And I hope like hell I’m not making myself a liar.
I can’t remember the last time I wore a tie or bought flowers for a woman—my aunt maybe once or twice.But here I stand in front of Jolie’s house with a bouquet of tulips—her favorite flower—and a tie that’s suffocating me, or maybe that’s just my nerves.
I take a deep steadying breath and then ring the doorbell.She opens the door, and whatever breath I had immediately gets sucked out of me.My eyes scan down her body, taking in the tight black dress that hugs her petite curves.It has a deep V cut, giving me a hint of her cleavage, and her red hair hangs in loose waves down her back.I’m momentarily speechless, or I may have swallowed my tongue.Jury’s still out.
I’ve never seen Jo in anything so tight before, and goddamn, my brain is cataloguing all the curves and valleys of her body which are accentuated by that dress as my dick twitches in my pants, eager to seek her out.
“Jo…you look…”
She runs a hand down the dress self-consciously, but my gaze follows the path of her hand, wishing it was my hand touching her body.
“Is it okay?”she asks.
I physically have to hold myself back from ravaging her mouth and showing her howokayher dress really is.
“It’s perfect,” I choke out.Trying to remember how to talk in complete sentences is hard when all the blood in your body is rushing to your cock.
She must realize why I’m struggling to talk because her face flames red, and she drops her head, but not before I catch her smile.If I thought her body was sexy, it’s nothing on her smile.
Her smile has always done me in.
“Uh, you ready to go?”I ask, remembering our date can’t consist of standing here while I stare at her like a fucking creep.
She grabs her purse and locks up before we walk to my car.I try to think of things to talk about, but I’m so nervous my brain is a complete blank.The closer we get to the car, though, the more I start to think about things my uncle used to do for my aunt when we’d go out to places together.I rush ahead of her and open the passenger door, holding it open for her.
She blushes again and ducks her head before sliding into the passenger seat.I close the door and use the time it takes me to walk around to the driver’s side to give myself a mini pep talk.I’ve only ever loved this woman.Surely that will help guide me and not make me out to be a complete idiot when it comes to this date.
We make small talk on the way to the restaurant, but it’s not strained or awkward.It kind of feels like we’re just hanging out, except for the underlying current of anticipation that seems to buzz in the air.Her eyes light up when I pull up to the restaurant.It’s her favorite place in LA, but she rarely eats here because it’s expensive, and despite Robbie making more than enough money, they were always fairly frugal with their earnings.It probably stems from how we were raised.
She turns to me and rewards me with another smile that makes my heart beat quicker in my chest.“I love this place!”
“I know.”
She studies me carefully, but doesn’t say anything else until we’re seated at our table.They’ve been kind enough to put up a privacy barrier.I’m not as famous as Trent—and certainly not to the point where I need a bodyguard with me constantly like he does—but I occasionally get recognized, and it’s nice to know that won’t happen tonight and our dinner won’t be interrupted by a fan.
We order a round of drinks and place our order for dinner since we both already know what we want, then we’re left alone in our quiet little corner.Jo takes a sip of her water, her green eyes watching me over the glass before she puts it down.
“You’ve always done that.”
“Done what?”
“Known what I like and made sure I had the things I wanted.I didn’t recognize it back then, but I’ve been thinking a lot and seeing different memories with new eyes, and I realized you’ve always known everything about me—my favorite candy, flower,restaurant,” she says, looking around.
“Not everything.”The words slip out before my brain catches up with my mouth.
She tilts her head.“What do you want to know?”
If she only knew.I want to know every line and curve of her body, every freckle on her skin.I want to know how she sounds when she comes, what she feels like and looks like in the throes of pleasure.I want the taste of her on my tongue, more than any dessert I’ve ever craved.I want everything.Her body, her pleasure, her hopes, dreams, and fears.I want it all.I’ve always wanted it all.But I’ve settled for scraps because it was better than nothing.And now she’s asking me what I want to know, and I’m afraid if I tell her the truth I’ll scare her away.
“Tris?”
I clear my throat and give her an honest answer.“Everything.I want to know everything.”
Her eyes soften, and her lips tilt up in a delicate smile.“Same.I want to know everything about you too.”
She can’t mean that the way I meant it, but the longer we gaze into each other’s eyes, the thicker the tension between us grows, and that’s when I see it.A look in her gaze that’s never been there before.
Heat, want, desire.