by E. L. Todd
He grabbed a menu and looked at it.
I really wanted to change the subject. “You always order the same thing. Why do you need a menu?”
“Well, what if I change my mind?”
“Have you ever?”
He smiled and put down the menu. The waitress came and took our orders. Jared ordered for the both of us. I always ordered the same thing too.
When she walked away, Jared looked at me. “So, what did you do last night?”
“I just said I went out with the girls.”
He shook his head. “You’re such a smartass. Went out where?”
“Just out.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Why are you being weird?”
“I’m not.”
“Then where did you go?”
“We went to a bar, okay?”
He laughed. “Wow, my sister put on her big girl panties.”
I rolled my eyes. “Shut up.”
“Get any takers?”
I was quiet for a moment. “No.”
“You know you can’t lie to me, right? I’ve seen you lie to Dad a hundred times. I know when you’re bluffing.”
“Well, there was this one guy.”
“And what happened?”
“We went out to coffee.”
He nodded. “Are you seeing him again?”
I smiled. “Tonight.”
“What does he do for a living?”
I rolled my eyes. “I hate it when you act like this.”
“Like what?” he asked, exasperated.
“Like a controlling, over-protective brother.”
“Well, it’s my job.”
“No, it isn’t. I can take care of myself.”
“By avoiding men at all costs,” he said with a laugh.
“Then your brotherly duties are relieved.”
“I would much rather have a sister that has shitty boyfriends than one who doesn’t have anyone at all.”
“I’m not having this conversation with you again.”
“Why are you like this?”
I sighed. “What did I just say?”
“Well, I don’t get it. You never give anyone a chance. What about Alex? That guy is like in love with you.”
“Not this again.” Alex was Jared’s friend. They met a few years ago and do almost everything together. I always had the suspicion that Alex had feelings for me, but I never thought they were so intense. My brother encouraged me to be with him, but I just never felt anything for him. He was sweet—really sweet, attractive, and funny, but I don’t know. He never made my heart race. If I did decide to go out with him, it would be safe. I don’t think the guy would ever hurt me, but I still didn’t want to.
“Just give the guy a chance. I think you’ll like him.”
“And if I don’t, it will make everything awkward. I would never want to ruin any of your friendships.”
“Well, I’m giving you permission, so just try.”
I rolled my eyes. “I just told you I have a date tonight.”
“What’s this guy’s name?”
“Ethan.”
“Ethan what?”
“I don’t know.”
“What are you doing tonight?”
“He’s taking me to dinner.”
He nodded in approval. “So you like him, then?”
I felt my cheeks blush. “Yeah.”
My brother caught the look. “So you like him a lot, then?”
I shrugged. “I just met the guy.”
“Well, your face is redder than a tomato.”
Thankfully, the waitress came over and handed us our dishes. We ate in silence for a long time. My brother and I are barely over a year apart and I think that’s why we are so close. We always experienced life around the same maturity level. Sometimes we fought until we were on the brink of war, but we always settled our differences no matter what. My brother was a great guy—the best—but I would never tell him that. Besides, he probably already knew it anyway.
“When are you going to break up with Suzie?”
He sighed. “I don’t know. Next time I see her.”
“Make sure you hide all the dishes.”
He rolled his eyes. “I know.”
“She showed me wedding dresses last week. You need to do it soon.”
“That girl is crazy. We’ve been dating for a few months. I never mentioned marriage once. I didn’t even introduce her to Dad.”
“I don’t know what her deal is. You sure know how to pick em’.”
He laughed. “Yeah, that’s true. I won’t make the same mistake twice.”
I stared at my brother across the table. He had the same dark hair and green eyes that I did. However, he was much taller and larger than me. He played a lot of sports with his friends and prided himself on his physique. My friends always told me they thought my brother was hot but I never mentioned it to him. It was weird to think about him in that way.
The waitress brought the bill and Jared paid for it like he always did. He refused to let me pay for anything. I never understood why. I didn’t need him to take care of me.
“So are you nervous about tonight?” he asked.
“So are you a girl now?”
He laughed. “I’m just trying to talk to you about this guy. You never go to bars and you never go out with people you see on the streets, or people in general, for that matter.”
I smiled. “Well, he convinced me.”
“And how did this guy manage to pull that off? He must practice hypnosis.”
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “He just didn’t give me the opportunity to say no.”
“Well, that’s never worked for me.”
“He had a charming way of going about it.”
“Such as?”
“Well, instead of sending me a drink from the bar, he sent me a rose.”
Jared rolled his eyes. “So cliché.”
“When have you ever seen a guy do that?”
“Whatever. It’s still cheesy.”
“Well, it worked.”
Jared rose from his seat. “You ready to go?”
“Yeah, sure.”
