About halfway through the meal, he catches me staring at him. He's sitting at the end of the counter on another stool, shoveling pancakes and bacon into his mouth, and even while he's doing it, he's gorgeous. How unfair is it that the G.O.G is still hot while stuffing his face? C'mon! That just proves that this universe is twisted. Hell, he could choreograph a stripping act involving food, and I'd be wet in mere minutes. So you can imagine me sitting beside him, sneaking glances at his face, his shoulders, and his toned arms that are like a magnet for your tongue.
“Penny for your thoughts,” he asks, standing up and taking his plate to the sink.
“You really don't want to know,” I say, aware that he totally caught me checking him out.
“Wouldn't ask if I didn't wanna know, babe,” he adds quickly, his voice dropping an octave. It's enough for me to lift my head up and look at him, and when I do, I stop breathing. He's now standing on the other side of the counter, arms braced on either side of him, leaning toward me.
“I was wondering why?”
“Why?” he asks cautiously.
“Yeah…” My voice trembles.
“You wanna know why what?” he asks again, this time more certain. The raspy tone in his voice is creating tingles in my body that my three date rule doesn't allow.
“Um…“ I stop mid-sentence. He's looking at me with such intensity that I'm finding it hard to breathe. My brain has stopped, my heart is racing, and if there were an inner Kate, she'd be saying “Whoa!”
“You wanna know why I cooked you pancakes?”
“Ah, yeah, that's it. Why pancakes?” Great save, Kate.
“Because I like seeing you smile and I hate to see you cry.” He looks at me, taking me in.
We stare at each other for what seems like an eternity. I'm aware of nothing but the two of us. The feelings I felt that night so long ago have come crashing back, but this time there is no alcohol involved, no impairments, no best friend complications, nothing.
No, this is something entirely different.
"But if that's how you feel, why did you say no to me when I asked you to stay the night?” I say in a barely audible whisper.
“I said no to a quick lay because that's not you, Kate. Now, I'm saying yes to more than a quick lay,” he retorts assuredly.
“I have a three date rule.”
“I know. Mac told me. I'm fine with that. I'm not looking for another friend with benefits, Kate.”
I gasp. Dammit, I'm going to wring her pretty little neck, superhero protection or not! “You do?”
“Yep, and I'd keep you to it. Although it'll be a hard task, trying to keep you from jumping me,” he says, giving me the panty dropping smile that I'm sure works on all the girls. It's totally working on me.
“Keep me from jumping you?” I ask, partly shocked, majorly turned on.
He walks around the counter and spins my bar stool around, placing his arms on the back of the chair and caging me in. My breathing picks up, and my heart starts racing. How can my emotions go from so low to being on such a high? This is doing my head in.
“Yeah, babe, how are you going to be able to hold back?”
Normally I'd be turned off by such overt cockiness, but with Zander I know it's not cockiness. It's pure truth. It is like he's got a direct line to my brain and is reading all my transmissions.
He leans down until his lips are right next to my ear. “Got any plans for tomorrow?”
I shake my head the tiniest amount and his lips graze my cheek, sending a shiver throughout my entire body.
“You've got plans now,” he whispers huskily in my ear. “I'm taking you out. On a date. A proper first date. A fun date where we get to know each other. Eat too much. Laugh too much. You deserve a perfect first date, and I want it to be with me, so I'm going to give it to you because now I'm saying yes. To you. To this. To us. You with me?”
I just stare at him, I can't help it. It's not until he raises his eyebrows at me that I remember to answer. I nod. It's all I can do. He's rendered me speechless.
“See you in the morning, Kate.” He pulls back slightly so that he's a hair's breath away from my mouth. “But first, I need to do this.”
And then his lips met mine. And I am done for. D.O.N.E. Contract signed, deal done.
Our tongues tangle together, and our lips mesh as if we were made for each other. Industrial grade fireworks explode around us and again, and it feels as if the earth has tilted a little off axis. Soft at first, but then the kiss grows demanding. He takes, and I give and when I think he is finished, he wages a new war in my mouth, searching out my tongue and softly caressing it while he wraps his hands around my waist, pulling our bodies close.
All too soon he pulls away, rubbing his nose gently against mine before standing up to his full towering height above me.
“Sweet dreams, Kate.” With a wink, he walks down the hallway and into his bedroom, leaving me sitting there with the biggest lady boner I've ever had, and with a huge smile on my face.
Not complaining. At all.
“By the way, don't even think of doing the dishes. I'll do them in the morning!” he yells down the hallway.
Huge smile and lady boner multiplied by ten.
Chapter 15: “Kiss Me”
KATE
I replay the kiss in my mind over and over all night. Like a song stuck on repeat, the feelings he elicited buzz through me like a continuous spark. Long after his lips leave mine, I still felt marked. With one touch, one caress of his tongue against mine, my entire body was set ablaze. How could that one kiss transform my night from a woeful and depressing pity party into a wanton woman who can't get enough? It's simple really, and it takes an hour of tossing and turning in bed for the lightning bolt to hit. It was because of him. Because it was him. That kiss, albeit brief, dug deep into my soul and took hold of something that had never been touched before.
In the history of kisses, you can look at the most famous fairy tales for guidance. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid-yes, she is a fairy tale, and I'll keep arguing it until I'm blue in the face. Cinderella had her night dancing at the ball, then she had to leave, so the prince hunted high and low until he found her. Sleeping Beauty's prince saved her. With The Little Mermaid-the Disney version at least-Ariel saved Prince Eric, then disappeared, was tricked by the evil witch, then tried to make him fall in love with her without singing. But still, when they did kiss, everything became clear as day. Thinking about it, I think I'm the most like Ariel because Zander has already saved me, and he has no reason to search high and low because I'm not hiding anymore.