Ethan shakes his head slowly. “Mmm, I hope you don’t need to be home right afterwards, because I’ll need dessert.” His eyes glance down at my body, making my core clench at the thought. Then he gives me a wink and walks out.
Holy hell.
I grab one of our fliers and wave myself, hoping the cool air will calm this yearning inside me. I may need to go home and take a cold shower. I take a few deep breaths before I walk over, click the open sign off and lock the door. I toss the flier back on the counter.
“That didn’t help,” I say, as I gather my things. Cold shower, that’s what I need.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lily
Iclosedthestorean hour early so I had time to primp and polish. Which for me, is something I gave up on, but I feel the need to do it for tonight’s date. I spend extra time in the shower, exfoliating, shaving and doing a deep conditioning treatment on my hair. I want everything to be soft.
But then I walk to my closet...nothing. I have nothing to wear. I flip through the hangers, looking for something that isn’t a boring t-shirt. I know we aren’t going somewhere fancy, but I would like to be more presentable than I usually am.
Actually...I grab one of my long floral summer dresses. It has a tie in the front that leaves a small keyhole between my breasts. It’s probably the most risqué item of clothing I have, besides lingerie. I pull it off the hanger, put it over my head, and the cool fabric glides down my body. He said he wanted dessert afterwards, the least I could do is make it easy for him.
I blow dry my hair, deciding to leave it down with big curls at the ends. Then I put light makeup on. A thin coat of a pretty god shimmer across my lids, a thin line of brown liner, mascara and a swipe of light pink gloss. I pop my lips after I apply the gloss, fluff my hair, and then I hear knocking at my door. My stomach drops slightly, making me nervous. Not sure why, considering what’s already happened.
I slip my feet into my sandals, grab my purse and open the door. The nervousness melts away. He looks dashing. His dark hair is combed slightly to the side, he hasn’t shaved his face in a couple weeks, so his beard is coming in nicely, giving him a rugged look. He has a blue shirt on, that weirdly enough, matches the blue flowers on my dress. But his shirt is stretched across his broad chest, then dark blue jeans—that aren’t wranglers—and tennies...not boots. And in his hand, a small bouquet of wild daisies. The complete opposite of every man who has ever shown up on my doorstep. It’s refreshing.
He looks me up and down before taking a step into the doorway and I step into his space.
“These are for you,” he says.
I reach out for them and as I do, he lays a sweet kiss on my head, sending chills down my entire body.
“I’ll just put them in water quickly,” I reply, as I turn and go to the kitchen.
He shuts the door and follows me in. I grab a glass cup, fill it with water and plop the flowers inside. They are a bit tall, but I’ll fix that later. As I round the corner, Ethan is standing in the living room.
“This is a cute place,” he says.
“Yeah. It’s home.”
He turns and walks to me. One hand lands on my hip while the other cups my cheek.
“A week is too long to not have you in my arms. To not have your lips,” he swipes his thumb across them, “touching mine.” He leans down and kisses me. Slowly, sensually, like I’m something he never wants to let go of. His grip on my hip tightens and he pulls me into him, the heat from him radiating through me, his cock pushing against me.
When he pulls away, I immediately pull my bottom lip into my mouth and smile, but he uses his thumb and pulls it back out.
“We won’t make it to dinner if you keep doing that.”
My lips twitch as I almost do it again. The thought of staying and having him for hours is not something I would complain about, but I’m hungry and I’ve been looking forward to this all week.
“We better go then,” I say, grabbing his hand off my hip and pulling him behind me out of my apartment.
Wesitatasmall table after getting our food and I dig in. Poke bowls might be my favorite food.
“So Ethan, I know a little bit about your story. Tell me more, why did you move here?”
“It’s not some crazy story to tell. I just always wanted land and you can’t get the same kind of feel in Phoenix. I wanted Arthur to have space to run. He really wanted a treehouse and now I have the ability to build it for him. When I saw that the practice was for sale, I took it as a sign.”
“Did you have other states in mind?”
“Honestly, I think I was open to any, but I’m really glad we landed here,” he says, with a wink.
“Me too.”