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Somehow, I didn’t think he meant sports or video games.
“How is everything?” The server smiled down at us, completely unaware of what he’d interrupted.
Hell,Iwasn’t entirely sure what he’d interrupted.
“Another glass of wine for each of us,” Derrick said without taking his eyes off me. “And the dessert menu.”
As the server went off to get what Derrick requested, I shifted the subject to something that didn’t have my stomach twisting in knots.
“What are your hobbies?”
“Myhobbies?” Derrick actually laughed.
I gave him a pointed look. “You do understand how dating works, don’t you? We get to know each other. See what we have in common. Find out what sort of things we might enjoy doing together.”
His eyebrows went up and his eyes brightened. It didn’t take a genius to know what thoughts my last comment had prompted.
I pointed at him. “Keep it clean. This is our first date.”
He raised his hands, palms up, and gave me the sort of charming smile that I was sure had lost many a woman her panties. “I like to read.”
“Let me guess,” I said, “you read certain magazines for the articles.”
He laughed. “I like biographies and classics in a variety of genres.”
As we settled into a conversation about literature, I expected the tension between the two of us to ease, but it didn’t. Our words and tone were casual, our topics all safe, but I continued to be acutely aware of him. The way his feet occasionally touched mine under the table. How his gaze would slide over me with more weight than should have been possible. The times he’d lean forward to impart some particularly interesting bit of information and brush his fingertips against mine.
I’ve had pleasant dates before, but I’d never felt sparks on a first date with anyone. Never had that instant chemistry that was such a part of fictional love stories.
Until tonight.
Not that this was love. And I wasn’t going to let it get that far either. I might agree to marry him in three months, and then spend a year as his wife, but we wouldn’t be doing it for love.
And we sure as hell wouldn’t be sharing a bed. Chemistry be damned.
I maintained distance between us even as we made our way back to my apartment a while later. I paused at the door into the building, but he simply gestured for me to keep going. While I supposed he could’ve just wanted to ensure that I reached my apartment safely, the fact that he moved close to me with every step we took told me that despite what he’d said about no sex, he fully expected me to invite him inside.
When we reached my door, I stopped and turned toward him, ready to tell him that the night had reached its end. I hadn’t, however, counted on him standing so close. His scent had been teasing me all night, and now it washed over me. Something spicy and undeniably male, it made my stomach twist, but it didn’t change my mind.
When he leaned in, I put my hand on his chest.
“We’re not doing this,” I said, keeping my voice flat.
“Doing what?” He covered my hand with his, and under my palm, I felt the rapid rhythm of his heart, the heat of his skin.
The thought popped into my mind as to what he’d look like naked, that firm, wide, chest bare, his large body stretched out over me. Clenching my thighs together, I banished the image and focused on turning him down.
“Sleeping together,” I said. The words came out slightly shaky, and I cleared my throat. “That was part of the deal, remember? I’m not sleeping with you.”
“The deal was you don’t have to sleep with me.” He continued to press his hand to mine, thumb stroking over my skin. “It doesn’t mean we can’t.”
I pulled my hand away. “We won’t.”
His eyes locked on mine as he leaned down, moving slow enough that I could have stopped him. Instead, I let him keep coming and then his mouth was on mine. No other part of our bodies touched as his lips moved over mine, his tongue teasing its way into my mouth, methodically staking his claim.
When he took a step back, I was breathless, and my knees were shaking. His eyes blazed, but he appeared otherwise unaffected. “I suppose we’ll see.”
As he walked away, only one thought echoed in my mind.