All the Right Moves

by Taylor, Becca

  “I don’t know, Preston. I’d like to think we are something, but all I keep wondering if it’s real or is it an act for your learning pleasure.”

  “Is that what you think?”

  “Yes.”

  Jesus. “Well, how about I uncomplicate things.”

  “I don’t think you can.”

  “Will you go out with me next Friday?”

  “How does that uncomplicate anything? It’s what we’ve been doing.” She rolled her eyes.

  “Next Thursday ends our thirty-day agreement, so Friday, we start fresh. No list. No friends interrupting. Just you and me somewhere nice. A real date.”

  She blinked.

  “I mean it, Tenley. No more pretending. This date will be real.” There, I said it out loud.

  “Okay.”

  “Okay?” I asked again to make sure she understood what I was saying.

  “Yes.” She smiled.

  “Good. Now let’s eat, then head to the beach.”

  “Preston?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I just wanted you to know, I’m looking forward to our date.”

  And I was back. It was a full puff out my chest moment. I won the girl. But not just any girl. The girl.

  16

  Preston

  Wine her, dine her… make her yours.

  BLACK PANTS, MATCHING VEST, classic white button-up shirt, black tie, and no jacket was what I chose to wear for my first official, non-list date with Tenley. Thank you, David Beckham, for the style tip.

  I checked my breath one last time before leaving my apartment. It was time to pick up my date. I was halfway outside, ready to lock my front door when I realized I forgot my keys.

  Dammit.

  I swiped them off the counter and turned to leave again. I had five minutes before I would be late. Even though the walk was literally one door away, I wanted to make an impression. A good one too. With the door locked, I pressed my hand to my back pocket.

  No wallet.

  With an annoyed breath, I unlocked the door to grab the wallet I forgot. At least I had noticed it before we were at the restaurant. Asking a woman to pay because you forgot money would be a sure way to lose a shot at a second date. I searched all the normal spots—my nightstand, by the bathroom sink, in the pants I was wearing earlier until I remembered I left it in my gym bag. I dug the wallet out of the hidden compartment in the bag and stuffed it in my pants pocket, then I headed out… again.

  The flowers.

  Annoyed because I was officially one minute late, I unlocked the door a second time. There on the kitchen table sat the bouquet of pink and red roses I bought for my date. This time, I pat everything as I listed what I needed to bring.

  My nerves were outing me even though there was nothing to be nervous about. Tenley and I had been out together hundreds, maybe thousands of times. Only this time was different. I wasn’t taking her to dinner as Preston, the best friend. I was going as, hopefully, more than that.

  I ran my fingers through my hair, then checked to make sure my tie was straight. With the flowers in my hand and keys and wallet in their rightful pockets, I knocked on Tenley’s door five minutes late.

  My heart rate tripled when she opened the door. She was dressed in a plain white dress that was anything but plain. Her shoulders were covered, yet her arms were bare. I wanted to pull the fabric down and kiss the hidden skin.

  The rest of the material clung to every curve of her body from chest to thigh, but there was a flirty flare from there to just above her knees that swayed when stepped back to open the door wider. As my gaze traveled down to take in the rest of Tenley, her teal-colored heels with the bow on her ankle came into view. Instantly, they made me smile. She was wearing my color.

  “Hey,” she said with a shyness I hadn’t seen before. It was the way you addressed a date, someone you were hoping to impress and wanted to say something profound to, but it was all you could get out. And how did I know that? Because it was all I could manage too.

  “Hey.”

  Then we both laughed. It wasn’t a full-on laugh, but the kind that broke the nervous tension. It also stirred something new in me. Desire. When Tenley’s smile went wide, I was drawn to her lips—lips covered in the same shade of lip gloss I gave back to her the day I asked her out. She asked me what she should wear, and I handed the tube of gloss to her.

  It was meant to be a joke, but I wasn’t laughing. I wasn’t about to tell Tenley what I was thinking, either because I was determined to be a gentleman.

