“Much better,” he says, his voice softer now as he caresses my cheek. “I’ve been thinking about doing that since you left me this morning.”
“You mean when I left you this afternoon.”
He tries to hide the smirk on his face, but the dimples give him away. “I stand corrected. I’ve been thinking of doing that since you left me this afternoon.”
Cupping my face with his hands, he presses a silky kiss to my already swollen lips that has me wanting so much more and has me quickly forgetting about dinner if we stay here any longer.
“Alex?”
“Julia?”
I keep my eyes closed as his mouth moves meticulously over to my neck, where he lavishes it with more kisses. “If you keep doing that, I’m not going to want dinner at all.”
I feel his smile against my skin, and then he stops and picks his head up to look at me. “I did promise you dinner, didn’t I?”
“You did.”
He answers by dropping his hands from my face and taking one of mine in his. After I lock the door, we walk to his car parked in my driveway, the whole time feeling oddly at ease and relaxed given the altercation with Aiden. But I’m not going to let him ruin my night at all. As of this moment tonight, I will not waste one more thought on him.
Alex opens my door for me and helps me in, then strides around the front of the car to his side. He gracefully slides in next to me before starting the car.
I turn in my seat to look at him as the dashboard illuminates his strong jaw and makes the blue of his eyes have an almost ethereal quality to them. Oh dear … I’m waxing poetic to myself about his eyes. Can you believe this? My thoughts sound as if they are straight out of a fucking script for General Hospital. But I can’t help myself. He really is breathtakingly gorgeous, and I’m at a loss for words around him sometimes. And that’s how I know I’m elbow-deep in some shit I have no idea how to navigate through.
I always have something to say. Always. I basically can’t keep my mouth shut, ever. Men don’t make me stumble to find my words. Men don’t make me anxious. And men certainly don’t leave me wanting more.
“Where are we going?” I ask him.
“It’s a surprise.”
“I hate surprises, Alex.”
“No you don’t. Everyone says they hate surprises, but they secretly love them.”
“Well, not this girl,” I say defiantly.
With a smile in his voice he says, “Is this what it’s going to be like all the time with us?”
“And what exactly does that mean?” I ask, crossing my arms and trying not to analyze his use of the word “us” in that question.
“I mean,” he says, then pauses to steal a glance in my direction, “are you going to fight me every step of the way?”
Ever so smoothly, he puts his hand on the exposed skin of my thigh. The contact immediately garners a zing-like jolt from every nerve ending in my body. He starts to rub small circles against the skin with his thumb, and he adds almost as an afterthought, “Because I love proving you wrong.”
“I don’t fight you every step of the way. Am I not sitting in your car right now on my way to dinner with you?”
“Yes, you are. But if it was up to me, you would have been sitting in that seat a long time ago.”
See, that right there—when he says stuff like that to me, I’m left feeling like a complete idiot. How long has he been interested in me? Besides the flirting, there really was no indication that he had been waiting to make a move on me. Or was there? And I like to think of myself as having a modicum of intelligence, but now I’m starting to question if I’m as clueless as Sarah.
“Why didn’t you do something about it sooner?”
He doesn’t even hesitate with his answer. “You weren’t ready.”
“I wasn’t ready?” I say back to him in disbelief. “You’re a cocky bastard, you know that?”
Alex suddenly turns right onto a side street and parks the car.
“What the hell are you doing?”
He doesn’t answer. Instead, he unlatches his seat belt, leans over the center console, and grabs my face in his hands. His mouth is on mine before I can utter a single sound or protest. At first I’m in shock, but I quickly get over it. That might be due to the precise forcefulness of his lips and tongue, which makes me want to surrender myself to him every goddamn time. I’m like putty in his hands, and he knows it. And not for nothing, but that kind of turns me on.
He slows things down, and all I can do is follow suit, because at this point, I literally feel like I’m just along for the ride. When I open my eyes, his are staring right back at me, full of lust and something else that I don’t want to acknowledge … yet.
“Now that I have your attention,” he whispers, “I’ll say it again. You weren’t ready. Does that make me a cocky bastard? Maybe. Do you think I give a shit that you think that? No. The truth is that you wouldn’t have believed me if I told you. You would have thought I was just looking for a piece of ass and blown me off.”
“But—”
“I wasn’t finished,” he says, cutting me off. “I have wanted to be more than … whatever we are for a while. And before your mind goes off the deep end, no I do not mean just fuck buddies.”
“You make me nervous,” I blurt out of nowhere.
Alex’s lips curve upward with a small grin at my admission. “Why?”
“Because I never know what’s going to come out of your mouth, that’s why. Perfect example, what you just finished telling me. Who says that kind of shit? No one, that’s who. But you, you …”
“Me, what?” he asks, now with a full smile on his face.
“You say something like that and it throws me off my game. It’s infuriating.”
“I like throwing you off your game,” he admits quietly. “But what you don’t get, Julia, is that you have the same exact effect on me.”
“I do?”
He pulls my chin up and presses a light kiss to my lips. “You have no idea.”
Oh, I like that. I like that a lot.