We left the restaurant and returned to the apartment building. My brother and I lived in the same complex. We didn’t do it on purpose. It just worked out that way. He lived a few stories above me and had an extra key to my apartment. Sometimes, when he wanted to hide from Suzie, he would crash at my place. I didn’t mind. He never dropped by unexpectedly. He was always respectful of my privacy just like I was of his. I knew he would always protect me and defend me no matter what my crime. I felt the same way about him.
When the elevator stopped, I got out on my floor.
“Good luck tonight,” he said before the door closed.
“Uh, thanks.”
“And don’t chase him away by being annoying.”
“You only think I’m annoying because I’m your sister.”
“No. You really are annoying.”
“Piss off.”
He smiled. “Have fun.”
I smiled back. “Thanks.”
The elevator doors closed and he disappeared. When I came back to my apartment, a rose was taped to my door along with a note.
Sexy lady,
I’m very excited about tonight. And I’ll bring my nice ass along. I know how much you like it.
My mouth stretched into a wide smile. My cheeks were blushing and a laugh escaped my lips. I was embarrassed but I was glad he was being funny about the whole thing. I didn’t feel so ashamed. I walked inside the apartment and placed the rose on the kitchen counter. I wondered if it was the same rose from the night before.
Koku ran into the room and jumped up my leg. I grabbed him and held him to my neck, letting him lick my skin and sniff my hair. I scratched his ears while I smiled. I felt like a school girl but I couldn’t help it. For some reason, I really liked Ethan. But I was still suspicious of him. I found it hard to believe that he was so stuck on me. There
wasn’t anything interesting or amazing about me.
4
I decided to wear jeans and a long-sleeve shirt to dinner. I wasn’t sure where he wanted to go, but I hoped it wasn’t somewhere fancy. I didn’t care for overpriced restaurants with small portions. When I ate, I ate like a bear.
When the knock sounded on the door, I almost jumped. Ethan was there. I looked at the clock and realized it was seven o’clock sharp. The man was punctual. I took a deep breath before I opened the door. I wasn’t ready to see his beautiful smile and his square jaw. I wasn’t ready to see that muscular ass either.
When I opened the door, he was holding a book.
I smiled at him. “What’s this?”
“A gift for my beautiful date.” He handed it to me.
I looked at the cover and felt the edges. “The Odyssey?”
He smiled. “It’s my favorite book of all time. I wanted to share something with you. Now you know me a little better than you did before.”
I was touched by the gesture. It was so sweet and so romantic. I loved books more than anything. While people interpreted different meanings from the same story, you still experienced the same adventure. It was an easy way to relate to one another. “That’s really sweet. Thank you,” I said as I held the book to my chest.
“You’re very welcome.”
Without thinking, I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. When I pulled away, his smile was even wider. I felt a rush when I touched him. Even though the kiss was innocent, I still felt the fire ignite. I couldn’t believe this gorgeous man was so thoughtful.
“And thank you for that,” he said. “Are you ready to go?”
Koku ran to him and pawed at his leg.
Ethan leaned down. “Of course I didn’t forget about you, little man.” He pulled a small bone from his pocket and handed it to the dog. “I don’t know if your mother will let you have this, but don’t tell her I gave it to you.”
Koku took the bone out of his hand and started chewing on it. Ethan scratched his ears before he stood up.
Now my head was spinning even more. Food was the way to a man’s heart, but the way to my heart was through my dog. And I knew Koku liked him just as much.
“So are you ready to go?”
I nodded as I stared at him. He was wearing dark jeans and a gray shirt. It was ordinary, but I could see the lines of his body through his shirt. He was fit and his muscles were prominent. I fantasized about him without his shirt on for a moment, but stopped myself. I couldn’t go there right now.
He opened the door. “After you, m’lady.”
I smiled at him as I walked out the door. When we walked toward the elevator, he grabbed my hand.
“You look absolutely beautiful tonight.”
I looked down at myself. I was wearing jeans and a plain shirt. I didn’t look special or particularly dolled up. “Oh, thanks.”
“Why is it so hard for you to take a compliment?” he asked as we walked inside.
“I said thanks.”
“But you have this surprised expression on your face.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Well, get used to it because I think you’re damn fine.”
He caressed my fingers with his as we stood in the elevator. I liked feeling him touch me. It was innocent, but it drove me insane with longing. I didn’t know if I could kiss him on the cheek again without moving to his mouth. I wondered what he tasted like.
He released my hand and turned around. “Do you want to get a good look while we wait?”
I blushed. “I wasn’t looking.” Well, I was looking now. It looked quite nice.
He turned around and wrapped his arm around my waist. “Just admit it. You were caught in the act.”
“I was not. I was making sure you didn’t get lost.”
“Who? Me or my ass?”
I laughed. “Both of you.”
He pressed his face close to mine as we rode the elevator down to the bottom floor. I didn’t want the ride to end. I inhaled the scent of his skin. He smelled like a fresh shower. I wanted to lean in and kiss him but I stopped myself. He stared at my lips. I waited for him to kiss me but he never did. I was growing more disappointed by the second. Finally, when the doors opened, he pulled away and grabbed my hand. I felt my heart fall. Why didn’t I just kiss him?
