“I caved.”
* * *
Ashlyn
“It’s going to be fine. I’ll bet you have a great time.”
That was from Emmy after I’d told the entire story of how I found myself with a date the next night with none other than Kyle Lewis. He was supposed to be my sworn enemy and now he might end up being my boyfriend.
If things worked out. If last night was anything to go by, they would.
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”
Shelby and Emmy frowned, exchanging a puzzled look.
“What exactly are you afraid of?” Shelby asked. “And be specific.”
“That we’ll have a good time.” Couldn’t they see it? “That would be a problem.”
Emmy placed her fork on the edge of her plate and daintily dabbed at her mouth with her paper napkin. “Help me here. How would having a good time on your date be a problem?”
I was going to have to explain it in detail to two of the smartest women I knew.
“If we have a good time, then he’s probably going to ask me out again.”
Shelby nodded. “True. Keep going…”
“If he asks me out again, I’ll probably say yes. So there will be a second date.”
Emmy giggled and slapped her hand over her mouth. “This is like that book with the mouse and the cookie. Let me guess how this story ends. You keep dating and it’s fantastic. You have sex and it’s the best ever. Then you fall in love and end up getting married to a man who loves technology. Am I right?”
I threw up my hands I frustration. “You don’t think that would be an issue?”
“Maybe you should see how this first date goes,” Shelby said. “Then decide if your coupling with Kyle Lewis would bring about a tragic dystopian future for all mankind.”
“I had fun last night,” I whispered begrudgingly. “A lot of fun. There was…chemistry.”
Both my friends’ mouths were shaped in perfect “O’s”, but it was Emmy who found her voice first.
“Heat between you two. I’m not surprised after your encounter in the elevator. Wouldn’t it have been wild if you’d been stuck for hours and ended up having sex with him right then and there?”
“No, that would not have been wild,” I hissed, my cheeks growing warm at the thought. Kyle was sexy as hell and the image of him pressing me back against the wall while my legs were wrapped around his waist had me squirming in my chair. I’d always heard that a man that could dance well was probably also a good lover. Kyle could dance. He could definitely move those hips. “There might be cameras in that elevator. I don’t want to end up on the internet.”
“So you think this relationship might go somewhere?” Shelby asked, excitement in her tone. She was practically bouncing up and down in her chair. “Then it’s even more important to read the book before your date.”
“She’s already trapped the man,” Emmy pointed out. “Now she just has to decide whether she wants to keep him.”
“The book talks about that,” Shelby replied smugly. “It’s not just about getting asked out. It’s a complete relationship manual. Which you would know if you’d read it.”
Emmy held up her hands in surrender. “Fine. Okay. No need to get snippy. I’ll read it after Ashlyn.”
“I’m not snippy. I’m just nervous. I have a lot going on with the wedding preparations.”
“You are a little snippy,” Emmy said, holding up one finger. “And you get a day. One day. Don’t think you can use that excuse all the way until August. We’re your friends and we will call you out.”
Emmy was an event planner and she did a truckload of weddings. She’d made it her mission not to let Shelby become some sort of monster bride.
“Fine,” Shelby huffed. “I’m just trying to help Ashlyn.”
“Then help me decide if I should call him back and call off the whole date,” I said, burying my face in my hands. “I’ve never been this nervous before a date. He’s not like the guys I usually date.”
“Thank goodness,” Emmy breathed dramatically. “You are far too into tortured artists and guys that can’t afford their electric bill. It’s okay to be attracted to a successful man who has his shit together and isn’t suffering for his art.”
That had been my go-to type for a long time but after my last ex-boyfriend I’d vowed to make a change. Apparently, I hadn’t been specific, though, because the universe had sent me Kyle. Wow, was he different.
“What happens if I fall for Kyle? How could we make this work?”
Emmy picked up her fork and dug into her chicken. “I’m not sure how it would work but there is one thing I’m sure of.”
“What’s that?”
“If you’re asking that question…it’s too late. You’ve already fallen.”
Damn. She was probably right.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Kyle
I hadn’t been this nervous about a date in years. If ever. So much was riding on this one evening and I couldn’t afford even a small misstep. In my work, I didn’t mind mistakes; in fact, I embraced them because they brought me closer to the real solution. But Ashlyn wasn’t a computer program or a piece of electronics.
She was breathtakingly gorgeous.
Or at least I thought she was when she opened the door the next evening. Dressed in a sapphire blue sweater dress and brown boots, she’d pulled her long blonde hair up in some sort of bun on the top of her head with silky tendrils hanging around her face. I had an almost overwhelmingly urge to reach over and pull out the hairpins holding it in place, but I managed to restrain myself. Barely.
Ashlyn looked up at me from under her lashes, a little shy and a little sexy. My heart lurched in my chest and then went off at a gallop. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
She stepped back slightly, the door opening wider. “Do you…do you want to come in for a minute? I just need some lipstick and my purse and then we can go.”
