“Do you remember that night in the club when I told you I’d done nothing like that before?” Her question is faint.
“I remember everything.”
“Well, it goes a little further than just being impulsive. My last date was a year ago.”
I drive into the garage, park near the elevators, and turn to her. My cock is no longer an issue as I try to figure out how the mood shifted so fast. “What’s running through your mind?”
This time, when she looks at me, her face is full of apprehension and nerves. “We didn’t hit it off and nothing came of it.”
“Thank fuck for that, but can we move on from you being on a date with another man?”
This earns me a small smile. “I don’t have a lot of practice in this, especially with a man like you.”
“Like me?”
“Ugh,” she groans, “I’m screwing this up.”
“Why don’t you spill what’s bothering you.”
“This differs from any other time in my life because it’s you. You’re not only the most handsome man I’ve ever seen; you’re also the full package. Kind, generous, sweet, attentive, brilliant, successful, and a thousand other wonderful traits. You’re also a man full of experience. Women probably fall at your feet offering a lot more than nights filled with kissing, yet you’ve been patient with me. We’ve been hanging out for days, but this is technically our first actual date, and I want the night to be perfect.”
Without a word, I’m out of the truck and at her door. She barely has time to grab her bag before I’m guiding her into the elevator.
“Let me show you something before you go into full freak-out mode.”
She grips my hand tightly through the lobby and up to our room. When we get inside, her body jars at the same time she gasps loudly. “How did you do this?”
A variety of dresses are laid out on the bed for her to choose from.
“I called in reinforcements.”
“Ryanne did this?”
“I called her this morning and shared my plans, asking for help. I left a key, and she brought over options for you.”
“You did this for me?”
I don’t have time to answer before she spins and leaps into my arms. Her lips crash to mine, her tongue diving inside. I grab her ass, hitching her tighter, and go to the sofa.
Her soft hands frame my face, holding me to her as she pours her appreciation into the kiss. I give over control until she rolls her hips, grinding hard, and moans down my throat. In a flash, I have her on her back, my fingers fisting her hair, and my mouth taking over.
She arches up, tangling her tongue around mine. It’s my turn to groan when her legs latch around my waist. Our mouths move urgently together, finding a rhythm. There’s a roaring in my ears and my brain shoots on all cylinders as she flexes her hips and thrusts upward, rubbing herself on my cock.
A deep hunger coils low in my stomach and blood scorches through my veins. Her muscles tighten, and she rocks up again, this time whimpering at the contact. The sound goes straight to my dick, which pulses with need.
Shut this down. My brain breaks through my haze and I tear my mouth away, dropping my face to her neck and nipping the skin lightly. “Jesus, fuck, Poppy. You make me lose my mind.”
Her heart races in beat with mine as her soft pants sound in my ear.
I kneel back, separating our bodies, and stare down at her. My heart rate picks up again, for a different reason this time. She’s staring back at me, her lips parted and slightly swollen, the flower pinned in her hair now crushed, and her hazel eyes bright and wild with their own need.
She lifts her hand, tracing her thumb over my lips. “The feeling is mutual. What I don’t understand is why you always shut it down.”
I clasp her hand and gently draw her close. “I was trying to save this conversation, but after what you said in the truck and what just happened, it’s unavoidable.”
Her expression fills with confusion. I try to think of how to say what I want without sounding like a total asshole. She reads my hesitation, placing her hand on my chest. “Why don’t you spill what’s bothering you?” She steals my words from earlier.
“You’re right, I am a man with a lot of experience. Lost my virginity at seventeen. Casual sex has never been an issue or a problem for me. I picked up early on that wasn’t the case with you.”
She tenses, her eyes swelling with embarrassment. “No, that’s not the case with me.”
“Don’t be embarrassed, baby, that’s a beautiful thing.”
She takes a deep breath, shaking her head and clutching my shirt. “You don’t understand. It’s not a problem with casual sex. I’ve never—”
“I know,” I cut her off, curling my arm around her shoulders.
“You know? How?” The embarrassment transforms into dread and her head hits my chest. “Oh my God, you must think I’m a total square.”
“You’re wrong. That’s the furthest thing from my thoughts. I don’t know why you saved that part of yourself, but there is no judgment. And not to be a dick, but it fucking thrills me.”
Her head pops up, and she scrunches her nose. “It thrills you you’ve hooked up with the oldest virgin known to man?”
“There’s the drama again.”
“No, seriously, Evin. I don’t know one person over the age of twenty that’s never had sex. Even some older girls in that class today have steady boyfriends, and it’s obvious they’re sleeping together. Do you know how it feels to know that I teach girls with more experience than me?”
I bite back my laughter at the ridiculousness of her question. “Do you know how many of them will regret giving up something so special to boys that most likely do not know what they are doing?”
“You were a boy.”
“Yeah, and that’s how I know.”
She purses her lips and scans my face, the curiosity returning. “If you know this about me, why do you always shut things down when they get heated?”
“Because there’s a reason you’ve held on to something this important. I want to know that reason. And if things go the way I hope, I’m not fucking you on a sofa in the heat of the moment.”
“But you’re leaving tomorrow.”
The reminder sends a sharp pain to my chest. “That’s another reason. I’m not the dickhead to get something so precious and fly out the next day.”
“So, tonight is not about that?”
Her question slams into me with such force that I jerk back. “Hell no.”
“What if I’m ready?”
“Baby, trust me on this.”
“What happens when you go home?”
Fuckin’ A, she’s scared. “Poppy, there’s no one else and there will not be. You haven’t dated in over a year, but I’ve got you beat. As much as it sucks to say this to you, and it makes me a dickhead, I don’t date in the traditional sense. Haven’t had a girlfriend in a hell of a long time.”
“Are you saying I’m your girlfriend?”
“Girlfriend isn’t the right term. You’re a lot more than that.”
Everything about her settles, and she gives me the smile that lights my world on fire. The mood in the air shifts, all her apprehension vanishing. “Tonight is going to be the best first date in the history of first dates. It will be so epic that we’ll be able to last the next three weeks.”