My brain was glitching. “Um … uh … don’t I know what?”
“Why I didn’t kiss you?”
He took another step closer to me, and it forced a response out of me. “No, I mean, isn’t that how a date is supposed to end? The boy takes the girl home and kisses her good night?” I was trying my best to turn it all into a joke, but no one was laughing.
He took the final step that closed the distance between us, and I felt like I was going to pass out. Now, he was deliberately and wholly teasing me, and I relished every second of it.
“I wanted to be careful,” he said, his low, deep voice washing over me. “I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable with me for even a second.”
I smiled in response and opened my mouth to speak, but before I could, he curled his big, strong hands around my waist. He pulled my unresisting body forward, till I was pressed against him. My face tilted up to stare into his eyes.
Dang, he was beautiful.
I couldn’t help but reach out to touch him. My fingers lightly stroked the supple skin of his cheek, and then for some reason my finger moved over to stroke the bridge of his nose. I should have been more nervous with him … more guarded, but I wasn’t. I wanted to ask him why he felt so familiar to me, but before I could even string a single sentence together in my head, he leaned forward and sucked my bottom lip into his mouth.
No one had ever done that to me. I had expected something light and simple, but the moment we touched, it was as though we had been created specifically and solely to kiss the other. I closed my eyes with pleasure. This, oh God, this. I had been waiting for this my whole life. Slowly his mouth worked my bottom lip. My whole body responded. I felt as if my bones were melting. I was being one with him.
His taste still had a slight hint of whiskey and the dessert we had shared. It melded magically with the taste on my own tongue. Heady. I felt his arms tighten around me as he moved on to capture both my lips. The kiss … was searing.
I felt as if I was falling. My hands fisted around the front of his shirt to keep me stable, and I gave back as much as he took, slanting my head in sync with his, as he took the kiss even deeper.
Tremors coursed through my body as his tongue slipped into my mouth and began a sensual dance with mine. He stroked and sucked and teased me, and by the time we parted for a breath, I couldn’t believe the ride he had taken me on.
I stood boneless in his arms. For what seemed to be a lifetime, all I could do was stare into his stunning eyes.
In the distance, a dog barked.
It startled me and brought me back to reality. Instantly, I pulled away from his embrace. I felt shocked and disorientated. My knees wobbled with the sudden movement, and I would have gone sprawling backwards on my ass if he hadn’t reached out and caught me. Only when he was sure that the strength had returned to my legs, did he let go of me.
I almost couldn’t look at him. I was that shaken. I bent my head and pretended to straighten out the imaginary wrinkles in my dress. When it was clear he was not simply going to walk away and I wasn’t going to be able to carry on straightening out wrinkles that weren’t there, I lifted my gaze to his. He was waiting. There was patience in his eyes, as if he would have stood there all night waiting for me to get myself in order. He made me feel like his attention was solely for me, and that he had all the time in the world for me.
The light evening breeze blew at his hair, dropping it down on his forehead. He pushed it back impatiently and I realized then I was truly at the risk of falling madly in love with the unreal man before me. It was crazy because I knew nothing about him. He could be a serial killer for all I knew.
“I … uh … I should get going,” I mumbled.
He nodded and slipped his hands into his pockets as he waited for me to make my next move.
“Thank you for dinner,” I said, and clutching my purse in hand, I started to walk away, my palm pressed flat against the body of my van until it could no longer support me. I did not look back even though I was dying to. As I got into the building and closed the door, I heard his car start up and roar away into the night. I leaned against the door and took deep calming breaths. By the time I arrived at Sandra’s door, I felt almost normal again.