And like any red-blooded female out there who finds out this kind of information, I try to use it to my advantage. First though, I have to sweeten the pot, so I lean forward and loosely wrap my arms around his neck. I run my nose along his, secretly hoping that I don’t get any snot on it before ducking my lips to his ear.
“Alex?” I say, barely above a whisper.
“Hmmm?”
“Where are we going to dinner?”
He chuckles as he pulls away and latches his seat belt again. “I told you, it’s a surprise. Nice try though.”
“I hate surprises,” I mumble under my breath when he starts to drive again.
I have to look out the passenger window to hide the grin on my face while he’s still laughing. It has a lot to do with everything he’s admitted to me a few moments before. But if you promise to keep a secret, I’ll tell you the real reason for it.
The cocky bastard was right. I love surprises.
CHAPTER TWENTY
When he starts to drive on the Dolphin Expressway and the landscape outside my window changes to the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean, I know we are heading toward South Beach. Alex still won’t tell me where we are going when I ask again though. And I do ask again. I think I might ask another five times the whole way, until we pull up to a driveway that is nestled amongst tons of palm trees and I see a long, tan, tarp-covered walkway that leads to the restaurant’s front door.
Barton G.
Oh. My. God.
For those of you who do not live in Miami, this restaurant is as upscale as they come. There are only two of them, the other being in Los Angeles. It’s known for its eclectic presentation of dishes and romantic ambiance. And I guess for being super pricey. I’ve only been here one time before, and that was for a private party hosted by a longtime client of mine. Ever since then, I’ve been dying to come back and have a sit-down dinner. But given the long list of losers I’ve had the
pleasure of dealing with, a romantic dinner here was never in the cards for me.
Dear Lord, I was not prepared for this. I was thinking something along the lines of a swanky place on Washington Avenue or something like that. Never did I imagine he would opt for cozy and intimate. This puts the “not just fuck buddies” comment he made in perspective for me. And I know we have crazy chemistry; that’s not it. My problem is I’ve had such bad luck with men that it’s hard for me to discern at which point I can let go and be on the receiving end of real affection and love—the whole package. On top of all that, men have a hard time in general dealing with my … ahem, rough edges. But I make no apologies for who I am. You either like it or you don’t.
“Stay right there,” Alex instructs as he gets out of the car to hand the valet his keys.
He opens the door for me, and I swing my legs out to carefully balance my feet on the concrete. He holds his hand out and helps me up, but not before I notice how he looks at my legs in appreciation for a second.
The valet whisks Alex’s car away, and we walk up, hands entwined, to the front door. I lean in to say something to him privately. “You know, you didn’t have to go all out.”
“I know I didn’t,” he answers, then quickly adds, “I wanted to.”
We reach the door, and he goes to open it for me, but I can’t let what he said go unnoticed. So I reach up on my toes and softly press my lips to his. “Thank you,” I whisper, then duck into the restaurant ahead of him.
The hostess spots us coming toward her, and she focuses all of her attention on Alex, eyeing him up and down as if I’m not even here. Can’t say that I blame her—I mean look at him, for chrissakes! But at least try and be a little discreet about it.
“Hello there!” the hostess says, addressing only Alex as if I don’t exist. She leans forward and purposely displays her cleavage for him.
Bitch, please. Find your own man.
That’s right, I’m officially staking my claim on his ass.
Alex puts his arm around my waist and pulls me to him, ignoring the hostess’s feeble attempt at distracting him, and gives her his name to look up the reservation.
She shoots me a look of surprise. “Aren’t you the lucky one?” she says under her breath, but not enough that I don’t hear her perfectly clear.
Normally I would say something just as biting back to her, but you know what? She isn’t even worth it because nobody is going to ruin this evening for me. Not Aiden and certainly not this woman.
She darts out from behind her stand and leads us toward a small flight of stairs. When we get to the top, she walks us through a maze of tables that are partially filled with people enjoying their meals. We keep following her to a set of French doors covered with sheer curtains on the far side of the room. She opens the door to unveil a solitary table illuminated by outdoor lights, hidden from everyone else in the restaurant.
Holy shit!
Mind officially blown.
“Do you like it?” Alex asks in my ear, placing his hand on the small of my back and gently nudging me forward.
I more than like it because it confirms that he really put some thought into this. And that alone is what makes it even more special. I can’t remember the last time a man has gone so far out of his way to impress me. It’s been so long that I’m temporarily at a loss for words until Alex asks me again if I like it.
“I love it,” I finally say when I find my voice.
He smiles while leading me to my seat and pulls it out for me. I sit down, and he immediately bends down to kiss my neck, sending shivers up my spine. My God, I’m like a puddle of goo over here with all this attention from him, and I love it. The hostess looks on with her mouth agape.
Alex lifts his head and looks at the hostess. “Thank you, and for the record, I’m the lucky one.”
I think I’m in love.
No, no, no, I’m not in love. But damn, if he keeps this up, I won’t be far from it.
