Fuck. Is this another one of her acts or is this her? As much as I’d like to think she’s just fucking with me, I’m pretty sure she’s not. As my pants get snugger, I mentally repeat to myself that if I break now, she might always think that’s why I’m with her.
“Go change, Paisley,” I bite out. “Please.”
Her hand reaches for the car door. Thank fuck.
“Since you asked so nicely.” The passenger door opens and she’s got one foot out of the door when she turns in my direction. “Feel free to watch me walking away.”
And watch I do, with my fist in my mouth so I don’t scream for her to return and straddle me in the front seat.
She walks back to my car five minutes later in a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt with a bra underneath. What was I thinking in telling her to change? The only piece of skin showing now is a strip along her stomach.
“Better?”
“Better so I don’t go animalistic on you, yes.” I start the engine and pull away from the curb.
“You’re aware that it’s you keeping us from moving forward to the next stage of our relationship?”
“I’m fully aware.”
She giggles and scoots in her seat to get comfortable. “I love your car.”
I run my hand down the steering wheel. “Thanks. You look good in it.”
A blush rushes up her neck. I so badly want to see that travel the length of her body.
We arrive at the candy store ten minutes later.
“You’ve taken me to a closed strip mall? Definitely original.”
I turn off the ignition and open up my door. “Just wait and see.” Rounding the front of my car, I open the passenger door and hold out my hand.
“Just so you know I scream really loud.” She accepts my hand, and I pull her out of the car and into my arms, wrapping an arm around her waist.
“That was made clear on the roller coaster, kotik.” I kiss her forehead, the smell of lavender and vanilla floating up to my nostrils.
She tilts her head up to look at me.
“Hello,” I say.
“Hi,” she says and I kiss her briefly. “I hope that means you’re not going to kill me.”
I drag her toward the candy store. “Believe me, I’m not killing you until I have all of you.”
“Oh, well, that’s refreshing.”
I chuckle at her sense of humor. Ever since the amusement park, I’ve tried to figure out why she felt she needed to be someone she wasn’t with me. I’m attracted to her for her intelligence, her wry humor, her kindness. Why does she feel that’s not enough to fulfill my needs?
Nolan, Roadie’s teenage son, comes out of the store when he sees us approaching. I hand him a fifty and he pockets it. “I’ll be in my car to lock up when you’re done.”
“Thanks, Nolan.”
He nods and holds the door open for Paisley to walk in, waggling his eyebrows. I shove him in the chest and hear his laughter until the door shuts.
“So you’re going to kill me with sugar?” Paisley asks, perusing the rows of different candy in plastic bins.
“The store is yours. Whatever you want.”
She turns, and the dim light catches her smile. “Anything I want? Hmm…”
“Even the chocolate,” I say.
“Ohh… you spoil me, Maksim Petrov.”
I walk to her and swing one arm around her waist, pulling her back to my chest. How am I ever going to go through the agony of six more dates before I’m inside her? “Have you ever had a guy sneak you into a candy shop after hours?”
She giggles and I slide her hair off her shoulder with my free hand. “Nope, this is original.”
“Definitely original.” I kiss her neck and slap her ass. “Now go pick out some candy.”
She scoots forward, almost running away from me.
“Let’s see what we can tell about one another from the candy we pick out?” She opens up a case of gummy something and steals one.
“The fact that you ate the gummy bear’s head off, I’m thinking I need to take back the rights to our little rubber ducky.”
She laughs and her head falls back, making her curls bounce. I love making her laugh. She throws the rest of the gummy bear in the air and catches it in her mouth, chewing it dramatically. “We do need to name our duck.”
“Our duck, huh?” I like how that sounds coming out of her mouth.
“I’ll gladly take on full custody rights if you’d like to abandon her.” She takes a handful of sour balls and brings one after the other into her mouth.
“I’m not abandoning her.”
“You haven’t come to visit her. I had her in the bath with me the other night and we both missed you.” She pretends to whine.
That brings to mind a visual that’s better saved for when we’re not in a public place. I clear my throat and then look away from her. “I’m heading over to the chocolate.”
She laughs, probably knowing the effect she has on me.
Leaving her, I go over to the chocolate bins, pick up a bag, and fill it.
“I give you props, three original ideas on dates,” she says from across the room. “This isn’t from too much practice, is it?”
I look up from the chocolate-covered almonds. “Are you suggesting I’m a serial dater and take different women to all the same original places?”
She shrugs, the easy expression from earlier gone from her face. “What can I say? I have some issues.”
I abandon my bag and grab a bag for her. “Fill up your bag, then we’re heading out to the beach. You’re going to tell me who hurt you.”
She accepts the bag but doesn’t move. “You want me to open up all this baggage I’m carrying and show you what’s inside?”
I make sure she’s looking into my eyes so that she can see my sincerity when I say, “I want to know everything about you.”
She gives me a small smile and turns and fills her bag. Hopefully she’s ready to open up to me.
Ten minutes and two bags of candy later, Nolan meets us at the door. I hand him a hundred-dollar bill that more than pays for the candy, and we head back to my Mercedes.
“The beach, huh? Is that considered date four or are we still on date three?” she asks.
I think for a moment. How can I make a walk on the beach unique in some way? “Maybe if we go shark diving?”
She laughs and her brows crinkle. “I don’t ride roller coasters. What makes you think I’d go shark diving?”
“True. FYI, I’m not cool with that either.”
“Really?” She seems surprised.
“Do you think of me as less than a man?” I could add that sharks and pretty much any mammal that lives in the water scare the crap out of me, but I don’t.
“Your man card is intact with the fact that you’re a professional hockey player.”
I run my hand over my forehead. “Phew.”
We drive toward the beach. A sign on the side of the road gives me an idea of how to squeeze two dates into one.
“I have to make a quick stop.” I pull over at a convenience store, run in, and buy what I need.
When I get back in the car, I hold up the box of garbage bags.