He waved down a cab and we got inside. He said the name of a restaurant and the driver sped away. Ethan still held my hand while he rested it on his thigh. I could feel the muscles in his leg just from resting on the surface. He was strong and powerful. I kept imagining him naked but I pushed those thoughts away. Just yesterday I didn’t want to sleep with him, but now that’s all I can think about.
Ethan leaned close to my ear. “How was your day?”
“Good.”
“What did you do?”
“I went out to breakfast with my brother.”
He nodded. “You two are close?”
“Really close.”
“That’s great. I’m close with my family as well.”
“Don’t get me wrong. He can be really annoying.”
He laughed. “Yeah, my family can be too. But you gotta love em’.”
“Unfortunately.”
“So, did you tell your girlfriends the scoop?”
I laughed. “Maybe.”
“And how did I come off?”
I shrugged. “Good.”
“Did you tell them about my ass?”
My cheeks were blood red. “It may have come up.”
“Well, I hope both me and my ass were heroes.”
“I think so.”
He rubbed my knuckles with his thumb. “Did I mention how beautiful you are?”
I blushed again.
“You really should get used to it. You’re going to be hearing it a lot from me. I’m sure you’ve heard it your whole life.”
“I’m just wearing jeans and a shirt.”
“And you still look amazing. What does that say about you?”
I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to say.
He shook his head. “You’ll realize it eventually, Sadie.”
“Realize what?”
“That you are really exceptional.”
The cab driver pulled over and parked. Ethan paid the driver then we left the car. Ethan held my hand again as we walked to the small café on the strip. There were tables outside covered in white table cloths and it looked peaceful, serene. I was just glad it wasn’t a crazy fancy restaurant. I hated it when guys took me to those. I couldn’t care less how much they had to spend on one meal.
“How does this look?”
“It’s perfect.”
“Good.”
We walked inside then took a seat outside. The sun had set and it was slightly chilly, but it wasn’t too bad. When Ethan looked away, I stared at his face and chest. My thoughts always turned lustful when I looked at him. I shook the thoughts away because I was starting to feel guilty about it. I was just as bad as the womanizers in the bar.
He returned my look. “Thinking about my ass?”
I laughed. “You caught me.”
“It’s okay. I get that a lot.”
“It is really cute.”
He shrugged. “Well, you know.”
“Why haven’t you complemented my ass?”
“Because I haven’t looked.”
“I thought you weren’t a liar?”
He laughed. “You caught me. It’s very beautiful. I would like to see it up close.”
“Is that what this dinner is for? To get me into bed?”
He shrugged. “Well, I wouldn’t mind if it led to that, but no, that was not my plan.”
“Yeah, okay,” I said sarcastically.
“I don’t know why you don’t believe me. Is it that hard to believe that I just think you’re a gorgeous woman and I want to know you better?”
“Yes.”
He laughed. “Why?”
“Since we
met in a bar, I doubt that’s what you were looking for.”
“You’re right. I wasn’t. But when I saw you, I knew I had to have you—not just in a sexual way.”
His words made my spine shiver. It was territorial, almost possessive. “And why is that?”
“I have no idea. Sometimes you just know. When I saw you, my heart raced. I started to sweat. I was hard instantly—excuse my vulgarity.”
The idea of him being hard made me hard. I didn’t know why. If any other guy said that to me, I would have gotten up and walked away. “You’re excused.”
“Thanks.”
The waitress came over and we ordered our meals. Ethan ordered a bottle of wine for the table and poured me a glass.
“Another tactic—getting me drunk,” I said as I sipped the wine.
“Damn, I’ve been caught.”
I finished the glass. It was really good.
“What do you do for fun, Sadie?”
“I like to read.”
“Anything else?”
“I write book reviews for a few magazines. I just do that whenever they ask. It’s extra money.”
He nodded. “That sounds interesting.”
“I like it. What do you do for fun, Ethan?”
“I like it when you say my name.” His eyes were heated for a moment. I could almost see into his mind. I knew what he was thinking about. I was thinking the same thing. He took a drink of his wine before he put it down. “I enjoy seeing my niece and nephew—my sister’s kids—and I enjoy playing ball with my friends. I like to read, but I doubt I read as much as you do, and I love fantasy football and all Brad Pitt movies.”
“You sound like every guy I’ve ever met—except for the niece and nephew part.”
“Well, there isn’t a lot of variety to us. We are all obsessed with the same things: sports, sex, and food.”
“Women are the same way. Just exchange sports with shopping.”
“They are obsessed with sex?” he asked with a smile.
“Some.”
“Are you?”
I looked away from him. “No.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Well, I’m not.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?”
He stared at me. “Nothing, Sadie. Nothing.”
“I said I wouldn’t sleep with you.” I had no idea why I kept saying this. I wanted to have sex with him on the damn table.