“I wonder what else is going on in that head of yours,” I ask with a raised brow.
“Stuff you can’t know about,” he says, laughing, with a look of shame.
I slap his arm playfully. “What do I need to know before you leave to get fondled for the night?”Hmmm. Maybe I shouldn’t have let that one slip out of my mouth, I think, biting my lip.
The look on his face tells me he doesn’t appreciate my question. Oops.
“Fondled?” He asks, seriousness filling in his deep voice.
“I was kidding.” Kind of. I saw the way all the women looked at him there in his “Man Buns” uniform.
“No one is touching this,” he says, pointing to his body. “It’s only for show.”
The sensation of pins and needles fills my cheeks, and I know my face is getting red. I’m a little embarrassed, but—I know I can’t be thinking this way. I shouldn’t have said that.
“Really, I was kidding.”
“Good, because the only thing I’ve been thinking about all day is how cool it will be to come home to you at the end of the night.”
Without intention, my hands cup over my chest because his words keep taking my breath away, and I can’t stop the feelings flitting through me like a whirlwind of explosive emotions.
Denver wraps his arms around my waist and tugs me in closer. A look of seriousness mixed with desire coats his face, and I wish I could read his thoughts. “This house felt really empty earlier, and suddenly, it’s not feeling that way at this moment. It’s nice.”
I place my hands on his chest, remembering what it felt like to touch him in the same place with just a wet t-shirt between us. He’s making me want things I’ve avoided even considering in the past. It’s both exciting and frightening. “I’m scared to get hurt,” I tell him honestly. “I’m not good at pain.”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he says with a look of sincerity washing through his entrancing eyes. “I want everything but that, honestly.”
“Why me?” I ask him. All of this happening so suddenly seems almost too good to be true.
“I thought I would be the one to have to ask that.”
“I can’t find anything I don’t like about you, not yet anyway. I mean, your job is kind of meh,” I say, wrinkling my nose, “but, I can deal.”
“You mean, I’m not just all buns?”
“You’re not?” I ask, feeling my cheeks pucker a bit. Wrong thought at the wrong time.
He leans in slowly, coating the air around us with a breeze of mint from his breath. The cool sensation brushes against my lips, causing me to silently plead for his touch. I can feel his heart beating against my chest, and if he can feel mine, he’d know we’re feeling the same thing at this moment.
“Kiss me,” I tell him.
The words are like a trigger as he steals my breath by the force of his lips pressing against mine. His hands slide up my sides to gently cup my cheeks. My knees feel week. It’s hard to stand while feeling as though I’m melting from the inside out. I can’t breathe, and I’m not sure I care. A soft moan rasps in his throat, and my knees literally give out. I didn’t think that really happens, but yup, he caught me because evidently, he’s perfect. “Whoa,” he chuckles. “You okay?”
“No,” I tell him, reaching up to touch my fingertips to my lips. “I’m not.”
“Kai!” Aya screams again. I’m nearly blindsided by her shout because it reminds me I’m here for her, not Denver. I’ve been keeping her waiting, and she could have just walked out and seen us kissing. She doesn’t need to know about us in this way until he kisses me like that at least one more time. After that, I’m not sure I’ll be able to willingly leave again.
“You smell like coconut and flowers. It’s probably the most incredible scent I’ve ever inhaled,” he whispers in my ear. “I’ll be back for another kiss at eleven. Is that okay?”
“Yes,” I breathe the word, unable to form sound. “I’ll be waiting.” He reaches for the flower in my hair, straightening it a bit before taking a step away.
“Aya, come give me a hug and a kiss. I have to get going, sweetpea.”
She nearly gallops down the hallway toward us, looking back and forth between my face and Denver’s, and I’m not sure I want to know what she’s thinking.
“Why are you two so red? You look weird.”
I swallow hard while trying to come up with an answer. “Oh, Kai was helping me move the couch a little more. I still can’t seem to find a good spot for it,” Denver says. He’s quick on his feet with words.
