She had lushly full lips and it was hard not to be impacted by them as they curled apart in another generous smile, "Welcome to Undersea Eli. Now if you'll excuse me I'll get us underway."
As she moved past she brushed up against me and gave me a quick smiling look of warm welcome that had an entirely innocent sensual undertone to it that left my mouth dry. It was clear to me that she knew I was attracted to her and it was just as clear that she openly welcomed my attraction to her.
For all her lushness of physical form and enticing personality I didn't take her to be a loose woman. Intrinsically I knew that she had integrity, but she was openly showing interest in me. She had gone past simply being interested in a stranger to something more serious. Why?
Matt came up to the railing to stand beside me. I'd been too focused on the girl to notice that he'd come back to consciousness. She was like an intoxicating drug in terms of her impact on me.
Matt tapped my finger and I glanced down to see that he had tapped my wedding ring, "Might be a good time to take this off Eli. I think you've worn it long enough." Matt said with a serious look in his eyes.
Hot anger coursed through me and I had to refrain from hitting him. I think he knew the raw nerve he'd hit even though he foolishly didn't move away from me.
Reason returned after a few hot and heavy moments of repressed emotion, "I'm not ready to do that Matt. I'll never be ready!" I said with finality.
"Do you think that's what Laura would have wanted Eli? She would have wanted you to be happy and you know it."
I nearly hit him then. The only thing that held me back was that what he had said was the truth. Laura had told me as much just before she had died.
Vainly I searched for a way out of this predicament that was beginning to feel like a trap.
"She's just a kid Matt for heaven sakes!" I said testily as I tried to shut him up without the use of a fist.
He wasn't to be dissuaded though, "You're forty-one Eli, not sixty-one and from where I'm standing she looks all grown up to me."
"Go plague somebody else and leave me alone Matt!" I said meaning it.
He patted me on the back and leaned in close to say, "Don't be so hard on yourself for noticing and being attracted to a woman after seven years of nothing."