Page 29 of Saving Stella

He played the series of notes a few more times, slowly at first as she instructed, before attempting it again.

“That’s it.” Her hand squeezed his shoulder. “Do you remember the next part?”

He rubbed his fingers together. “I’m not sure.”

“It’s the same pattern, but you start on a different note.” She sat down beside him and leaned over to place her hands on the keys.

Her scent tickled his nostrils as she began to play the last few bars of the song, and Cliff stifled a groan as the delicious smell sent his cock twitching.

“There.” Blue eyes peered up at him. “Now, do you remember?”

“Er, sorry, could you do that again?” He scooted away from her to avoid her scent.

She repeated it, and this time, he committed the notes to memory.

“There. Now you give it a try.”

He played the section, missing only a few notes.

“Now do it again, from the beginning,” she instructed. “You just have to keep practicing until you can do it perfectly.”

Unable to say no to her, he started the piece again.

“That’s it … a little faster on that F ….”

Cliff could see why she chose to be a teacher—Stella was patient and kind, and knew how to give encouragement when needed as well as explain things so they were easy to understand. When he finished the piece, she clapped her hands.

“Amazing!”

This time, Cliff found himself blushing under her praise. “Nah, that was easy shit.”

“That was not easy sh—” She clamped her lips together. “That was not easy. Not for a six-year-old and especially not having to do it from memory after all these years. It’s too bad you stopped, you have a natural sense of rhythm and probably a good ear for tone.”

“Thanks. You’re a good teacher.”

She blushed again. “Not your teacher?”

“No. Definitely not. He was an old geezer who was probably older than Andrew Carnegie himself. You’re much better-looking.”

The color in her cheeks deepened, and he found himself mesmerized by her pupils, which had grown larger. Her scent seemed to intensify, and he found himself leaning closer to her. Stella’s mouth parted, and she tilted her head to the side.

“Hello, there you are!”

They broke apart at the sound of Fiona Bannister’s voice. Cliff quickly slid off the bench and shot to his feet.

What. The. Fuck?

“I see you found each other,” she remarked.

“Y-yes, we did,” Stella stammered as she smoothed her hand down her lap. “Thank you again for the tour, Fiona, this was a wonderful treat.”

“It was my pleasure. Can I show you out? Do you want me to call a cab?”

“No, we’ll be fine,” Cliff said. “I’ll take care of Stella from here.”

“Excellent.”

After walking them out and saying their final goodbyes, Cliff led them to the garage where he’d parked.