You say you and your girlfriend were so tight
Slipping into the dress she'd chosen for the evening, Reilly wandered toward the loo where she could hear her lover getting ready; she needed help with her zipper. Reilly was perfectly capable of dressing herself, but she liked the feel of Blake's hands brushing her lightly as he manipulated the fabric and she liked the soft kiss at the bend of her neck that always came when he'd completed the task. Perhaps Julian was correct that she was going soft. It was hard to find a reason to mind, though.
Lips curling slightly as she caught sight of Blake, fresh from the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist and his blond hair damp and mussed, she leaned against the counter beside him. "Have I mentioned how very sexy you are?" she asked in a voice both playful and sincere.
"You have, but feel free to reiterate as often as possible. My ego needs constant stroking," Blake said, lips curling as he met Reilly's eyes. Months ago, the turn of his lips would have been a smirk, but more often than not of late, it was genuine pleasure that made his mouth turn up when he was with his lover.
Blake hadn't ever been a man for committed relationships, had actively avoided women who seemed like the type beyond a good time, but it'd been over a half a year with the woman before him and he couldn't imagine not being with her for the foreseeable future. He liked waking up with her, her skin warm against his, and he liked cooking supper with her in the evenings, sharp wit and good conversation to be had over their meals, and he liked seducing her to bed - or being seduced as the case often was.
No, he hadn't planned on monogamy, at least not for a long while, but Blake never did anything half arsed, either. "Other things need constant stroking as well," he added, blue eyes twinkling.
The comment drew a chuckle from the usually serious witch, and Reilly considered engaging in a bit of 'stroking' for a long moment before putting the idea aside. She and Blake had been together for quite awhile now and yet her ardor hadn't cooled in the least. It was for that reason, among others, that she was glad he hadn't taken her to bed in the days when she simply wanted to stoke the flame he inspired in her until it burned itself out. Not only would the task have been much more difficult than she's anticipated, but Reilly had never been as content as she was with Blake in her life. He was still an incorrigible ass at times, but he was her incorrigible ass.
"I don't need to give Michael an opportunity to speculate on why I'm tardy for our dinner," she said with wry humor before her expression shifted to something more sultry, "but if you'll help me with my zipper, I'll keep that in mind for later in the evening."
"I suppose so," Blake said, his tone forlorn as he reached for her zipper to pull it up. If he spent more time than was necessary doing this now-usual task by bending to press his lips in light kisses up the exposed skin of her back as he covered it, he didn't think Reilly minded. Not that his lover often needed much incentive, but a few reminders that he'd appreciate if she did keep things in mind would never go amiss.
Also, he just liked touching her. And making her cross with her own unsatiated wants.
"There you go, my darling dear," he said, grinning at her in the mirror when he was done. "Prim and proper."
Her skin was abuzz with the lingering sensation of his lips and Reilly's eyes narrowed slightly as she met Blake's gaze in the glass. "Get ready, you." She wasn't talking about their dinner plans.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Passing through the door Michael held for her, Emma tugged lightly at the hem of her little dress. It had a tendency to ride up as she walked, but she liked the way it made her legs look long despite her diminutive size. This was an actual planned outing, something that was not as rare as it had once been for her and Michael but was still something of a novelty. Emma liked it when her pretty man sought her out, though she didn't examine that feeling too closely. He hadn't explained much about why they were going to Avalon until he'd picked her up, in any case.
"So we're meeting your best girlfriend and her new boyfriend?" Emma asked in confirmation as her eyes scanned the crowd despite the fact she didn't know the woman they were meeting. "And she's a stuffy sort?"
"She can be," he said, lips twitching as he watched Emma tug at her dress and shift lightly in her heels. Usually her attention was fully on him when he was near her, but Michael could see and feel the anxiousness in her. He found it endearing that she was nervous to meet his friends.
He didn't examine that he had picked her of all the women he spent time with to be his date to a dinner party with one of the most important people in his life.
"She'll like you," he told Emma, fingers running lightly from her shoulder and down her bare arm until he could grasp her hand and tug her to him. "I like you," he said as if it explained everything.
