“It’s true, so I think of it more as genuine appreciation than flattery. And the cake’s already mine since you bailed on our plans for last night.”
Feeling bad about the change of plans, I heaved a deep sigh and shifted in my seat to face him. “Yeah, about that. I thought it was just supposed to be dinner with Alessia and Alec, but—”
“You ended up meeting my best friend, his wife, and their adorable baby girl, too?” he finished my sentence for me.
“Yes! How did you know?”
“The rumor mill in the office was in full force about me hanging out with a hot blonde at the clubs this weekend, and Andrew heard about it. He put that together with my sudden craving for chocolate cake and figured out you’re the mystery woman I had a date with tonight.”
I leaned back against the headrest. “Wow. That was fast. I haven’t even talked to my sister about it yet.”
“If you want to be the one to tell her, you’d better do it fast,” he suggested. “Because she and Alec are probably going to hear about our date sooner rather than later.”
I felt weird about not having talked to Alessia about Mark yet. We’d always lived together in Vegas, and we used to share all the guy gossip as soon as it happened. But our lives had changed a lot since she married Alec and moved to Chicago. “I was going to talk to her about it last night, but then everyone else was there and the time never felt right. When I called her today, she was super tired so I told her to take a nap instead of chatting with me. Then Alec hid her phone while she was sleeping because he wanted to make sure she got enough rest. When she finally woke up, she sent me a quick text to let me know they decided to stay phone free for the rest of the day so they could have some quality time together before he leaves for another road trip tomorrow.”
“How long will he be gone?”
I pulled my phone out of my purse and checked my calendar. “Three days, for two games this time around. Both of them are in Florida, one day apart from each other.”
“At least Florida sounds far enough away that I won’t get my ass kicked right off the bat. Maybe Alec will even have enough time to cool down before he gets back.”
I felt like I’d missed an important part of our conversation. “Why does Alec want to kick your ass? Aren’t you his brother’s best friend?”
“You don’t have any brothers, right? Or guy friends who are close enough to treat you like their little sister?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s just Alessia and me.”
“I’m an only child, so I can’t speak from personal experience. But I know how Alec reacted when Andrew and Josie first met. He wasn’t sure about them dating and tried to warn his brother off her. He and Josie went to boarding school together for high school, and he felt protective of her. Like he would have been if she was his sister…and you’re his sister-in-law. So I’m not expecting him to be thrilled when he finds out we’re dating.”
“You’re hot.” I raised my index finger and lifted another as I made each additional point. “You have a great job. You’re kind. You have good friends who’ve stuck around since you were a kid. You drive an awesome car. You text when you say you’re going to. You dress nice. You tell me I’m gorgeous. You listen when I talk. You’ve got a great sense of humor.” I wiggled both hands at him. “That’s ten reasons off the top of my head for my sister to love the idea of us as a couple. And that’s not even including the biggest one of them all.”
“What would that be?”
My cheeks filled with heat as I thought about how crazy it was to mention this on our first date. But there was no point in hiding it since it was probably going to be one of the first things my sister would say to him. “I’m not saying this to put any pressure on you, but Alessia will root for us to work out because you’d be another reason for me to make my move to Chicago permanent.”
“The idea of you making Chicago your home doesn’t scare me at all.”
I was absorbing the implications in that as he pulled up to the valet in front of a Latin fusion restaurant Andrew had mentioned at dinner the night before. Thinking about what he’d said, I asked, “You’re bringing me to your favorite restaurant for our first date?”
“Is that okay? You said you like spicy food, so I figured you’d enjoy it.”
“It’s more than okay.” I leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss against his cheek. “It’s super sweet of you to share your favorite place with me this quickly.”
“Sweet’s almost as bad as cute,” he grouched as he got out of the car. Then he came around and helped me out of my seat after the valet opened the door.
“Not in my book,” I disagreed. “It’s right up there with all the other reasons my sister will be happy to hear I’m dating you.”
We spent the next three hours with him showing me how right I’d been about my list—especially the parts about listening and being funny. I also added a new item; he wasn’t afraid to put effort into planning a date. He hadn’t just made reservations at his favorite restaurant. He’d talked to the chef and gotten him to do a tasting menu so I’d have the chance to try a bunch of different dishes. There wasn’t a single item I didn’t enjoy, but the desserts had been out of this world. By the time we left, my belly was full and my cheeks hurt from laughing so much.
“Thanks again for such an amazing dinner,” I said when we neared my hotel.
“I’d like do it again some time.”
“Definitely.”
“Do you have any plans for tomorrow night?”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “I’m going to be sleeping over at my sister’s until Alec is back in town, so the next few nights are booked solid for me.”
“Well, shit. That’s right. We had so much fun; I almost forgot that’s the reason you’re in town.”
“Me too.”
He stopped short of the valet station, put the car in park, and reached for my hand. “I don’t think I got the chance to mention how impressed I am by that.”
“What do you mean?”
“If I were making a list of reasons why someone should be happy you’ve agreed to date me, the love and devotion you have for your sister would be right at the top.”
