I kiss her head and let go, walking over to the table and pulling out a chair for her. “Please, have a seat.”
She sits, looking over everything with a smile. I’m still not used to seeing anything other than her blasé expression. “This looks so beautiful,” she says.
“No, you’re the one looking beautiful,” I say, inwardly cringing at that lame line.
Walking over to my chair, I trip over the cloth and end up on my knees.
“Fuck, are you okay?” she asks, ready to get up.
But I just laugh it off and turn myself to kneel in front of her. “I told you I don’t mind kneeling in front of you.” I grin before I get up, quickly sitting in my chair, my cheeks heating with a blush.
Why am I so unsmooth?
My nerves are getting to me like never before.
“How are you? How was your day?” I ask, hoping she’ll fill the silence for a moment so I can calm my racing heartbeat.
“I’m okay, thanks,” she says, smiling and fidgeting with her hands, pulling down the sleeve of her Henley. “H-How are you?”
“I’m good, thank you. Really happy you could make it,” I say, realizing I’ve already said that.
I curse myself internally.Whatiswrong with me?
She chuckles a little at my repetition.
“You mentioned you like chocolate, so I figured chocolate fondue couldn’t go wrong. Have you ever tried it?” I ask as I take out the sparkling wine from the ice, filling both our glasses before handing one to her.
“No, but I’m excited to,” she says, clinking her glass with mine. She takes a sip but then sets her glass down again.
The silence at the table is loud, and the tension builds, becoming uneasy.
Come on, do something, you idiot.She’s not going to go out with you again if this date is going to be nothing but uncomfortable.
“Why does this feel so awkward?” I ask with a smile, hoping to break the ice.
“I don’t know, maybe because I’m trying too hard to be nice and behave nicely so you’ll like me.” She shrugs, avoiding eye contact.
“Fuck that,” I say, reaching over to grab the side of her chair and pulling it close to my side. At first, her eyes widen in surprise, but then she smiles, looking up at me with her golden eyes. I can even see dark brown speckles in them. “I don’t want nice. I want you,” I state.
Her laughter fills the air, and my stomach flutters with delight at the sound. “Gee, thanks,” she replies with a playful tone.
“You’re welcome,” I say, grinning back.
“So, how does this fondue thing work?” she asks, pointing at the chocolate pot.
“You skewer a piece of fruit or whatever you want on this little fork and then just dip it into the chocolate,” I explain while showing her.
She picks up a strawberry, mimicking my actions. But instead of putting it in her mouth with the fork, she takes the strawberry with her fingers before she slides it between her full lips, letting out a soft moan of delight. I have to move my hips to rearrange my instant hard-on.
“Delicious,” she says, opening her eyes and catching me staring at her.
“I bet you are,” I murmur.
“So, you said you wanted to get to know each other better. Tell me about yourself,” she says while dunking a marshmallow, apparently missing my comment.
“Well, uhhh…” I stammer, trying to think of something interesting to say.
“Here,” she says, holding a half-covered marshmallow between her fingers and bringing it to my lips.
