"I've been thinking about you too," I admitted, a blush returning to my cheeks.
"I'm glad to hear that, beautiful."
Nicco's gaze bore into me, firmly on mine, and I found myself falling into his eyes. He started to toy with a lock of hair as he talked, and I was transfixed. Everything else faded away, and it was just the two of us.
"I put my number in your phone that night when I plugged it in. I didn't want to assume or be weird and send it to myself without your approval. It felt like a romantic gesture at the time, but then when I hadn't heard from you, I got nervous. It crossed my mind that you just might not want to hear from me, but I didn't want to believe that until I knew for sure."
"That was kind of romantic, but I'm horrible with my phone," I cringed. "I, uh, I barely even check it as no one calls me, so that's on me."
"Well, that makes me feel marginally better." He grinned. "What about the note from Nat?"
"Note from Nat…" I trailed off. I tried to recall what he was talking about when it hit me. Leaning across him, I reached into my coat and pulled out the slip of paper she handed me last week. As I was moving back, his hand slipped down to my hip, holding me in place. His nose nuzzled my ear as he breathed me in.
"I could've gotten that for you, beautiful," he breathed, a hint of strain in his voice. At his words, I noticed the hard length growing where I'd put my hand on his leg, my breasts grazing his other arm. Sucking in a breath, my face heated again at the realization we were in public, yet how incredibly turned on I was. Slowly, purposefully dragging my hand across his erection, I sat back into my chair. His groan at my touch had me shifting my legs.
"Um, sorry. I wasn't thinking," I mumbled, embarrassment at my brazenness filling me. I dropped my head and let my hair cascade around, effectively hiding me.
"Loren." Nicco gently lifted my head, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear as he did. "You have nothing to apologize for. I don't want to see you withdrawing into yourself for something that isn't your fault. I'm not upset. It makes me happy that you felt comfortable enough to reach over. The attraction part is a bonus."
Listening to his words, I realized he was right. I hadn't even questioned reaching across him. That was something I never would've done with my ex from fear of his ridicule alone, but also not wanting my body to touch his in any capacity. Wow, how had I never pieced that together before? Nodding softly, I accepted what he was saying. Looking at the piece of paper, I unfolded it and reread it.
In case you want to find me. I rubbed my thumb over the writing.
Looking up, I cringed. "I, uh, I remember her giving me this and being excited it was from you. I was heading into this art thing, so I put it in my pocket. Then everything kind of went awry and I forgot."
"Hey, beautiful, remember what I said about not apologizing?" He smiled, caressing my cheek. "If anything, it's me. I was trying to play it all cool and act like I wasn't thinking about you every minute of the day." Nicco somehow managed to move closer, his mouth inches from mine. "I was thinking about you, and I hoped you were thinking about me. But then I realized you weren't some young floozy into games, and I needed to be direct, so that's how I ended up here."
His words made me blush at the indication that he was thinking about me enough to keep trying to find me. I didn't know anyone who'd tried that much; well, Brian had never tried that hard. It was more a, 'Hey, you're cute, want to date,' and then we were just always Loren and Brian. The realization I've never been adequately wooed hit me like a punch to the gut.
"As embarrassing as this may sound. It wasn't that I wasn't thinking about you, because believe me, I was… I just didn't expect it, so I wasn't looking for it. It just occurred to me that I've never been courted or whatever you call it. I mean…" Stopping myself, I dropped my head again. Nicco made me too comfortable, and I was continually disclosing my secrets to him.
"You mean what?" he encouraged, lifting my head again.
Just as I was about to answer, a waiter came over to drop off glasses of water and take our order. I hadn't even looked at the menu, with panic in my eyes, I was grateful when Nicco took over for me.
"Any food allergies or things you don't like?" he asked quickly. Shaking my head in response, I watched him as he responded to the waiter.
"We'll have two Asian fusion chicken rice bowls."
Once he was done ordering, he focused back on me. Nicco's attention was the thing of romance novels.
"Beautiful, what were you going to say?" he gently prodded.
His eyes were so kind, and again, my feelings of safety emerged, making it feel okay to tell him. The night I'd spent with him had opened up this part of me, and I wanted to explore that more. I liked who I was with him and the ease I felt in his company. Deciding to trust, I gave Nicco my truth, as dangerous as it was.
"You were the first man I've slept with since my divorce."
"Okay, but I feel like there's something more to this. You've been divorced, what, a year?"
"Yeah, that's correct," I swallowed.
"That's not anything to be nervous about, beautiful. How long were you married?"
"Ten years."
"Wow, okay, that's a long time."
"Yeah, it was."