“And...” Ali met her friend’s gaze. “He kissed me.”
“He kissed you.”
“Yes.” The word came out on a sigh as she remembered the kiss. As wonderful as all their other kisses had been, she wasn’t sure she’d ever forget that first one. The way his mouth had felt moving against hers, the surprise she’d felt, and how her body had softened as he’d teased her lips with his tongue.
“Hello?” Kim waved her hand in front of Ali’s face.
“Sorry.”
Kim chuckled. “Must have been some kiss.”
That was an understatement.
“What happened next? Did he carry you into your bedroom and have his wicked way with you?”
That got a laugh out of Ali. “I wish.” She picked up her water and took a sip before continuing. “He stopped and said, ‘I can’t.’ Then, he ran out of the room.”
Her friend’s eyes widened in shock. “What?”
“I followed him back out to the living room and...”
When she didn’t go on, Kim groaned. “Woman, you’re killing me.”
Not wanting the entire restaurant to hear what she was about to say, she leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Long story short, I had a pre-dinner snack.”
“Holy—” Kim cut herself off. “I would’ve loved to see that.”
Given she’d witnessed Kim doing the same thing to Justin the night before, Ali wasn’t so sure. Then again, Kim’s hang-ups about sex were different than Ali’s.
“Back up. What happened between him running out of the room and you having your pre-dinner snack?”
This was the part Ali didn’t really want to talk about. “He kept apologizing, saying it wouldn’t happen again.”
Kim’s brow furrowed. “Why was he sorry? ’Cause after seeing you two together last night and hearing about your scene, it’s not because there’s a lack of chemistry between you two.”
“No. That’s not it.” And Ali was beginning to realize that was never it. All the time she’d spent thinking he didn’t want her the way she wanted him and that hadn’t been it at all. “He thinks he’s too old for me.”
Her friend was quiet for several, very long, moments. “How much older is he?”
“He’s fifty-five.”
She could see Kim doing the math in her head. “That is a bit of an age gap, but I’ve also seen the way you two look at each other.”
Ali smiled, glad her friend understood. But she was done talking about herself. She wanted to know about Kim. “Speaking of servicing your Dom...”
Kim gave her a look that said she knew exactly what Ali was doing. “The club was buzzing saying you and Daniel were upstairs in one of the rooms. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Ali knew her friend didn’t mean physically okay. “You didn’t have to—”
“Yes, I did. And I understood the choice I was making.” She blew out a breath. “It was awkward knowing people were watching, but I got through it.”
“You get used to it. You may even learn to like it.”
“Maybe.” Then Kim turned the focus back on Ali. “But how are you really? How are things between you and Daniel? Besides the sex part. ’Cause from what I gathered, there are no issues there.”
Her friend winked at her and Ali blushed. “Things are good, I think. I mean, it’s only been a few days.”
“True.”