  Hand her the flowers, I reminded myself.

  “You look beautiful,” I told her as I stepped inside her doorway, then extended the bouquet toward her. The word wasn’t enough to describe the way she looked, though. If you took every synonym to the word, scrambled them all together, she was more than whatever word it made up.

  She breathed in the scent of the roses, then placed them in the empty vase on the counter. “You don’t look so bad yourself.” She fingered my vest. “This is hot.”

  “Yeah?” A sense of pride filled my chest.

  She pondered the thought further. “Oh, yeah.”

  I cleared my throat, trying to ignore the finger she pressed to her lip. We should go. No, I needed us to get out of the apartment before I did something stupid like say let’s forget the reservations and stay home.

  Even though I lived next door, I hadn’t seen Tenley in a week. Between our crazy work schedules, time had been limited. Also, I didn’t want to do anything that would fuck up tonight like ripping off her dress and taking her against the wall.

  I cleared my throat. “You ready?”

  She tucked some of her hair behind her ear. It was perfectly wavy and looked as though she’d spent the day on the beach. “Ready.”

  I took the keys from her hand, led her out the door, and locked her apartment door. She tucked her keys in her purse after I handed them back to her, then I offered my elbow for her to take hold of like a gentleman should.

  During the drive to the restaurant, she told me about her week at work. I held her hand as I listened intently, only giving it up when I would have to shift gears. When I pulled up to the parking area, Tenley’s eyes went wide.

  “We’re eating here?”

  Aqua Marine was the it spot in Naples. If you wanted to make an impression, this restaurant was the place to go. Known for both its underwater atmosphere and the outstanding food, Tenley had talked about dining there on more than one occasion, but the price was out of reach for our twenty-five-year-old pockets. Not tonight, though.

  I smiled as I exited my Jeep, then made my way to the passenger side. When I opened her door, Tenley eagerly hopped out of the seat. I placed my hand on her back as we entered the underwater dining area.

  The restaurant was buzzing with life both sea and human. We were greeted at the hostess desk and quickly led to our table for two by the glass water enclosure. Short of snorkeling in the coral reef, it was as close to under the sea as we could get. Tenley couldn’t take her eyes off the fish and sharks who came close to the glass. I, on the other hand, couldn’t take my eyes off her.

  “This is amazing,” she said over and over again.

  “I’m glad you approve.”

  “Thank you for the flowers. And for this, for today, for the past month.”

  For some reason, the words struck an odd chord with me. The way she said this sounded as if this wasn’t real. Maybe I shouldn’t presume anything, but I had hoped.

  “This is just the beginning,” I said as I reached for her hand across the table. There was a tentativeness in the way she slowly placed her hand in mine, and I wanted to erase it. “I meant it when I said I want to give this a try.”

  “It’s going to be weird.”

  “Why?”

  “Because we’ve been friends for so long.”

  “I think that’s the best way to start. Has it been weird so far?”

  She looked down at my thumb as I stroked the top of her hand.
“No. But that was for your project.”

  My finger froze at her words. I’d known Tenley for almost my entire life, and never have I seen her look insecure. But there she was, muscles tensed, looking down instead of at me and worrying her bottom lip.

  “Tenley, you were never a project. Yes, I asked for your help, but you and I have never and never will be a project. Everything that has happened between us was and is real, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  I wasn’t one hundred percent convinced she fully understood me. And there wasn’t time to explain it further because our waiter showed up to take our drink order. We hadn’t even looked at the menu. I reluctantly release Tenley’s hand to lift the drink card from the table.

  “What do you recommend?” I asked.

  “If you trust me, I’ll be right back.”

  I shrugged my shoulder. Tenley gave a slight laugh at his exuberance. It took less than three minutes for him to return with two drinks in hand. He placed one in front of Tenley. “A passionfruit mojito for the lady.” He placed the second drink in front of me. “And a Moscow Mule, tropical style, for the gent.”