Squeezing his hand, Emma let the warmth of Michael's nearness settle her. She wasn't shy by nature, but this was the first time he'd introduced her to someone he cared about. That took the evening beyond 'a novelty' and awfully close to 'an occasion'. "Do you see her? Or should we go on and get a table ourselves?"
Michael scanned over the top of the popular lounge's crowd for a familiar perfectly coiffed head of dark hair, but didn't see his old friend. This night had been a long time in coming; Reilly had never been with one man for so long in her life, nor had she ever been so at ease and happy for such a long period. Michael was eager to meet the man who could work such miracles.
But he was also happy to have a few minutes alone with Emma before they came. It'd been weeks since he'd seen her last, and as was often the case, his hands seemed to have missed her, whether just to touch, or to strum music from her body.
Said hands shifted to smooth down her back and grip her hips as he bent to press a kiss to her jaw. "Table's taken care of. Drinks while we wait?"
"Sure." Her voice wavered softly and her tone held a hint of breathiness as Michael's lips brushed her skin. Her pretty man knew just how to make her body come alive and she'd long suspected he did it for the enjoyment of watching the effect as well as for his own enjoyment in touching her. That was okay. She liked playing his games, too.
Emma wasn't a big drinker most of the time, but she let Michael lead her to the bar and get one of the pink and fruity drinks she liked. "Do you think you'll like her boyfriend?"
"Have no reason not to," he said once he'd helped Emma onto one the few available barstools and leaned in against the counter next to her once she had her cocktail in hand, and he his beer. "If she's happy, then I'm happy for her," he added, lips curling slightly before he tipped his bottle back to enjoy the wheat brew.
Michael chuckled moments later, adding, "though I've been long interested to meet the kind of man that makes a woman like Rei happy. She's hard to please."
Her approach was out of Michael's line of sight and Reilly got close enough without his notice to catch the end of his comment. She could feel Blake's amusement, knew he was grinning without even looking his way. Raising a brow, Reilly cleared her throat. "Oh I don't know. I like to think I've mellowed a little."
Emma's eyes flicked from Michael to the pretty brunette who'd just spoken, obviously his friend Reilly. She couldn't help the little giggle that slipped out. Looking at Michael's friend, she didn't think 'mellow' was a word often used to describe her.
"Mellow. Sexually satisfied. It all works out to the same thing." Michael's lips twitched into something very close to a smirk.
Blake actually laughed out loud at that. "I think we're going to get along just fine," he said to the taller dark haired man. "You must be Michael." Blake held out his hand. "I'm Blake Dunstan, the reason your dear friend is so-"
"Mellow, yes," Michael finished for him as he shook the blond man's hand. He actually knew of Blake given he was a Slytherin in Astoria’s year and they’d been friendly over the years. Never particularly close, however, and Michael had never formally met the man.
Emma watched the boys, grinning ear to ear at their easy banter. When her eyes returned to the object of their teasing, she laughed again at the peevish expression on her face.
Looking from one self-satisfied arse to the other, Reilly just sighed. She knew it would be this way when she got the two of them together. Why all the men she cared about were such tossers, she'd never know, but why she liked it was an even bigger mystery.
"Yes, yes, you're a regular Don Juan," she deadpanned, giving her boyfriend a look before turning her attention to Michael and the giggling blonde at his side. "Are you going to introduce your friend or shall we talk a little more about Blake's incredible talents?"
“No one said incredible but you, love,” Blake pointed out, a smug smirk curling his lips.
Michael was grinning when he wrapped his arm around Emma’s waist and brought her into his side. “Rei, Dunstan, the lovely Emma Dobbs,” he said by way of introduction to pull his old friend’s narrowed eyes away from her significant other.
“Hi,” Emma chirped happily, sticking her hand out to Michael’s old friend.
As she gently pumped the small blonde woman’s hand, Reilly studied her. She was familiar. “Your Edward’s girl, aren’t you? I think he’s brought you to my office a time or two.”
As soon as the words were said, Emma recognized Reilly Chambers as the proprietor of the escort service Mr. Carmichael used from time to time for certain types of business events. She’d helped him select the ladies - and occasional gentlemen - more than once. “I am. It’s nice to see you again.” Turning her attention to Blake, she added, “I don’t think I’ve met you before, though. I don’t usually forget cute boys.”