After everything Alessia had done for me over the years, I wasn’t really comfortable with his compliment. “It’s not a big deal. Alec paid for my airfare and the movers. His brother offered me a job. One of his teammates hooked me up with a killer suite at this hotel. Alec and Alessia are going to let me stay at their apartment after they move into their new house. And even without all that, it wasn’t exactly a hardship to come out here and hang out with my sister. She’s pretty much my favorite person in the entire world.”
“And that right there not only proved my point, it also added another item to my list.”
“Oh, really? Now you’ve got a list too?”
He mimicked my action from earlier, lifting a finger to tick off each point as he said, “You’re a great sister. You’re humble. You’re gorgeous. You’re funny. You’re going to have a great job as soon as you decide where you want to work. You have no idea the impact your smile has on the people around you. You’re so nice that you give that beauty to pretty much everyone who crosses your path. Your taste in skirts is impeccable. You’re a great listener.”
I stopped him when he got to the tenth point and blurted out an offer I hadn’t intended on making until right then. “And I have a big suite all to myself right inside the hotel we’re currently parked in front of.”
His thumb swept across his knuckles while his dark eyes burned into mine. “Are you inviting me upstairs, gorgeous?”
I started to second-guess myself, worried that my invitation might have sent the wrong message about what I was looking for in a possible relationship with him. “I probably shouldn’t since this is our first date.”
“If you want to bend the rules a little, we could count Friday and Saturday night as dates,” he suggested. “That’d make this our third date.”
“
And you know what they say about third dates.”
“You’re going to have to help me out there because I’m rusty when it comes to dating.”
“Um. That. Shit,” I stammered, heat filling my cheeks while I tried to figure out how to explain the three date rule without making it sound like I expected us to have sex tonight if he came upstairs to my room. I wasn’t even one-hundred percent sure I was ready for that step yet with Mark. “So, there’s this rule about dating. It says you should wait until the third date to have sex. Because it shows that you’re not just looking for a hookup and lets you get to know someone before sex comes into play.”
“It’s just a coincidence that we’ve spent time together three times,” he reassured me. “I’m willing to wait as many dates as you want before you feel comfortable enough to invite me upstairs. Once you give it, I’m not going to assume it’s because you’re ready to have sex with me. And I’ll be okay with that since it’s not the only reason I want it. It’s also because it’ll be more time that I get to spend with you, just the two of us. Not because I’m looking to fuck you and then ghost you.”
I searched his face and didn’t see anything but complete sincerity shining back at me. I didn’t want our night to end yet, especially since it was probably going to be at least a few more days before I’d get to see him again. He’d erased my doubts about him not respecting me if I invited him up to my hotel room tonight, but I still wasn’t sure I trusted myself to be completely alone with him that close to a bed. With how my body reacted to him, I might end up being the one who pushed for more.
Chapter Eight
Mark
I practically held my breath as Ariana stared at me for a couple of minutes before she nodded her head. Although she looked nervous, her voice didn’t waver when she said, “Let the valet park the car and come upstairs with me.”
I wanted that so fucking badly, but I still had to ask, “Are you sure?”
“I am.”
“Then that’s what I’ll do, gorgeous.” I didn’t waste any time pulling the car up to the valet stand. As soon as I climbed out, I rounded the car quickly, before the guy manning it could get to her door, because I wanted to be the one to open it for her. After giving him my keys and getting a parking claim ticket, I pulled open the passenger door to my Nissan GT-R and enjoyed the view while I helped Ariana out of her seat.
Each time I saw her, I swore she somehow managed to look more gorgeous. I suspected it was because I was learning that she was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside. And I was the lucky bastard who got to walk her through the lobby of the hotel and ride up in the elevator with her to her suite.
“I was messing with you when I asked you to explain the three date rule to me,” I admitted softly after the door shut behind us, we took our coats off, and she kicked off her heels. “It might’ve been a while since I’ve been on a first date with someone, but I think every guy in the city over the age of twelve has heard of it before.”
Her pretty green eyes went wide with surprise before she giggled, “Shut up! Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Sorry, but now I have to remove kindness from your list of good qualities.” I knew she was teasing since she pointed her index finger in the air and slowly covered it with the palm of her other hand until it went all the way down into her fist.
“It was worth it, though.”
She dropped her arms and crossed them around her stomach, like she was trying to protect herself from what I was about to say. “Oh, really?”
“Yeah, because I guess I always thought the rule was about playing games more than anything else.”
“And now?”
I moved close and cradled her against my body. “With how you explained it, I get it. You aren’t trying to play games with me. It’s about waiting until you know I respect you. That I don’t just want to fuck you and move on to someone else.”
I felt her body relax against mine. “It’s definitely not a game for me. I’m not trying to force you to put forth some effort before I let you into my panties.”
“You wouldn’t need to force me even if you wanted to. Not when I’m more than willing to pull out all the stops when it comes to you.”
