The feel of her lips branded to mine sinks deep, aching to taste her deeply. To really taste her and not let up until morning comes.
The alarm I set on the car ride over goes off in my pocket, making me grin. I may be above childish games, but I’m not above doing what it takes to get Cove to myself. Even if it’s for a few minutes.
“Apologies,” I tell the table and stop the resounding of the sharp alert. I lift my head to meet Cove’s curiousmolten eyes and say, “Cove. This is the message I was telling you about earlier. Do you mind if I steal you outside for a moment?” And just for the hell of it, I turn to Betsy instead of Conrad, searching for her understanding.
Betsy seems like a smart woman. Her unapologetic giggle confirms what I already know: Betsy is team Stetson.
“A message?” Cove stares blankly, but I don’t sit long enough to explain, urging her up and cupping her to my side as I steer us outside the restaurant.
“I’ll explain once we get outside.”
All the chatter around us is just noise, my mind on a one-track mission to be alone with her. In this case, that’s quite possibly against a graffiti-covered surface along the busy streets of Bellevue Ave.
The moment we escape the bystanders walking through the streets, I spin her around, pinning her against the nearest wall of an abandoned alleyway. Despite it being later in the evening, the darkness of the night can’t hide the glitter shining in the whites of Cove’s eyes. A mural of palm trees and colorful shops down Bellevue line the wall behind us, and it feels like some type of fever dream that I’m even here right now.
“Stetson.”
I rest my arm beside her head as my forehead falls to her shoulder. “Hi, my love.”
A reserved laugh falls from her lips, causing my own to join in. “Stetson. Why are we out here?”
“Decided it was time for me to be a little selfish with you.”
That halts her laughter, and just when I think she’ll try to flee, she surprises me by running her hand softly down the slope of my back. Her touch soothes me as I allow the sweet scent of her perfume to consume me.
“You know this is supposed to be my double date,right? The one that you crashed without a care in the world,” she questions me, but her comfort doesn’t stop.
It feels nice to have her hands on me. I’ll never understand how something so innocent can feel intimate at the same time. But it does.
“Trust me, I’m aware,” I blurt. “Don’t ask me to apologize for showing up tonight, Cove. I won’t do that. Not if it means I missed out on seeing you. I’d do it all over again.”
I lift my head, knowing her eyes will find me. When the two hands, once stroking my sides, fall to the planes of my lower back in a secure hold, I fight back a groan.
Fuck. I want to be closer.
“Something tells me I should believe you. And something much bigger makes me question why I pushed you away to begin with.”
The honest words I’ve waited to hear.
I cage her in my arms, loving the response I feel from her body in a matter of seconds. The shiver that wracks through her soft frame as I run the tip of my nose down the soft skin behind her ear. She tilts her head on instinct, and I can’t help it, planting a soft kiss against her neck. “I know you think you know me, Cove, but let me prove you wrong. Let me show you I’m not as bad as you think. I’m better. Respectful. Caring. A stable place to land.”
“Is that so?” she counters, chin held high. “I have a hard time believing much of anything without action these days. So, show me who you are, Stetson Cole. Open my eyes.”
“Leave with me.”
Her head rears back. “I’m not sleeping with you.”
I smirk, but also feel slightly sad that her first thought is me wanting to sleep with her. I hate that life has given her experiences where instinct leads her to believe that’s what I—or anyone, for that matter—would want first.
Not wanting her to assume I’m laughing at her, I reach for her hand and run my fingertips across her palm. “I was thinking something more along the lines of ice cream. But if you’re not one for delicious sugary concoctions with all the fixins’, then I’ll gladly let you get back to your date.”
I step back for added measure and swing an arm in the direction of the restaurant. But boy am I really hoping she ditches Conrad for me.
Cove contemplates my invitation, her head swinging from both sides of the alleyway, likely looking for her date. “Think he’d even notice?” she asks, shrugging her shoulders with a playfulness I find adorable. “He really is a bore.”
“Abso-fucking-lutely. But ask me if I care?”
She swats my shoulder and pinches a brow. “No sex?” She reiterates her previous question like she’s not convinced. “Just ice cream? No plans to corner me at my door and worm your way into my bed?”