Blake grinned. “You hear that, love? I’m cute.”
Reilly’s soft snort only cheered Blake more. “It’s good to meet you, Miss Emma Dobbs,” he said back to the bitty blonde as he bent over and pressed a chaste kiss to the back of her hand. “I’m always happy to know someone with such good taste,” he said with a wink as he straightened.
Michael’s lips curled into something very close to a grin when he spied another long-suffering look flick across Reilly’s face. Regardless of the front, however, his old friend was glowing with happiness. At least to him. Perhaps others might not have noticed it from the reserved, tightly wound woman, but Michael had known Reilly for more than half their lives. She was luminescent.
Emma giggled as Blake released her hand and tucked herself close to Michael’s side.
Shaking her head at her lover’s boyish charm, Reilly linked her arm with his and gestured toward the dining room. It was going to be a night of heavy sighs and rolling eyes, but she was happy to have the two men closest to her together finally. They would drive her nuts, but they were hers. “Shall we eat? You can’t bring on my wand as quickly with your mouths stuffed full.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Blake said as he started leading her toward their reserved table near the stage. “Corner seems the type that can have a whole conversation with just a few expressions, and I’d make a healthy bet that he’s perfected how to wind you up without saying a word.”
Michael winked at Reilly when she glanced over her shoulder at he and Emma.
Reilly just sighed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Blake was a good dancer. He led her around the floor as confidently as Michael did when she danced with him, though not with the same intimacy, of course. Blake’s intimacy was saved for someone else, and Emma had been watching the rhythm of him and his girlfriend with interest all evening.
Across the floor she could see Reilly and Michael, chatting companionably with the same smirk and look of affectionate irritation that they’d been wearing most of the evening. It was the first time she’d seen Michael with someone he cared about. She liked the friendship he and Reilly had developed since they were kids in school. It was fun to watch.
“So Reilly made you chase her a long time?” she asked as Blake twirled her out and then pulled her back to him.
“There was definitely a chase,” Blake said, grin curling his lips as he met the blonde’s gaze. “First, I chased her, mostly because she wanted nothing to do with me. That she was beautiful only sweetened an already good game,” he said, grin growing as he remembered the days when he’d all but trapped her into pseudo dates. If he hadn’t set them in public, he was pretty sure she would have physically assaulted him.
“Then, when I had her, I made her do some chasing.” He glanced toward where his girlfriend was dancing with her old friend, pleased to see her laugh. Despite all their busy schedules, it was a good thing they’d all come out tonight.
He turned back to Emma, blue eyes bright with mirth. “If you hadn’t noticed, she enjoys being maddened. I figured the way to her heart was to vex myself right into it.”
“Very clever.” They really did seem to suit each other well, Blake’s playfulness a natural balm to Reilly’s sharp edges. During dinner they’d existed in each other’s space seamlessly, a natural ebb and flow to their actions and words.
It was something more than she and Michael shared. Michael’s company was warm and welcoming, but there was not the sense of belonging to one another that was evident between the couple that joined them for the evening. They’d been spending time together for a long while now, but they weren’t exclusive. Though now that Emma thought about it, it had been ages since she’d played with anyone else, and Michael was the only man she’d allowed to take her to bed. He was the only one she’d trusted that much.
Green eyes flicked to the object of her ruminations. She’d never really considered whether Michael was sleeping with other women. There was no reason he shouldn’t, but Emma knew that he wasn’t one for sex just for sex’s sake. He’d told her he liked to know a woman before he was intimate with her. How many women did he know that way, she wondered. How many others pulled smiles from his lips and drew his fingers to their skin?
How many women did he like as much as her?
Giving her head a little shake to clear it, she returned her attention to the man dancing with her. “You seem to make her very happy. Michael mentioned how much she’s changed.”
“Not changed,” Blake said, lips curling as his eyes found Reilly again, “just relaxed, is all.” Happiness could do that to a person.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Will I get to be the maid of honor then,” Michael queried, lips twitching and eyes bright from humor. Not to mention the good company and several pints he’d had. “Or maybe bloke of honor?”