  Tenley took a sip, and her eyes lit up. “So good.”

  The waiter looked at me next. I lifted the glass to my lips, then sipped. “You did good.” I quickly read his nametag even though he introduced himself earlier. “Cruz.”

  “How about I give you a few more minutes to look over the menu?”

  “Yes, please. This place is so beautifully distracting, we haven’t had time to look at the food,” Tenley answered.

  Cruz bent down closer to her. “It happens all the time, especially when the view across the table is just as eye-catching.”

  As he walked away, Tenley curled her lips together to cover her laugh. I was flattered. A compliment was a compliment. Thank you, Cruz, for distracting my girl.

  Throughout our dinner of sea bass with truffle risotto for Tenley and grilled lobster with risotto for me, we were back to normal. I offered her bites of my food, and she did the same to me. There was no awkward silence. No scrolling through cell phones to pass the time. It was just the two of us, reminiscing and planning to go back to Aqua again.

  “Did you want to order dessert?” Cruz asked as he gathered our plates. Both were practically licked clean.

  My gaze moved to Tenley’s, who was silently saying, do you even need to ask. I glanced at the desserts they offered. “Pistachio apple strudel for my girl, and Key lime cheesecake for me.”

  We licked those plates clean too. The night was still young. With full stomachs, you would think I would want to go home, but I didn’t. I was glad Tenley asked if we could sit at the bar.

  After I ordered us the same drinks we had at dinner, I took my time drinking since I was driving while Tenley had one more. I could tell by the flush in her cheeks and the way she talked more freely than before that she was on the verge of being buzzed. I liked semi-buzzed Tenley. She didn’t hold back.

  Usually, with me, she never held back, though I knew she had been earlier.

  She stopped me midsentence when I was talking about her upcoming birthday and how I wanted to go with her when she went to visit her family. “I wanted you to know, tonight has been the best date I’ve ever been on.”

  My heart paused, then picked up speed. I curled my fingers in hers and brought them to my lips. “Me too, baby.”

  I wasn’t one for public displays of affection, but after that, we couldn’t seem to keep from touching each other. Tenley kept her hand on my thigh while mine was constantly moving—touching her shoulder, her leg, or brushing her hair back so I could steal a quick kiss.

  Tenley finished the last of her drink while mine had been long gone. She stood from her chair and moved between my legs, placing both her hands on my vest. “Take me home,” she said in a low, seductive voice.

  My gaze danced between her brown eyes with green flecks, searching for an ounce of doubt behind hers. There was none. My original plan was to take her home and leave her at her door with a kiss fit for a first date. But plans change. And, right then, I wanted nothing more than to take her back home and explore this further.

  I turned to the bartender near us who was asking if we wanted another.

  I pulled my credit card from my wallet. “Just the check, please.”

  17

  Preston

  Slow down, it’s not a race.

  THE TWO OF US PRACTICALLY RAN back to Tenley’s apartment once the elevator door dinged open even though Tenley was in heels. It had been a week since I kissed her, really kissed her, so I might have been a tad bit impatient.

  From my pocket, I grabbed the spare key she gave me in case she got locked out to open her door. I held Tenley’s hand in mine while her other arm remained twisted around mine. She was smiling up at me as her hand ran mindlessly up and down my bicep.

  “You look beautiful,” I told her.

  “You already said that.”

  I had no doubt in my mind I’d be saying it again. “It’s true.”

  “Thank you.”

  I dropped a quick kiss on the tip of her nose as the lock clicked open. I let her walk inside first, then followed close behind.

  Before the door closed, I had Tenley lifted in my arms with my lips pressed to hers. I was greedy when it came to her. If we were kissing, I wanted all of her touching me. Even if it was torture.

