The Brass Butterfly Ch. 04

She rolled her eyes and looked down, muttering, "That Matt's getting more attention."

Matt grimaced like she'd swallowed a lemon. "He's not giving me attention, he's trying to piss me off!"

Simon reached out and put a knuckle under Sara's chin gently, forcing her to look into his blue, blue eyes. He smiled at her sweetly and said, "Would it help to say I'm sorry?"

Sara's mind felt numb and fuzzy, looking at Simon a bit unfocused. "It might."

Simon kept his eyes locked on hers, his smile gentle. His voice was low and warm. "I honestly didn't mean to make you feel left out. It's just funnier watching Matt flip out; you know how to take a compliment with grace." He traced his finger down Sara's cheek, making her shiver and a warm heat start to curl in her belly.

Matt's eyes darted between the exchange, a warm heat curling inside her too, but for different reasons. She growled, "Ok, you can you chill with the moves, man. It's getting old."

Sara blushed slightly and shot Matt a look. "No it's not. It's quite refreshing actually."

Matt dropped her jaw, her anger giving way to shock. "EXCUSE me?!"

Sara suddenly realized she'd made a grave mistake and grinned at her suddenly. "Just kidding love."

Matt grimaced, "Arrgh."

Simon laughed, "Good one, Sara."

Matt said sulkily, "I hate you both."

Sara leaned over and kissed Matt gently, saying with feeling, "I'm sorry. I love you."

Matt felt her anger seep away with the kiss. "I love you too."

Simon observed this with an amused look on his face. "You two are so disgusting together. Now I'M jealous."

Sara rolled her eyes. "Oh fine." She leaned over and kissed Simon gently on the lips. Simon's eyes widened. The stunned expression on his face was so comical that Matt burst out laughing. "Oh man, that was SO worth it! I wish I had a camera!"

Sara sat back with satisfaction and took a bite of her Pad Thai.

Simon blushed and said softly, "I think I've been outdone."

Matt grinned. "You know it. NOBODY does seduction like Sara."

Simon flicked his eyes to Sara. Sara suddenly felt an uneasy tingling in her chest, and looking into his eyes, she could tell he was now more than a little curious about that. Sara blushed and a little humor faded from Matt's eyes, her jaw setting a bit and her tone taking a thin edge to it, "Not like you'll ever know."

Simon picked up his tea again, looking into his cup and said casually, "Of course not."

Sara blinked at his sudden lack of interest, confused by his response. This conversation was stepping on and off thin ice rapidly whether any of them wanted to admit it or not, and there was little doubt in her mind that it could all sink them all into something disastrous if they didn't get off of it quickly. Sara cleared her throat and then picked up her fork. "So...what have you been doing with yourself all these years, Simon?"

The rest of the meal was spent playing catch up with little incident, and Simon picked up the tab at the end. At the door of the restaurant Simon said, "Well, it's been a great evening with you

both; we should do this again soon."

Sara nodded. "How about you come to dinner at our place Friday?"

Simon thought it over briefly, "I'm free then, I'd love to." Then he looked at Matt, "Is that ok with you? Or do you still not want my "creepy ass" in your house?"

Matt crossed her arms. "Welllll...ok, just rope in the libido, man. You'll scare the cats."

Simon laughed, "Ok, ok." He gave Sara a friendly hug, and Matt a handshake before they parted.

Sara looked at Matt with a small frown.

Matt was a little subdued, giving Simon a not so friendly look as he departed. She caught Sara's look and furrowed her brow. "What?"

Sara raised an eyebrow, "What cats?"

Matt shrugged, "The ones between our legs? I dunno about you, but...damn, that guy needs to get out more. Preferably with someone other than us."

Sara looked at Matt with a slight frown, her gut reaction thinking that wasn't fair. But in the back of her mind, she couldn't help thinking there was some truth to it. She didn't want to alienate Simon, but he did make her nervous. She'd been tempted before and that was normal. She told herself she could handle it. She had never wanted to leave Matt. Especially not now, no matter how tempting the package that Simon was. She was sure of that.

Sara reached out and took Matt's hand. "Whatever. C'mon beautiful, let's go buy dessert so I can eat it off of you."

Matt grinned and gave her a surreptitious pinch to the butt, "Sounds good to me."

To Be Continued...