Reilly raised a brow, ignoring the part of her that wasn’t entirely opposed to the idea of getting married, at some point. “Has Astoria found a suitor? I’m unaware of any other weddings on the horizon.”
“Don’t think Astoria would mind having a suitor or a wedding,” Michael mused. He didn’t let himself think to far down that line of thought, however. It would lead him to the few men he’d had to physically set straight about how to treat his sister, and then the few she’d had high hopes for that’d only left her upset and lonely in th end. While there were a lot of things Michael could and did do to take care of his sister, unfortunately helping her settle down wasn’t one of them.
A flourish of movement caught his gaze and attention, and blue eyes flicked to where Blake had twirled Emma. They seemed at ease in each other’s company; comfortable, but not intimate. Michael was pleased to note that Blake’s hand did not drift further south than the middle of her back. He’d have felt it necessary to say something to Reilly if he’d noticed anything untoward. (He chose not to to examine the darker, quiet feeling that would have led him to rectify such an occurrence for his own purposes.)
“He’s good for you,” Michael said as he brought his gaze back to his friend’s. “You’re happy. Relaxed. Mellow. Satisfied,” he added, tiny smirk curling his mouth. “Keeping him around seems a sound investment.”
The smile her friend’s words brought only grew when Reilly’s eyes met Blake’s across the dance floor. He was a good investment. She knew they were a good fit together. “I am happy,” she admitted. “Blake pushes me when I need pushing and gives me a reason to remember to slow down and enjoy life. Wedding talk is not something we’ve come anywhere near broaching, but I’m content with our relationship.”
Turning the focus from herself before Michael weedled admissions of feelings she wasn’t ready to share from her, Reilly nodded toward the little blonde dancing with her beau. “And what about you, Michael? Not that you ever look uncomfortable, but you seem to be quite cozy with your giggly blonde. It’s not everyday you bring a woman around.”
“I did need a date tonight,” he pointed out. But he could have asked Astoria to come with him. She would have even enjoyed getting a chance to visit with Reilly and catch up with Blake. Why had he decided to ask Emma instead?
Michael’s gaze flicked to her again, blue eyes catching at her smile when she laughed at something Blake said. Why had he disrupted his normal pattern?
Her lips twitched. Michael was almost always filled with easy confidence in his actions and if she didn’t know him as well as she did, she wouldn’t have caught the hint of confusion that passed through his eyes, but she did know him, and she had noticed it. The novelty of it amused her.
“And she was the only one available?” Reilly nudged, enjoying being the provoker for once. This was the first she’d met Emma socially, but she’d heard the other woman’s name several times over the past couple years. “Astoria was busy at the gallery, perhaps? Your other flavors of the week washing their hair?”
Michael’s gaze flicked back to his partner. Noting her amusement, his own mouth twitched up at one side and he shrugged. “I like Emma,” he said simply.
It was the truth, and it also conveniently answered the questions he’d been mulling over. It brought to mind other questions though - like how long it’d been since he’d had a weekly flavor, something he hadn’t even noticed he’d stopped doing until Reilly asked after them, and why his liking Emma had been the impetus of all this seeming change in his habits.
Seeing Blake and Emma approaching, Reilly let the reply stand, though she had a feeling neither of them believed it was the whole answer. “Well, that’s good because I think she’s being returned to you.” Much as she enjoyed her best friend’s company, she was looking forward to being in Blake’s arms again. Dancing would have to do until she could get him home again.
“I like you, Corner, but not enough to let you have her for more than a few songs,” Blake said by way of greeting.
“The sentiment is shared,” Michael said as they exchanged partners. For all the thoughts now churning in the back of his mind, he was able to easily push them away when his hand slid over Emma’s hip as he brought her into him. It was always easy to focus on just her.
“Good man,” Blake said magnanimously as he pulled Reilly in against his chest, hand sliding down to the small of her back as he began to sway her to the music.
Emma smiled easily as Michael brought her close, though her mind was still filled with questions. For the moment, it was nice to be near him. She’d worry about the rest later.
