“Shit, I forgot about the anniversary. I’m so sorry.” Kendra bit her lip, eyes heavy with apology. “We usually order pizza and do tequila shots.”
“Pizza, yum. We should order one. As for the tequila, I’m detoxing,” Cash said, sipping at his beer. He’d dutifully sat through the show but he’d been playing a game on his phone. Something Belle wished she’d thought of. She’d rather be waxing her bikini area than watching the show. But Kendra and Erik had insisted they have a watch party.
“You’re drinking alcohol,” Belle said, pointing to the beer next to him on the end table.
“He got drunk off tequila last night at happy hour.” Kendra elbowed him, grinning.
“So not really detoxing, more like recovering from a hangover.” Erik put his beer down on the end table and tapped on his phone. He removed his arm from the back of the loveseat—a huge relief for Belle—and typed pizza in the search engine. “What kind of pizza do we want?”
“Supreme with extra jalapenos,” Kendra said.
Belle watched him scroll through the webpages. There were a few tiny scars on his knuckles, whether from football, or working on cars, was up for debate. There was something intriguing about the way he used his hands. She’d never been particularly obsessed with a man’s hands until she met Erik. Perhaps it was the way he had used them to bring her body to such a hyper state on that crazy rainy night. A night she couldn’t erase from her mind. “She likes spicy things,” she said, embarrassed by her own lustful musings.
“Speaking of pizza, what kind of pizza were you two eating?” Cash asked, pointing to the TV.
“Excuse me?” Belle tore her gaze away from Erik and met Cash’s curious regard.
Kendra rolled her eyes and pointed to the television. “Show. You. Erik. You’re eating pizza.”
“Veggie.” Belle dutifully looked at the screen. They were in the kitchen at the house. He had the pizza peel in hand and she’d opened the oven. “My hair looks like I was caught up in a windstorm. Why didn’t you tell me? I would have had Darius stop to let makeup in.”
“There’s nothing wrong with your hair.” Erik said with a grin. “I like it wild.”
“It does look good, Belle. You need to embrace your curls,” Kendra said.
“Restrain them more like it.” Her hair had been difficult to manage all her life. Thick and curly, she always felt like it appeared unkempt, like she never brushed it.
“Oh, another kiss. You two are killing it, I… what the hell happened?” Kendra snapped her eyes to Belle.
“The power went out.” Belle had been dreading this moment but not for the obvious reasons. The thing about Erik that drew her in the night they’d had sex, was the way he kissed her; like kissing her was not foreplay, but the goal itself. Watching him kiss her in the kitchen, gentle and persuasive triggered a deep longing in her chest. One that might never be quenched. Because if she let her heart open to him, it would be difficult to shut it.
Chapter Thirty
Erik stared at the television set, the visual of him kissing Belle surreal. It was hard enough watching himself kiss Irina in the previous block, especially knowing that Belle was judging him. She hadn’t said a word but he had read the judgment in the tick of her jaw.
He relaxed back in the seat, despite a growing need to get up and pace. This was his first scripted show he’d acted in that was aired on TV. He’d seen himself on TV before because of football but that was different. It was usually a live shot of him on the field or during an interview after the game. He’d never kissed multiple women, nor realized how bad his jokes were. He stifled a laugh at the absurdity of it all.
The commercial ended and Darius returned to the screen. The kiss with Belle was shown once more. The power had flickered before it went out but he hadn’t noticed it. He’d been too busy kissing Belle.
“Do you want to get out of here?” Television Erik asked in the darkness.
“Yes, let’s go,” came her recorded reply. It was definitely both of them, even though the video feed was gone. But the words hadn’t been spoken in the kitchen but at the gazebo.
He tapped his foot on the floor, impatient for the show to finish. He’d forced Cash to come with him tonight. It hadn’t been hard. His friend liked Kendra and while she seemed receptive, Erik had a feeling she wasn’t as into him as he was into her. He sympathized. Belle gave off the same vibe. Although he sat next to her on the couch, she felt a million miles away.
The scene switched to the door at the guest house. It opened and framed them in the doorway. She was wearing his Pioneer sweatshirt and jeans, not the blouse and slacks she’d been wearing the night before. The camera panned out and Darius came back on. “Don’t forget to get your votes in. We’ll be saying goodbye to one of our lovely ladies on our journey to finding Erik’s future Fiancé.”
“Son of a bitch,” he said, rubbing a hand over his face. He’d known something like this was coming and yet it didn’t make the kick to the gut any less painful.
“Holy shit, was that planned?” Kendra asked, looking from Erik to Belle.
Cash merely cursed and shifted in his seat.
“No, no it wasn’t planned.” Belle’s voice was barely above a whisper.
Erik glanced over at Belle, her face pale. Another trick perpetrated against Belle. Fuck. He sat forward and clasped his hands together. “We need to talk to Darius.”
“I think we need to talk.” Belle stood and tucked her hands into the pockets of her sweat pants, lips pressed together. She slipped her bare feet into a pair of pink slippers.
