I let my own tilt up, happy to have done something to make him happy, even if I still refuse to admit that to either of us.
Then he rips and dumps a second packet in.
My smile falls when he grabs a third pack of sugar. There’s no way… Yep.
“Are you for real?” I say, aghast at how sickly sweet that coffee is going to taste.
“What?”
Ro turns wide, innocent eyes on me as he pours the entire third sugar pack into his mug. He deliberately sets the empty paper on the counter, still holding eye contact.
“That’s got to be a crime,” I mutter.
Ro raises his eyebrows, briefly swirls a spoon through his mug of sugar, then looks directly at me again. He cups the mug in both palms, slowly raises it and takes a sip, then groans dramatically with pleasure.
My eyes flare wide, because that’s far too close to the sound he made in my dream. I whip around, the muscles in my lower abdomen clenched tight and a groan of my own threatening low in my throat. I refuse to let him see how hot my face is.
I will not succumb to whatever charms this demon throws my way.
Ro continuesto randomly show up at my place over the next week. Always without warning, despite the fact that I caved a couple days ago and gave him my number so he would stop surprising me.
Instead, he simply texted me the next day asking what my favorite ice cream was. Then he showed up ten minutes later with a different flavor.
“Why did you ask what kind I liked if you weren’t going to get it?”
“Ah, well I was, I even grabbed some. But then my demon threw a fit, so I had to go back and snag this one instead.”
It’s not hard to read between the lines. Snag clearly means steal, and I shake my head.
“I know, I know. I’m trying to do better! At least it wasn’t anything big,” Ro says, his shoulders slumping as he shuffles his way into my kitchen and sets the carton of strawberry ice cream on the counter.
I trail after him, my eyes glued to the way his pants hug his thighs as he walks. Then he clears his throat and I jolt, darting my gaze up to his to see his teeth biting at his lip ring as he half-smirks.
“See something you like?” he asks.
“Don’t push it,” I say, pulling out two spoons from the drawer near my hip, then grabbing the ice cream and pulling the top off. I hand him one spoon, and dig in with the other.
Strawberry isn’t my favorite, but it’s not terrible.
Ro is frozen with his hand up, fingers clenched around his spoon and eyes locked on my mouth as I slip my spoon out from between my lips. I’m starting to enjoy his attention being on me, something I never expected and will still vehemently deny if asked, but I decide to lean into it. I swipe my tongue out, slowly licking across my bottom lip.
His throat bobs with a hard swallow, and I lean forward over the counter, dipping my chin to look up at him through my eyelashes. Ro matches my movement, leaning toward me, and I toss his own question back at him.
“See something you like?” I whisper.
Ro throws his head back with a bark of laughter. I can’t help smiling when I hear it. He’s so easy to tease, taking it all in stride and never getting offended or upset.
“Yeah,” Ro replies, lowering his voice as he meets my eyes, then lets his gaze pointedly dip down my body. “I see a lot that I like.”
He keeps turning it back on me and I grit my teeth, somehow feeling both turned on and frustrated at the same time. Every time I think I get one up on him, he comes back harder. It’s infuriating, but I can’t be upset by his quick wit.
It’s what makes him so fun to be around.
The tension builds each time he shows up, and I start to suspect he’s outside my apartment more often than he lets on. My skin will start to tingle sometimes, and I swear I’ve seen deeper shadows in the trees across the street than is normal.
I think the cat knows too, as it hasn’t been coming around quite as much as usual. I wonder if it’s a sign I should be paying attention to, until one day Ro shows up at the same time as the cat.
I let the cat in first, cracking the window and waiting an eternity for it to decide to saunter inside. Then I rush to the front door and let Ro in. His signature grin is in place as he steps through the door, but when I angle sideways to let him pass, he freezes.