SUMMARY: Blake, Reilly, Michael and Emma go on a double date. Everyone gets along (much to Reilly’s amused ire), and both Michael and Emma are left with a lot of questions by the end of the night.
Lips curling slightly as she caught sight of Blake, fresh from the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist and his blond hair damp and mussed, she leaned against the counter beside him. "Have I mentioned how very sexy you are?" she asked in a voice both playful and sincere.
"You have, but feel free to reiterate as often as possible. My ego needs constant stroking," Blake said, lips curling as he met Reilly's eyes. Months ago, the turn of his lips would have been a smirk, but more often than not of late, it was genuine pleasure that made his mouth turn up when he was with his lover.
Blake hadn't ever been a man for committed relationships, had actively avoided women who seemed like the type beyond a good time, but it'd been over a half a year with the woman before him and he couldn't imagine not being with her for the foreseeable future. He liked waking up with her, her skin warm against his, and he liked cooking supper with her in the evenings, sharp wit and good conversation to be had over their meals, and he liked seducing her to bed - or being seduced as the case often was.
No, he hadn't planned on monogamy, at least not for a long while, but Blake never did anything half arsed, either. "Other things need constant stroking as well," he added, blue eyes twinkling.
The comment drew a chuckle from the usually serious witch, and Reilly considered engaging in a bit of 'stroking' for a long moment before putting the idea aside. She and Blake had been together for quite awhile now and yet her ardor hadn't cooled in the least. It was for that reason, among others, that she was glad he hadn't taken her to bed in the days when she simply wanted to stoke the flame he inspired in her until it burned itself out. Not only would the task have been much more difficult than she's anticipated, but Reilly had never been as content as she was with Blake in her life. He was still an incorrigible ass at times, but he was her incorrigible ass.
"I don't need to give Michael an opportunity to speculate on why I'm tardy for our dinner," she said with wry humor before her expression shifted to something more sultry, "but if you'll help me with my zipper, I'll keep that in mind for later in the evening."
"I suppose so," Blake said, his tone forlorn as he reached for her zipper to pull it up. If he spent more time than was necessary doing this now-usual task by bending to press his lips in light kisses up the exposed skin of her back as he covered it, he didn't think Reilly minded. Not that his lover often needed much incentive, but a few reminders that he'd appreciate if she did keep things in mind would never go amiss.
Also, he just liked touching her. And making her cross with her own unsatiated wants.
"There you go, my darling dear," he said, grinning at her in the mirror when he was done. "Prim and proper."
Her skin was abuzz with the lingering sensation of his lips and Reilly's eyes narrowed slightly as she met Blake's gaze in the glass. "Get ready, you." She wasn't talking about their dinner plans.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Passing through the door Michael held for her, Emma tugged lightly at the hem of her little dress. It had a tendency to ride up as she walked, but she liked the way it made her legs look long despite her diminutive size. This was an actual planned outing, something that was not as rare as it had once been for her and Michael but was still something of a novelty. Emma liked it when her pretty man sought her out, though she didn't examine that feeling too closely. He hadn't explained much about why they were going to Avalon until he'd picked her up, in any case.
"So we're meeting your best girlfriend and her new boyfriend?" Emma asked in confirmation as her eyes scanned the crowd despite the fact she didn't know the woman they were meeting. "And she's a stuffy sort?"
"She can be," he said, lips twitching as he watched Emma tug at her dress and shift lightly in her heels. Usually her attention was fully on him when he was near her, but Michael could see and feel the anxiousness in her. He found it endearing that she was nervous to meet his friends.
He didn't examine that he had picked her of all the women he spent time with to be his date to a dinner party with one of the most important people in his life.
"She'll like you," he told Emma, fingers running lightly from her shoulder and down her bare arm until he could grasp her hand and tug her to him. "I like you," he said as if it explained everything.
Squeezing his hand, Emma let the warmth of Michael's nearness settle her. She wasn't shy by nature, but this was the first time he'd introduced her to someone he cared about. That took the evening beyond 'a novelty' and awfully close to 'an occasion'. "Do you see her? Or should we go on and get a table ourselves?"
