Everything about him seemed achingly warm and patient. His voice. His mouth. His eyes. She wanted nothing more than to touch him.“D’you wanna come...in?” he asked. His voice was like stepping inside out of the snow. “You can see some more art if you’d like.”Raine looked past him to the inside of his apartment. An Aladdin’s cave of creativity.“I wish I could,” she said, truthfully. “But I have like, twenty more deliveries.”“Okay,” Carlos said. He took the flowers and smiled. “Maybe next. Now Fred was married to Karilee. Karen had seen them together at the memorial service, to her satisfaction, small town cooking had started to show on Karilee. The breasts, bigger than Karen’s, were getting a bit sloppy. The waistline that seemed smaller than Karen’s had now overtaken her. It even looked as though she was wearing a larger shoe size. This had flashed through Karen’s mind when she should have been thinking Serious Thoughts, and she had shut off these ideas as unworthy. The. Having only met Alice the day before, we had yet to share a drink that didn't contain alcohol, and I was only ordering coffee as a presumption as she was American. 'Hold on.' I asked the voice, and heard an audible sign of impatience in return, which I choose to ignore.Rising from the bed, I crossed with the handset in hand to the bathroom doorway, and glancing inside to see Alice washing her slim petite figure behind the frosted glass of the shower.'Do you want coffee?' I asked.'Yes please. But, he flashed his brilliant smile. Well, I didnt cook tonight since it was just myself here, but there is leftover chinese in the fridge if you like. Or, I could take you to the 24 hour burger place if you dont want Chinese. You may even be able to talk me into cooking some pancakes, if you ask me nicely enough. He joked. Chinese is good. Are you enjoying your soak? I asked, with a nervous smile. My heart was pounding in the presence of this half naked man, and all I wanted was to climb into.