She tilted her head back and smiled up at me. “I was kind of already getting that impression. What with how special you made our first official date and all.”
“You deserve special.”
“And that’s why you’re willing to wait for sex?”
“Fuck,” I groaned. “Please don’t use that word while we’re in a hotel suite with a bed nearby. This is going to be hard enough as it is.” Literally and figuratively since my cock currently felt like a steel rod in my pants.
Her cheeks filled with a pink hue as she took a deep breath. “Does it help to know you’re not alone? That I can’t help but obsess about how with the chemistry between us, there’s a lot of potential there for the sex to be incredible?”
“You can bank on it being more than just potential, gorgeous.” I brushed my lips against her neck, right below her ear. “Since chemistry isn’t a strong enough word for it.”
“It isn’t?” Her voice was breathy, and her body gave a little shiver.
I switched to the other side of her neck and kissed her there next. “Desire doesn’t work either.”
“What would you call it, then?”
Her green eyes were heavy-lidded as I skimmed my lips over hers with the barest of touches. “Craving.”
“Yeah, craving is the perfect way to describe this feeling,” she sighed in agreement.
I captured her lips in a kiss and deepened it when her lips parted. My tongue swept inside to tangle with hers, and her mouth was even better than I imagined. Her drugging taste quickly tested my control. It was damn difficult to eventually tear myself away from her to warn, “We’re playing with fire here.”
“But what if I want to get just a teeny-tiny bit burned?”
“You’re determined to put my control to the ultimate test, aren’t you?”
“Only if you think you can handle it,” she murmured as she led me over to the leather couch. When we sat down, her skirt rode up her legs and showed off several more inches of silky skin. I drifted my fingers upwards from her knee and she sighed, “No fair. I get to touch too.”
“I’ve got no problem with that.” I shrugged off my suit coat, untucked my shirt, and undid the first few buttons. Then she brushed my hands out of the way to tackle them herself. When she was able to push the material apart, she gasped, “Oh my God, you have tattoos.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” I hadn’t spotted any ink on her creamy skin, but I wouldn’t have minded if I discovered some underneath her clothes.
“Only for my willpower. You just keep surprising me. That thing I said about the three date rule and waiting? Yeah, nope. Pretend you never heard that.”
I figured she was joking and expected to see humor in her green eyes, but they were too busy devouring my chest for me to get a good look in them. “Now I’m the one who needs to worry about you wanting me for my body and not my mind?”
“Maybe.” Her gaze lifted, and I was stunned by the depth of heat I saw in her eyes. “No, make that a yes. Definitely a yes.”
My self-control slipped another notch, and I lifted her off the couch cushion onto my lap. She gave a small squeak of surprise when her body pressed against mine, but she didn’t fight it. Not even close. Instead, she gave in to the moment and melted into me.
I growled my approval as my hands cupped her ass to flatten her against me with a tight squeeze of the toned globes. Her knees pushed into the cushions, and her pussy ground against my raging erection. She gasped, and I claimed her mouth again on a deep moan. I kissed her until we were both panting for breath. When I pulled away, her lips were red and puffy. “You’re making it hard to remember this is our first date.”
She swiveled her hips and winked at me. “Sitting like this, I can tell exactly
how hard it is.”
My grip on her ass tightened, and my fingers dug into the taut muscles. “Fuck, gorgeous. You’re killing me here. We’re already out of teeny-tiny burn territory and well on our way to a full-out inferno.”
She lifted up on her knees, her pussy hovering over my cock instead of being pressed against it, and peered down at me with concern in her green eyes. “Is it too much? Am I not being fair to you?”
“Fuck that,” I growled, pulling her flush against me again. “Playing with fire doesn’t come close to what I’m willing to do with you. I told you that I plan to pull out all the stops, remember?”
“What does that mean, exactly?”
“It means I’ll push myself to my absolute limits to give you whatever you want.”
Her fingertips trailed up my chest. “What if I said I wanted more kisses?”
“Then you’d get them.” I trailed wet, open-mouthed kisses along the column of her throat. “As many as you want.”
“And if I wanted them lower?”
“It’d be my pleasure,” I purred, taking the hint and undoing the tiny buttons at the front of her blouse. A lacy, white bra covered her perfect, round tits. I traced my thumbs over the cups before tugging the fabric down. Then I bent my head low and latched on to one berry-red bud. She gasped and dropped back down fully on to my lap again.
Using one hand, I toyed with her other tit while I sucked on her nipple. I kneaded and plumped it, my thumb teasing the tip as it grew harder. My other hand went back to her ass to keep her plastered against my cock as I rocked into her. I lifted my head and looked up into her gorgeous face. “You’re so fucking perfect. The taste of your tits in my mouth. The feel of your pussy against my cock.”
“It’s a two-way street. I love having your mouth on me. And rubbing against your hard length is driving me crazy.”
“Driving you crazy might just be my newest favorite thing,” I rasped.
“Then you should probably do it as often as possible.”
Chased into Love (Bachelorette Party Book 4) Page 5