Michael scanned over the top of the popular lounge's crowd for a familiar perfectly coiffed head of dark hair, but didn't see his old friend. This night had been a long time in coming; Reilly had never been with one man for so long in her life, nor had she ever been so at ease and happy for such a long period. Michael was eager to meet the man who could work such miracles.
But he was also happy to have a few minutes alone with Emma before they came. It'd been weeks since he'd seen her last, and as was often the case, his hands seemed to have missed her, whether just to touch, or to strum music from her body.
Said hands shifted to smooth down her back and grip her hips as he bent to press a kiss to her jaw. "Table's taken care of. Drinks while we wait?"
"Sure." Her voice wavered softly and her tone held a hint of breathiness as Michael's lips brushed her skin. Her pretty man knew just how to make her body come alive and she'd long suspected he did it for the enjoyment of watching the effect as well as for his own enjoyment in touching her. That was okay. She liked playing his games, too.
Emma wasn't a big drinker most of the time, but she let Michael lead her to the bar and get one of the pink and fruity drinks she liked. "Do you think you'll like her boyfriend?"
"Have no reason not to," he said once he'd helped Emma onto one the few available barstools and leaned in against the counter next to her once she had her cocktail in hand, and he his beer. "If she's happy, then I'm happy for her," he added, lips curling slightly before he tipped his bottle back to enjoy the wheat brew.
Michael chuckled moments later, adding, "though I've been long interested to meet the kind of man that makes a woman like Rei happy. She's hard to please."
Her approach was out of Michael's line of sight and Reilly got close enough without his notice to catch the end of his comment. She could feel Blake's amusement, knew he was grinning without even looking his way. Raising a brow, Reilly cleared her throat. "Oh I don't know. I like to think I've mellowed a little."
Emma's eyes flicked from Michael to the pretty brunette who'd just spoken, obviously his friend Reilly. She couldn't help the little giggle that slipped out. Looking at Michael's friend, she didn't think 'mellow' was a word often used to describe her.
"Mellow. Sexually satisfied. It all works out to the same thing." Michael's lips twitched into something very close to a smirk.
Blake actually laughed out loud at that. "I think we're going to get along just fine," he said to the taller dark haired man. "You must be Michael." Blake held out his hand. "I'm Blake Dunstan, the reason your dear friend is so-"
"Mellow, yes," Michael finished for him as he shook the blond man's hand. He actually knew of Blake given he was a Slytherin in Astoria’s year and they’d been friendly over the years. Never particularly close, however, and Michael had never formally met the man.
Emma watched the boys, grinning ear to ear at their easy banter. When her eyes returned to the object of their teasing, she laughed again at the peevish expression on her face.
Looking from one self-satisfied arse to the other, Reilly just sighed. She knew it would be this way when she got the two of them together. Why all the men she cared about were such tossers, she'd never know, but why she liked it was an even bigger mystery.
"Yes, yes, you're a regular Don Juan," she deadpanned, giving her boyfriend a look before turning her attention to Michael and the giggling blonde at his side. "Are you going to introduce your friend or shall we talk a little more about Blake's incredible talents?"
“No one said incredible but you, love,” Blake pointed out, a smug smirk curling his lips.
Michael was grinning when he wrapped his arm around Emma’s waist and brought her into his side. “Rei, Dunstan, the lovely Emma Dobbs,” he said by way of introduction to pull his old friend’s narrowed eyes away from her significant other.
“Hi,” Emma chirped happily, sticking her hand out to Michael’s old friend.
As she gently pumped the small blonde woman’s hand, Reilly studied her. She was familiar. “Your Edward’s girl, aren’t you? I think he’s brought you to my office a time or two.”
As soon as the words were said, Emma recognized Reilly Chambers as the proprietor of the escort service Mr. Carmichael used from time to time for certain types of business events. She’d helped him select the ladies - and occasional gentlemen - more than once. “I am. It’s nice to see you again.” Turning her attention to Blake, she added, “I don’t think I’ve met you before, though. I don’t usually forget cute boys.”
Blake grinned. “You hear that, love? I’m cute.”