Did I want to come in? Hell yes, I wanted to come in. What I really wanted was to sweep her off of her feet and carry her into her bedroom – wherever it was – and spend the rest of the night making love to her. But that wasn’t going to happen. I was going to be good and act like a goddamn gentleman if it killed me. My caveman instincts would be ignored, at least until they were welcome and invited.
I entered her home and inhaled a lungful of her scent. It was everywhere and if my heart wasn’t thumping loudly enough for the whole town to hear before it definitely was now.
The inside of Ashlyn’s condo was everything the outside wasn’t. Personal and cozy. There were framed black and white photos on the walls along with a few bright paintings here and there. Colorful throw pillows and a beautiful quilt were draped over the end of her cream-colored sofa, and in one corner was a lovely old wooden rocker. There were candles everywhere and two brass sconces on the wall flanking a large set of floor to ceiling shelves filled with books, DVDs, board games, and albums. A turntable was tucked into a corner of the room.
“How do you reach the top shelf?”
The question popped into my head and out of my mouth before I could stop it. It wasn’t a terrible question, though. Ashlyn was petite, and those shelves had to be about eight feet tall. I’d be stretching to reach the top.
She pointed to a blue velvet ottoman. “I stand on that and reach as high as I can.”
“That sounds incredibly dangerous.”
Retrieving a gold tube of lipstick from her purse, she peered into a mirror above the table by the door.
“Luckily, I rarely need anything from the top shelf, but it’s sweet that you’re worried for my safety. I can assure you that the ottoman is sturdy.”
The relative safety of living room furniture had been completely dashed from my mind as I watched – mesmerized – as Ashlyn applied her lipstick. It was one of the most erotic acts I’d seen, and I had no doubt it wasn’t meant to be in the least. She was simply putting on lipstick and my body was reacting as if she was doin
g a striptease dance just for me. Every nerve in my body had stood up and taken notice as she’d glided that tube of color – so slowly and sensually – over her full lips.
My nasty, dirty mind had already conjured up an image of those red lips wrapped around my cock, and he was agreeing that this was a desirable thing to do. He was pressing against my fly and I had to shift so that my jacket covered my crotch. I didn’t want her to know just how debauched I could actually be. Better that she find that out later.
Unable to form coherent words, I hadn’t replied to her statement, but she was done putting on lipstick and seemed to be watching me, expecting me to say something. I mentally smacked myself in the head and pasted on my best I’m not a pervert smile.
“Ready to go?”
The cold air outside would do me good.
* * *
Ashlyn
The date was going better than I thought it would. Which was saying something because I’d had more than a remote inkling that we would have a good time together. All through dinner he’d regaled me with tales of growing up with so many siblings, his college years, and then when he’d started his own business. He was a self-made man but extremely humble, giving credit to just about everyone in his life but himself.
Dammit, he was even more attractive than before. All through dinner I’d barely been able to drag my gaze from him. He was dressed in casual slacks and a button-down shirt but somehow on him the ordinary looked…extraordinary. The seams strained at his wide shoulders and the buttons outlined a path directly from his chest down to…
Stop. Just stop. I was rather horrified by the turn my thoughts had taken. Images of Kyle without that conservative white shirt were trying to take over my usually orderly brain. I couldn’t seem to drag my gaze from his lips as he spoke and his hands were suddenly fascinating, the way they worked his knife and fork. Clearly, I needed to call Shelby and make an appointment for deep therapy.
We’d carefully avoided the elephant sitting nonchalantly in the corner. His technical campus. He’d already told me it was his dream and after hearing his journey I wanted him to have it. Was it terrible that I simply wanted him to have it someplace else?
A few times I thought about talking to him about it, but the evening was going so well I didn’t want to ruin it. We were having fun, the food was delicious, and the service was excellent. Why mess with it? We weren’t going to agree, and it was going to make the date end up in a huge catastrophe.
With things going that well, it had lulled me into a false sense of security. I should have expected it, prepared for it, but somehow I’d fooled myself that it would never happen.
He asked it over dessert – a decadent chocolate cake that had my taste buds singing. We were sharing a slice.
“So tell me about your grandmother, Ashlyn. You said she raised you, correct?”
I might as well get it over with. Rip that band-aid off as fast as possible.
“She did. My mother passed away when I was ten and I went to live with Gran. I guess you could say that’s where I get my love of the past from. She likes to collect records and funny novelty items. She also loves books and she must have hundreds of them.”
A frown flickered across his handsome features but then he smiled. “She’s alive? For some reason I thought she had passed on. I guess I haven’t been paying attention. Sorry about that.”
“I never said, so it’s fine. You may have thought that because she doesn’t live near here anymore, so I don’t see her as much as I’d like to.”
And here it comes…
“Where does she live now?”
I took a deep breath. “Washington D.C.”
“That’s quite a difference, Central Illinois to the nation’s capital.”
“She moved there for work.”
“She’s not retired? That’s wonderful. What does she do?”
I swallowed the cake in my mouth that had turned dry as sawdust. “She’s a senator.”
Kyle blinked once, then twice, then a third time. “A senator? You mean like a U.S. senator and that domed building?”