  The dress she wore rode up her thighs when she wrapped her legs around my waist. The coconut scent of her lotion filled my senses as I inhaled deeply. I liked that she didn’t wear overwhelming perfumes. Coconut, apple, and vanilla, depending on her mood and the season, would forever remind me of Tenley. Her arms crossed behind my head, tightening her hold on me. I didn’t know if she was afraid I would drop her or if she was holding on so I wouldn’t pull away.

  There was no way I would let her fall. And there wasn't a chance I would let her go.

  My hands held firm under the globes of her ass, keeping her against me. It was my favorite thing, having her luscious curves wrapped around me. And I couldn’t wait to feel her wrapped around me, skin to skin.

  Slow down. You’re not even sure she is asking for that.

  I kicked the door fully closed, holding Tenley tightly as I locked the deadbolt. Starved for her, my kisses were sloppy and out of control. But she didn’t seem to care. Tenley’s fingers were running through my hair, and I was losing control. My heartbeat was frantic from wanting her right then.

  I broke the kiss, needing a moment to regain my composure. As much as I wanted her, I wasn’t about to take her against the door. I didn’t want to rush. Rushing would be saved for another time. This time, our first time, was worth more than that.

  I was out of breath from both kissing her and wanting this woman who meant more than I could explain.

  “Take me to my room,” she said in a hushed voice.

  Even though she was the one who said it, I searched her eyes, looking for any signs of reluctance. I didn’t want her to ever doubt this. Us. Anything. Because there was no doubt in my mind what I wanted. Her. Always, her.

  “Preston… take me to my room.” She squeezed her whole body around me, then pressed a sweet kiss to my lips.

  Then I was moving, down the hall.

  I set Tenley on the coral-colored quilt that lined her bed. Lifting one leg at a time, I unstrapped her shoes.

  “Did I mention I love the shoes?”

  She smiled. “I thought you might.”

  I slid them off, then tucked them out of the way. I toed off my shoes next to hers. While I worked on my socks, Tenley stood in front of me. She looked up into my eyes, and I couldn’t take mine off hers. The more she was turned on, the darker they would grow. Right then, they were the color of molten chocolate.

  Her fingers slightly shook as she started to unbutton my vest. My hands shook even more when I lowered the zipper on the side of her dress.

  I wasn’t nervous.

  Well, maybe a little. The nerves
weren’t making me shake, though. It was all Tenley’s doing. She brought every ounce of adrenaline and blood I had in my body to the surface. And as the buttons slid from the hole and the zipper of her dress moved lower, that adrenaline and blood were moving down my body. Every inch of me was igniting. Tenley was lighting a fire in me, and hopefully, I was lighting the same one within her too.

  She slid the vest off my shoulders, and I shucked it the rest of the way off. Her hands immediately started undoing my tie. Once it was over my head, she moved to my shirt. First, she pulled the fabric free from my pants. Next, she worked the buttons. Each time she opened one, she’d place a kiss on my chest. And as she moved lower, I grew harder. Noticeably so.

  She was killing me, yet I’d never felt so alive.

  After my shirt fell haphazardly to the floor, Tenley wasted no time. Her fingers immediately went to work on my belt. It became a slow race. It was an oxymoron, but it was true. Because even though time seemed to slow down, our movements were fast and furious.

  She freed the belt from the buckle. I pulled the straps of her dress from her shoulders.

  She unbuttoned my pants. I pushed her dress down a little.

  She lowered the zipper of my pants. I pushed the dress even lower.

  She tugged the waist of my pants down until they hit the floor. I peeled her dress down her body until we were both standing there. Me in my boxers and her in the sexiest set of white lace I’d ever seen. Though I’d seen Tenley in a lot less, this was different and so much more.

  Stepping back, I admired the view. The white with silver details of her bra pushed up her breasts in the most amazing way. The same pattern covered her below, except the only fabric covering her hips was a half-inch wide strip of lace. When I motioned with my finger for her to spin around, she did it with a slight hesitation. My heart was in my throat as I followed the dip in her spine to the curves of her hips and the globes of her ass, which were only covered by the same half-inch scrap of nothing.