Reilly’s soft snort only cheered Blake more. “It’s good to meet you, Miss Emma Dobbs,” he said back to the bitty blonde as he bent over and pressed a chaste kiss to the back of her hand. “I’m always happy to know someone with such good taste,” he said with a wink as he straightened.
Michael’s lips curled into something very close to a grin when he spied another long-suffering look flick across Reilly’s face. Regardless of the front, however, his old friend was glowing with happiness. At least to him. Perhaps others might not have noticed it from the reserved, tightly wound woman, but Michael had known Reilly for more than half their lives. She was luminescent.
Emma giggled as Blake released her hand and tucked herself close to Michael’s side.
Shaking her head at her lover’s boyish charm, Reilly linked her arm with his and gestured toward the dining room. It was going to be a night of heavy sighs and rolling eyes, but she was happy to have the two men closest to her together finally. They would drive her nuts, but they were hers. “Shall we eat? You can’t bring on my wand as quickly with your mouths stuffed full.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Blake said as he started leading her toward their reserved table near the stage. “Corner seems the type that can have a whole conversation with just a few expressions, and I’d make a healthy bet that he’s perfected how to wind you up without saying a word.”
Michael winked at Reilly when she glanced over her shoulder at he and Emma.
Reilly just sighed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Blake was a good dancer. He led her around the floor as confidently as Michael did when she danced with him, though not with the same intimacy, of course. Blake’s intimacy was saved for someone else, and Emma had been watching the rhythm of him and his girlfriend with interest all evening.
Across the floor she could see Reilly and Michael, chatting companionably with the same smirk and look of affectionate irritation that they’d been wearing most of the evening. It was the first time she’d seen Michael with someone he cared about. She liked the friendship he and Reilly had developed since they were kids in school. It was fun to watch.
“So Reilly made you chase her a long time?” she asked as Blake twirled her out and then pulled her back to him.
“There was definitely a chase,” Blake said, grin curling his lips as he met the blonde’s gaze. “First, I chased her, mostly because she wanted nothing to do with me. That she was beautiful only sweetened an already good game,” he said, grin growing as he remembered the days when he’d all but trapped her into pseudo dates. If he hadn’t set them in public, he was pretty sure she would have physically assaulted him.
“Then, when I had her, I made her do some chasing.” He glanced toward where his girlfriend was dancing with her old friend, pleased to see her laugh. Despite all their busy schedules, it was a good thing they’d all come out tonight.
He turned back to Emma, blue eyes bright with mirth. “If you hadn’t noticed, she enjoys being maddened. I figured the way to her heart was to vex myself right into it.”
“Very clever.” They really did seem to suit each other well, Blake’s playfulness a natural balm to Reilly’s sharp edges. During dinner they’d existed in each other’s space seamlessly, a natural ebb and flow to their actions and words.
It was something more than she and Michael shared. Michael’s company was warm and welcoming, but there was not the sense of belonging to one another that was evident between the couple that joined them for the evening. They’d been spending time together for a long while now, but they weren’t exclusive. Though now that Emma thought about it, it had been ages since she’d played with anyone else, and Michael was the only man she’d allowed to take her to bed. He was the only one she’d trusted that much.
Green eyes flicked to the object of her ruminations. She’d never really considered whether Michael was sleeping with other women. There was no reason he shouldn’t, but Emma knew that he wasn’t one for sex just for sex’s sake. He’d told her he liked to know a woman before he was intimate with her. How many women did he know that way, she wondered. How many others pulled smiles from his lips and drew his fingers to their skin?
How many women did he like as much as her?
Giving her head a little shake to clear it, she returned her attention to the man dancing with her. “You seem to make her very happy. Michael mentioned how much she’s changed.”
“Not changed,” Blake said, lips curling as his eyes found Reilly again, “just relaxed, is all.” Happiness could do that to a person.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Will I get to be the maid of honor then,” Michael queried, lips twitching and eyes bright from humor. Not to mention the good company and several pints he’d had. “Or maybe bloke of honor?”
Reilly raised a brow, ignoring the part of her that wasn’t entirely opposed to the idea of getting married, at some point. “Has Astoria found a suitor? I’m unaware of any other weddings on the horizon.”
