I wanted to impress Natasha. I wanted to buy her a pretty dress and take her to an expensive restaurant, but I got the sense that money wouldn’t be the way to do it. The more we’d talked in the cafeteria, the more I realized that she was different because she was simple. She didn’t come from money. In fact, she was only able to attend the prestigious university thanks to her stellar grades and a hefty scholarship. Had it not been for that, she would have been flipping burgers somewhere.
That’s what she’d told me, but I didn’t believe it.
The girl was an intellectual. She’d come up in the foster care system and had found comfort in the faraway worlds between the pages of her books., and now she was a literary fanatic who now had dreams of traditionally publishing her own someday.
“What’s your genre?” I’d asked, popping a French fry into my mouth.
“It’s nothing serious,” she said, rubbing the back of her neck. “I’ve been writing since I was a little girl, but it’s definitely not Alexandre Dumas or Shakespeare or anything like that.”
I frowned. “So, because it’s not literary, it’s not valid?” I pressed her.
She chuckled, flushed.
“Come on, tell me,” I insisted. “I’m dying to know everything about you.”
“Are you serious?”
“Never been more serious.”
She smiled and her gaze dropped from mine. “Fine,” she finally gave in. “I write romance. But not just any romance,” she added quickly. “Erotic… romance…”
I stopped chewing my fry for a second before swallowing it whole.
“I don’t know, I just have this obsession with love,” she explained, as if her admission needed to be justified. “The genesis of two people falling for one another; you know that first spark, that thing that connects them – it intrigues me so much I find myself writing about it. I’ve created a million scenarios: weddings, the subway, church…”
“The school cafeteria…”
She giggled, shaking her head.
“That would be a good one,” she responded. “I’ve tried to write about more serious topics. Next semester I’ll be taking journalism and memoir. But love…”
Love…
I nodded, as if I knew exactly what she was talking about. The truth was, I had no idea about true love, but the way she looked when she talked about it; the way her brown eyes got bigger and brighter with passion, I found myself wanting to know.
I pushed my plate to the side and reached across the table to take her hands. When her breath hitched, it was evidence that she was feeling me just as much as I was feeling her.
“There’s a frat party happening this weekend,” I said. “I’m gonna’ go and have a good time after a long week of class and studying. I would love if we could go together.”
She side-eyed me and pursed her lips. “I may be a freshman, but I know exactly what happens at those frat parties. There’s nothing but drinking, drugging, and big-chested girls who are down for whatever.”
We laughed again, something we’d done a lot since coming to the cafeteria. “Yes, to the drinking, no to the drugging – at least for me…” I paused.
“And the big-chested girls who are down for whatever?”
I trailed my finger over her palm, like I was reading it. “Suddenly, I’m more of an ass man.”
“Oh really?” She smirked. “Hmm, I think you’re up to no good, Mr. Hanson.”
“Look, if you’re expecting me to lie and say I don’t think you’re not the sexiest girl on campus, I can’t,” I said in all seriousness. “Honestly, the minute I laid eyes on you I was driven to get to know you.”
She blushed.
“But it’s more than how you look,” I continued, tempering the mood. “You’re sexy all around, the things that excite you, the way you carry yourself… I just want to be around you some more. I’m not gonna’ rule out a kiss if you agree to be my date tonight, but it wouldn’t be more than that, especially if you weren’t down for it.”
She eased her hands out of mine and twirled one of her fries in a puddle of ketchup. “If we go together, I’m not gonna’ get in trouble, am I?”
“What do you mean?”
“You may not know who I am, but your reputation precedes you,” she explained. “I’m new here and I’m not game for making enemies with girls who have claim to you.”
I shook my head, thinking about what happened just before her class, but I shoved them out of my mind. There were girls. There were always girls, but this girl… I’d never let anything happen to her.
“Ain’t nobody laying claim to Evan Hanson without his consent,” I assured her, then I shrugged. “So, are you gonna’ be my date or what?”
I stared at her, waiting for her to confirm or deny her attendance at the party as my leading lady. She hemmed and hawed for a second before finally rolling her eyes at me in the cutest of fashions. She was so tempting, I immediately decided that I’d be very reluctant to take no for an answer if she dared to say it.
“I don’t have any pressing work to do this weekend, so I guess I’ll go,” she said, and then she stole one of the fries off my plate and popped it into her mouth.
I grinned and then took a fry off hers. “Thank you.”
Chapter Seven
Jaxson
Simone and I arrived at a trendy sidewalk restaurant and shared an intimate breakfast, before hopping into my ride and touring the bustling city. I turned up the music. Good Day by Surfaces, with its easy Bossa nova beat, had both of us swaying in our seats, but the lyrics depicted everything I felt, just being with her. Every now and then I’d belt out the words, and Simone would throw her head back and laugh.
The song stayed in our heads for the entire morning and well into the afternoon. Even when I took her to the Statue of Liberty and we zipped to the top, I was still crooning the song against her ear, arms wrapped tight around her waist. I inhaled her, squeezed her. The moments were so perfect, the way they were destined to be. I wondered if she could feel it as strongly as I could. She had to.
When we got to the top of the landmark, the wind stirred her hair, creating a heavenly halo around her head. I reached over to smooth her tresses, then pressed a kiss against her temple. I wanted so much more. Even in the hotel lobby, the lingering connection we’d shared had fired me up – but the things I wanted to do to her, no one else could see.
“We should head back to the hotel,” I suggested rubbing my nose in her hair. “It’s been a long day and I don’t want you to overdo it. Besides, you need to rest in preparation for tonight.” I paused, pushing hair out of her face. “How are you feeling?”
“Really good,” she purred.
“Good.” I lowered my mouth to hers and savored the sweetness of her mouth.
Simmy purred and smiled against my lips. “Is that the only reason you wanna’ go back to the hotel?”
My breath caught. “It’s not the only reason,” I whispered in admission. I traced her chin with my thumb. “I also don’t want Dinah on my ass.”