Chapter 7: BECAUSE YOU RUN FOR THE BUS

Maybe she would kick herself for this later, but the answer to that one simple question was the most important thing in the world to Tory right now.

"What made you even notice me? I'm sorry if I'm putting you on the spot-"

"It's not that." He turned to face her again. "It's just that I'm not usually this forward. I mean, I don't know anything about you yet...and the answer to that question might offend you."

Offend her? She didn't know if she should prompt him to continue, or not. But she remained silent. His hands clasped in his lap and he sighed deeply.

"I noticed you because you run for the bus every day."

"What?" She looked at him in confusion.

He sighed. "You run for the bus every day and when you get on you sound like you've just made love...and have been thoroughly satisfied." Tory's heart jumped in her chest, her cheeks flamed. He continued. "The first time I heard that...I could barely stand up to get off the bus. I look forward to that sound every day, Tory. And then, one day you fell into my lap and...well, I wasn't lying when I said that it was truly my pleasure."

Tory's mouth gaped open and she was momentarily speechless. No man had ever said anything so sexy to her in her entire life! She was practically trembling with emotion—and another, more earthy, sensual feeling that sprouted from her stomach and spread warm fingers between her thighs and across her puckering nipples.

She finally blew out a slow calming breath and looked at Lee who was still awaiting her reaction. Swiftly she leaned over to kiss his cheek.

He turned to her, surprised, his mouth slightly ajar, lips full and delicious; so much so that Tory could barely take her eyes from them.

"You are very sweet." He said honestly. "Can I see you?"

She searched his face before answering. "Yes."

Lee reached out tentatively. His fingertips came in contact with her cheeks first. Lightly he traced its contours. His eyes took on a distant expression as he concentrated. His fingertips moved lightly to her ears and then down her neck and up the back, over her hairline which was pulled up into a French twist. Quickly he rubbed a few strands of her hair through his fingertips.

It wasn't fine like his hair or his sister's hair. Did he even know that she was African American? Did that matter to him?

His fingers moved to her forehead and then ever-so-lightly over her eyes, nose, than lips. At her lips he hesitated and then using one thumb, dragged her bottom lip down slightly.

Before thinking, she lightly drew her lips together and kissed the tip of his finger, then she flushed, embarrassed. What was she doing?!

Lee tilted his head, perhaps thinking the same thing. But then his fingers traveled across her shoulders, boldly grazed over her breasts—which caused her breathing to become heavier. His hands, still travelling downward moved over her belly and then lightly up her sides.

By that time, Tory could barely catch her breath. She didn't want him to hear her breathing heavy because she knew that's how he 'saw' her, with his ears and now with his hands. But wishing something didn't prevent it from happening and her nipples ached to be touched, the space between her legs thrummed almost painfully.

"Thank you." He whispered while allowing his hands to drop from her body.

"I...better-" She stood, "it's getting late." She picked up her purse with shaky hands and began digging into it for money. "How much is this-?" She was incredibly uncomfortable.

"Tory, it's on me. Please. Let me walk you to your car or call you a cab."

She shook her head. "No. I can just take the bus."

"Are you sure?" A look of disappointment crossed his face.

She nodded. When he didn't respond she quickly said yes.

"Well let me at least walk you to the bus stop-"

"You don't have to do that."

He suddenly looked unhappy. His expression fell and a shadow replaced the disappointment. She suddenly realized that it appeared as if she was giving him the brush off, or that she didn't think that he was capable of escorting her. In actuality, it was something much more basic; Tory was so turned-on that she thought a strong wind might send her over the edge! She just wanted to get away from the source of her torment as quickly as she could.

"Actually...it is pretty dark. Would you walk with me?" He nodded and reached into his pocket for his wallet, pulling out several bills, which he dropped onto the bar.

"You can be my cane tonight." He held out his arm for her.

His cane! She hoped she wouldn't cause him to trip. She slipped her fingers around his arm, unable to stop herself from brushing his biceps with the back of her fingers. Hmmm, hard as a rock.

"Just walk at a normal pace." Tory headed to the entrance. The hostess gave her an appraising look before telling them good night.

"Is that one of your sisters?"

"No. That's Rosalind. I grew up with her, though." Tory wasn't very swift with certain things, but she could easily see when a woman felt that she had a stake in a man, and Rosalind had that look. Tory paused and slowly stepped across the threshold. He crossed smoothly a moment after her.

"I'm sorry about making you uncomfortable in there." She was about to deny it but he continued. "We discussed some things that I definitely would not have touched with a ten foot pole until…I knew you a lot better." He glanced at her and innocently licked his lips, causing a strange effect in the pit of her stomach; it felt like someone had touched her with a tazer! He wanted to know her better…

"It's ok." She responded too quickly. "It's just that all this time I thought I sounded like a fat lady breathing heavy." He didn't respond and she covered the uncomfortable silence. "I don't remember seeing you on that bus before. I don't ride it every day..." but she would have remembered him.

"I moved here from across town. I used to come this way to eat at the Jewel a few times a week and to visit my sisters. I think I just decided to sacrifice proximity to work for proximity to family. It was a smart move."

"What do you do?"

"I work for a publishing company converting books to Braille. We work with a lot of instructional manuals, and teaching aids, but also on demand. If someone wants the latest Stephen King novel then we will convert it for them."

"Do you like doing that type of work?"

"I love it. I can set my own hours, work from home when I want. All I need is to meet my deadlines. Plus I get to learn new things. I converted an instructional manual for how to build a kit car. I don't know too many visually impaired car builders but…hey."