“Don’t think Astoria would mind having a suitor or a wedding,” Michael mused. He didn’t let himself think to far down that line of thought, however. It would lead him to the few men he’d had to physically set straight about how to treat his sister, and then the few she’d had high hopes for that’d only left her upset and lonely in th end. While there were a lot of things Michael could and did do to take care of his sister, unfortunately helping her settle down wasn’t one of them.
A flourish of movement caught his gaze and attention, and blue eyes flicked to where Blake had twirled Emma. They seemed at ease in each other’s company; comfortable, but not intimate. Michael was pleased to note that Blake’s hand did not drift further south than the middle of her back. He’d have felt it necessary to say something to Reilly if he’d noticed anything untoward. (He chose not to to examine the darker, quiet feeling that would have led him to rectify such an occurrence for his own purposes.)
“He’s good for you,” Michael said as he brought his gaze back to his friend’s. “You’re happy. Relaxed. Mellow. Satisfied,” he added, tiny smirk curling his mouth. “Keeping him around seems a sound investment.”
The smile her friend’s words brought only grew when Reilly’s eyes met Blake’s across the dance floor. He was a good investment. She knew they were a good fit together. “I am happy,” she admitted. “Blake pushes me when I need pushing and gives me a reason to remember to slow down and enjoy life. Wedding talk is not something we’ve come anywhere near broaching, but I’m content with our relationship.”
Turning the focus from herself before Michael weedled admissions of feelings she wasn’t ready to share from her, Reilly nodded toward the little blonde dancing with her beau. “And what about you, Michael? Not that you ever look uncomfortable, but you seem to be quite cozy with your giggly blonde. It’s not everyday you bring a woman around.”
“I did need a date tonight,” he pointed out. But he could have asked Astoria to come with him. She would have even enjoyed getting a chance to visit with Reilly and catch up with Blake. Why had he decided to ask Emma instead?
Michael’s gaze flicked to her again, blue eyes catching at her smile when she laughed at something Blake said. Why had he disrupted his normal pattern?
Her lips twitched. Michael was almost always filled with easy confidence in his actions and if she didn’t know him as well as she did, she wouldn’t have caught the hint of confusion that passed through his eyes, but she did know him, and she had noticed it. The novelty of it amused her.
“And she was the only one available?” Reilly nudged, enjoying being the provoker for once. This was the first she’d met Emma socially, but she’d heard the other woman’s name several times over the past couple years. “Astoria was busy at the gallery, perhaps? Your other flavors of the week washing their hair?”
Michael’s gaze flicked back to his partner. Noting her amusement, his own mouth twitched up at one side and he shrugged. “I like Emma,” he said simply.
It was the truth, and it also conveniently answered the questions he’d been mulling over. It brought to mind other questions though - like how long it’d been since he’d had a weekly flavor, something he hadn’t even noticed he’d stopped doing until Reilly asked after them, and why his liking Emma had been the impetus of all this seeming change in his habits.
Seeing Blake and Emma approaching, Reilly let the reply stand, though she had a feeling neither of them believed it was the whole answer. “Well, that’s good because I think she’s being returned to you.” Much as she enjoyed her best friend’s company, she was looking forward to being in Blake’s arms again. Dancing would have to do until she could get him home again.
“I like you, Corner, but not enough to let you have her for more than a few songs,” Blake said by way of greeting.
“The sentiment is shared,” Michael said as they exchanged partners. For all the thoughts now churning in the back of his mind, he was able to easily push them away when his hand slid over Emma’s hip as he brought her into him. It was always easy to focus on just her.
“Good man,” Blake said magnanimously as he pulled Reilly in against his chest, hand sliding down to the small of her back as he began to sway her to the music.
Emma smiled easily as Michael brought her close, though her mind was still filled with questions. For the moment, it was nice to be near him. She’d worry about the rest later.
SUMMARY: Blake, Reilly, Michael and Emma go on a double date. Everyone gets along (much to Reilly’s amused ire), and both Michael and Emma are left with a lot of questions by the end of the night.