The hostess leaves after bumbling through letting us know that our server will be with us shortly, and Alex goes to sit across from me. Once she’s gone, we’re alone and hidden away from prying eyes. But not for long. Our server arrives with a bottle of champagne, proceeds to open it, pours us each a glass, and then leaves us alone again.
Alex picks up his glass and with a dashing smile says, “To new beginnings.”
I take a small sip after we clink our glasses together, and then I say the first thing that comes to mind. “You are soooo getting laid tonight.”
He chokes on his champagne before laughing out loud. He really does have the sexiest laugh; it lights up his whole face and makes him look so relaxed. I meant what I said though, even if it sounded crass. But it’s the truth. He’s getting laid for pulling out all the stops. Probably a blow job too; that’s how impressed I am right now.
“Sorry, my mouth sometimes has a mind of its own,” I say with a giggle while he’s still clearing his throat.
“Don’t apologize. I love your mouth.”
“Is that so?” I lean forward and put my elbows on the table. “Then you’re really in for a treat later.”
He leans forward, and since the table is for two, he’s much closer to my face. “If you keep saying things like that, we’ll be taking this meal to go.”
“Saying things like what?”
“Saying things that make me want to do things to you.”
“What kind of things?” I coyly ask.
“Things that I’ve been imagining for quite some time. Things that will have you screaming my name out loud again and again.”
The sound of someone clearing his throat turns both of our heads. Our poor server has been standing there for who knows how long listening to us. I want to die of embarrassment. If the ground could open up and swallow me whole, I’d be totally fine with it right now.
The server sounds flustered when he speaks. “If you’re ready, I’ll be bringing out the appetizer now.”
Alex answers in an assured voice. “We’re ready.”
When the waiter walks away, I ask Alex, “Don’t I get a chance to look at the menu?”
“I already ordered for you. For both of us.”
“Um, how do you know I’ll like what you picked? Aren’t you afraid that I’ll hate it?”
“Don’t you trust me?” he says with that dimpled grin of his that does things to me.
That’s not only a good question but a loaded one too. One that I can’t answer yet because unfortunately I’ve been burned so many times before by other men. I know it’s not fair to hold Alex accountable for the assholes who came before him. And I know I’m making it sound like there was a goddamn army of men, but there were enough who wasted my time and made me feel like garbage that I have a hard time letting down my guard.
“Hmm, I better like this food you picked out for me. If not, then I may have to take the blow job offer off the table.”
Alex’s eyebrows fly up toward his hairline, and when he opens his mouth to make a witty comeback, the waiter appears at our table with our first dish. His face is somewhere between shocked and uncomfortable. I’m wondering how I can slip a packet of Tic Tacs in the guy’s pocket so I can hear him coming next time. He places a silver circa 1950s vintage style toaster on our table with two flaky pastry pouches sticking out of it and tells us to enjoy before trotting off to wherever he came from.
Curiously, I ask, “What are those?”
Alex reaches over and takes one of the pastry pouches out of the toaster and puts it on my plate for me and then takes the other one for him. “Lobster Pop-Tarts.”
I dig in, and when the first forkful hits my taste buds, it’s like I’ve bitten into a slice of heaven. My eyes shoot up to find him clearly enjoying himself watching me eat.
“Good?”
“Oh my God, it’s delicious.”
“You have no idea how glad I am to hear that,” he teases, and takes a bite for himself.
“Ha! I’m pretty sure I have a very
good idea of how glad you are that I like it. But we still have the rest of the meal to go, so I reserve the right to withhold my opinion until that time. Deal?”
He wipes his mouth with his napkin and takes a sip of his champagne. “Just to be clear, we’re still discussing what I think we’re discussing?”
I give him a look that confirms his assumptions and take another forkful of food.
“Well then, how could I possibly pass up a deal like that? You’re on.”
When the main course is presented a little while later, which consists of “Mouse Trap Mac ’n’ Cheese” and “Eat the Beef Ribs,” which are equally delicious, we get on the subject of his niece.
“I saw Josie again the other day. Vanessa brought her by my office to go over some party stuff.”
“I know,” he says. “I talked to her earlier today.”
“She’s awesome.”
He smiles warmly and then says, “I couldn’t agree more.”
“So if what I’m about to ask is too personal, don’t hesitate to tell me, okay?”
He nods and takes a bite of his food.
“Is her dad in the picture? Because I noticed that Vanessa doesn’t have a wedding band, and Josie has never mentioned anything about him.”
“No, he’s not,” he replies in a clipped tone.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. It’s just that she’s so amazing, and I was curious.”
He puts down his fork and gives me an apologetic look. “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so put off. It’s a bit of a sore subject. He skipped out on my sister when she found out she was pregnant with Josie. She’s never had the pleasure of meeting her father.”
“Never?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “Not one single damn time.”
“Wow, I’m really sorry to hear that. Not only for Josie but Vanessa too. That’s just awful.” I lean forward and rest my elbows on the table. “But that’s why you’re so close to her, right?”
Alex smiles faintly and nods again. “From day one.”
“So Vanessa was right about how you spoil her rotten.”
He tilts his head to the side as he goes to grab his glass of champagne. “Maybe just a little.”
Playing It Safe Page 18
