in the mood.”