For two days after seeing Colleen in that bedroom, William could barely concentrate.
The image kept returning to him.
Before that day, he had already been convinced that Colleen was a goddess. Seeing her standing before that full-length mirror in that dress had simply confirmed what he had been trying not to admit to himself.
She was his perfect woman.
The beauty. The grace. The softness. The innocence.
She seemed to possess everything he had ever been drawn to.
And William’s life was complicated.
Jo. His business. His extended family. The community groups. The farm. There were people depending on him everywhere he turned.
One afternoon, sitting in his car waiting for Jo, William shook his head.
“What the fuck are you doing, William?”
He forced himself to breathe.
“Snap out of it. This is ridiculous. If you have urges, you deal with them privately, like you’ve done your entire adult life. This thing with Colleen is dangerous on so many levels.”
Then the memory returned.
Colleen looking at him through the mirror.
Seeing him looking at her.
Seeing the desire in his eyes.
He replayed the entire afternoon in his mind.
Pulling into her driveway.
Flirting with her.
Believing, right up until that moment, that she wasn’t interested in him at all. That her kindness was simply Colleen being Colleen.
Then hearing her voice from the bedroom.
The shock that had gone through him.
Walking into that bedroom.
Seeing her.
And suddenly knowing.
He was completely and utterly captivated by her.
There was no denying it anymore.
Yet after the intensity of that day, something strange happened.
William felt flat.
Moody.
For days his life continued at full speed, but something inside him had changed.
Then, almost two weeks after seeing Colleen, something shifted.
William was sitting at his desk at home when he suddenly smiled.
He stood.
Walked out of his office.
Got into his car.
And drove towards town.
He wasn’t entirely sure what he was doing.
But his heart seemed to know.
By the time he realised where he was, he was laughing to himself.
He had pulled into Colleen’s driveway.
William got out, walked to the front door and knocked.
The door opened.
There she was.
That beautiful smile.
Colleen looked at him for a moment before opening her arms.
“Come to me, my love.”
William stepped forward and embraced her.
“I love you, my goddess,” he whispered. “I worship you. I’m your lover. I’m yours, my love.”
They held each other in the doorway, no longer pretending that what existed between them was simply friendship.
Colleen gently drew him into the living room and sat down.
Before she could speak, William looked at her.
“The dress was the message,” he said quietly.
Colleen’s expression softened.
“You were telling me you were ready for me to take that step towards us.”
She listened.
“You gently pushed me forward, towards your loving arms and your heart.”
For the first time, Colleen saw that William had worked it out for himself.
She had not needed to tell him.
His heart had brought him back to her.
William moved closer and sat at her feet, looking up into her eyes.
He spoke quietly, almost as though making a vow.
“I love you.”
Colleen reached down and slowly ran her fingers through his silver hair.
Then she kissed the top of his head.
William rested his head against her.
Neither of them spoke.
For what seemed like an eternity, they simply stayed there.
Something had changed.
It was no longer an attraction neither of them could acknowledge.
Their love affair had begun.
And a new chapter was about to unfold.
William had believed he was the one seducing Colleen.
He had believed every smile, every conversation and every moment of attraction had been part of his pursuit of her.
But now he understood.
Colleen had been four moves ahead from the beginning.
She had seen his hesitation.
She had understood his fear.
And when the time was right, she had gently pushed him towards the courage he needed.
William thought he had been seducing Colleen.
In reality, it had been Colleen’s slow, deliberate seduction of William.
