Page 22 of All The Wrong Notes

Oh, poor man! He really was just horribly shy, wasn’t he?

“I’m still trying to figure you out.” Elise leaned back a bit to take all of him in. It hardly made sense. “You’re wealthy, educated, successful, elegant, handsome…”

“You think I’m handsome?” If he hadn’t sounded so surprised, she would have laughed. But laughter, right now, was probably the last thing in the world he needed.

“Have you looked at yourself in a mirror recently, Will? I don’t understand how you aren’t mobbed by women.”

“I… I thought they just wanted my money. Carlos tells me I can seem very rude, at times, but I just don’t know how to deal with people who don’t seem to care about me at all.”

At last he was opening up, revealing something of what was inside that beautiful and forbidding exterior, and her heart broke just a little bit at his confession.

“That first time we met, at the blind-dating event that Carlos forced me into, I was horrible. I see that now.”

Elise nodded, but kept quiet.

“But I was so overwhelmed and, frankly, terrified. I just don’t know how to act.”

It was time.

“Come.”

Will peered at her again as if she had started speaking Elvish. She reached for his hand and pulled him after her into the small living room. She found the playlist on her phone and connected it to the speaker that sat on her bookshelf, and waited for a moment. The strains of a slow waltz filled the air, and she stepped right up to him and manoeuvred one of his hands until it settled at her waist, before putting hers loosely around the back of his neck.

“Just pull me close and move to the music,” she cooed.

Will stood there, eyes wide in alarm, looking rather like he’d been petrified into rock. Could it be? With a low chuckle, she stepped closer, closing the gap that he wouldn’t, or couldn’t, manage, and pressed herself against him.

Ah yes. He liked her. “Look at me, Will,” she purred, and waited for him to lower his head for his eyes to meet hers. Then, slowly enough for him to pull back if he objected, she pushed herself onto her toes and moved her head towards him until her lips touched his.

For a second, he remained absolutely unmoving, as if he were cast from ice, and then, at once, the dam broke and every ounce of the passion she thought he had trapped inside him rushed out.

“Elise,” he murmured as his arms wrapped about her and crushed her to his chest, and he returned her kiss with an ardour far beyond what she expected.

* * *

The clouds had parted, Heaven opened its doors, and angels sang.

For a moment, Will was so shocked, he couldn’t move. Shocked, delighted, thrilled, transported, exultant. She had kissed him. And now he was kissing her. Elise! Elise of the beautiful eyes, the velvet voice. Brilliant, caring, witty Elise. She… she liked him!

After all his efforts to behave like a gentleman until he was sure of her, she had taken the lead, and he thanked her for it. Because, he admitted to himself, she could have come towards him completely naked, carrying a placard saying, “Take me,” and he still would have second-guessed himself. She was right. How could a grown man, who managed international corporations and who met with high-ranking business and political leaders all the time, be so insecure about the affections of a woman? And yet, that’s how it was.

In business, Will knew what was expected of him and what role he had to play. In matters of the heart, everything was new and strange. Caring for someone meant opening the window to your soul to that person. Every fear, insecurity, fault, and flaw were laid bare, and your very essence was presented to another to cherish or to destroy on a whim.

And in this moment, when she kissed him with such tenderness and care, Will knew that Elise would never seek to destroy him, and so he gave her every bit of his love.

Still revelling in the wonder of it all, he let Elise control the kiss at first. All the worry, the anxiety, the self-doubt began to dissolve away, leaving him freed from the fetters he had secured himself, until the realisation finally arrived in his brain: She likes you. She wants this. She wants you!

And with this epiphany, he cast off the last of his chains and threw himself into her embrace, answering her movements with everything he had. For this moment, they were the only two people in the universe, and she was everything he ever wanted or needed. His heart sang.

* * *

This was a new Will again. Elise curled up against his side on the sofa, letting her head nestle onto his shoulder, revelling in the warmth of his arm encircling her and holding her close. They were happy right now to cuddle in a peaceful and satisfied silence, broken only by her occasional sigh of contentment as she nuzzled his neck, or his answering hum as he kissed the top of her head.

They had tempered their passion this time, and despite a rather heavy make-out session, remained clothed. Mostly. Elise had been quite ready to take Will to bed, but he had held back, saying he wanted to give her time to be sure. She understood him well enough, by now, to comprehend that he was the one who needed more time, but she would let him play the gentleman for a while longer. She could live with this. His response to her overtures had been enthusiastic enough that she felt no rejection, and it was welcome, if slightly frustrating, to be with a man who cared more about the relationship than about satisfying his own urges. Besides, no meant no, no matter who said it.

And so they satisfied themselves with necking like teenagers and then curling up on the sofa and listening to jazz.

But now, this new Will was open enough to talk, and gradually, punctuated by kisses and murmurs and the occasional wandering hand, Elise teased out some of his insecurities.