“The very one,” I said with a sigh. “I usually don’t talk about Gran at the beginning of a relationship because, frankly, things can get a little heated when it comes to politics. She’s a lightning rod for controversy and she’s extremely outspoken. For some reason, that seems to upset the men I’ve dated.”
Kyle stroked his chin and grinned. “I’m afraid to ask this question but who is your grandmother?”
“Roslyn Caldwell.”
The look on his face would have been comical if it had been anyone else. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open. Then he started laughing. I wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or a bad one.
“Your grandmother is Senator Roslyn Caldwell? What an amazing woman. You must be very proud.”
I was, actually, although Kyle probably thought that I wasn’t.
“I am very proud. She’s always fought for what she believes in even if it wasn’t popular. She’s in her seventies but she has more energy than most teenagers I know.”
Growing up as her granddaughter had been a challenge. For so many reasons that didn’t have a thing to do with politics. Because of her career, I didn’t have what many would consider a normal childhood. She was always taking me to marches, rallies, and I’d worked on my first political campaign stuffing envelopes when I was thirteen. Gran had been passionate about changing the world and she’d made me that way, too.
“She was on CNN last night talking about a housing bill.”
“I didn’t know that but she’s on those shows quite a bit.”
“You take after her.”
I took a sip of my water as my throat tightened. He didn’t know how much that compliment meant to me. Despite the challenging nature of my relationship with Gran, I loved her terribly. “Thank you.”
“You really are,” he pressed. “Look at you fighting at city hall for your beliefs. I bet your grandmother used to do that, too.”
“She did. A lot better than me.”
Gran had usually won her fights.
“I bet you do just fine.”
“Not this time.”
The words tumbling out of my mouth before I could stop myself and I wanted to reach out and snatch them back, but it was far too late. I’d opened up the subject that we’d both been avoiding.
Reaching across the table, Kyle placed his hand over mine, tangling the fingers together. “You did really good, Ashlyn. I wish I could save those houses, and it might have been possible twenty years ago, but it’s just too late for them. Give me something else to save for you and I’ll do it. Some trees? A lake? An endangered species? I’ll be all over it. I just can’t fix this one thing.”
My throat clogged at his earnest expression. He was totally serious and not making fun of me in any way.
“I know,” I finally said, folding my napkin on the table but leaving my other hand in his. It felt too good to pull away. “I’m trying to be okay with it but it’s hard. Isn’t it about time to go to the movie? I love Hitchcock.”
I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. I just wanted to enjoy myself with Kyle.
“I don’t want this to come between us, Ashlyn. I really like you and I think we could be good together.”
“I really like you, too.”
Denying it was useless.
Kyle’s smile widened and he waggled his eyebrows playfully. “You just want me for my dog. Admit it.”
“He is pretty handsome. And sweet.”
Shaking his head, Kyle sighed. “I guess a guy has to have a wet nose and fur to get some love around here.”
“It wouldn’t hurt.”
His smile grew wider. “I could lick your cheek. You like it when Sam does it.”
I would definitely like it. In fact, I liked just about everything when it came to Kyle Lewis.
I was falling hard and fast, and I was enjoying every minute of it.
CHAPTER TWELVE
We had watched the first half of the double feature, Rear Window, but Vertigo wasn’t my favorite and we were both fidgeting in our seats by the time the credits rolled. By mutual decision we decided to forgo the second film and head home.
The car ride back to my condo was quiet, just the soft hum of the heater in the background and the sound of the tires on the road. The tension between us had begun to build the moment I stepped into the vehicle and had continued to grow the closer we came to our destination. An unspoken question was hanging between us…
Would I invite Kyle in?
If I didn’t invite him in, it didn’t mean that the date wasn’t great. It had been quite good, and I hoped he’d asked me out again. It simply meant that the evening was over and I was going to my house and he should leave and go to his. There was nothing bad about that.
But…
If I did invite him in, it also didn’t mean that I was inviting him for sex. I could simply be inviting him in for hot chocolate and more stimulating conversation. Maybe a kiss or two. It didn’t have to mean that we were definitely going to be intimate. I simply didn’t want the evening to end so early.
I wasn’t a prude and I was far from a virgin. I didn’t have any weird hangups regarding sex and I adored having an orgasm, especially when I didn’t have to do it all myself. But I wasn’t the type to jump into bed with someone the minute I met them. I had to have more than a mere physical attraction; I wanted an emotional and intellectual one, too.
The problem was I had it. I was more connected to Kyle in a week of knowing him than I had been with my last boyfriend of four months. And it scared me to death.
Because if this blew up in my face, I’d care far more than I had in a damn long time. It was going to hurt.
Dammit, I should have finished Shelby’s book last night, but I’d been exhausted and had fallen asleep watching a mystery show on Netflix right before the reveal of whodunnit. The book might have been able to give me some advice to traverse this delicate terrain, but I was out here on my own and nervous as hell. Screw the hot chocolate. I needed a glass of wine. Or a shot of whiskey.
Tease Him (ManTrap Book 2) Page 7
