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I feel the heat begin to build in my cheeks again. “Twenty-two.”
He smirks. “You’ve got plenty of time.”
I raise an eyebrow at him. “And how old are you?”
He sets his now-empty glass on the bar and takes another small step toward me. His eyes flick to my hair, and then my mouth, and then my eyes again. “I’ve got four years on you, Ginge.”
I usually hate nicknames, especially when they play at my red hair, but coming from those perfect lips, it sounds magical. I don’t care if he forgets my real name and calls me Ginge from here on out.
His close proximity is entrancing, and I slow my breathing, afraid the rise and fall of my chest might bring us even closer.
I want him closer, though. I want him pressed against me. I wonder what his chest feels like under that shirt. I bet it’s hard planes of muscle and man.
There’s a glint in his eye as he watches me, like he knows exactly what I’m thinking. Embarrassing.
“How long are you in town?” I ask, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear.
“I fly back to Chicago tomorrow morning,” he replies. His eyes darken a bit as they dart down to my lips briefly, and I become consciously aware that his thoughts are probably not so innocent.
But who am I kidding? Neither are mine.
I can’t help but blush again at the realization that he’s doing this to me; making me feel these things. I glance at his long fingers grasping his glass, and then let my eyes travel up his arm and broad shoulders to his face again. His eyes are drinking me in, faster than he drinks from his glass, and I feel marvelously helpless under his gaze. I wonder what it would feel like to give in and experience a night of passion with someone who sends shivers down my spine like he does.
With Kai standing in front of me now, my perception of reality is fuzzy. I don’t really care to talk about how he came to be an actor or when he’s flying back to Chicago. I just want to know how the dark stubble on his jaw would feel across the skin of my cheek. I want his large hands grasping my waist.
Ok. Cool it, Sophie…
Where is this coming from? I know next to nothing about him, and he honestly seems like he isn’t the kind of guy who cares to know much about me either. But something about him draws me in, like, for once, none of that really matters.
“You know…” Kai says suddenly, coaxing me out of my trance. “I couldn’t take my eyes off of you from across the room just then.”
My heart skips a beat and I take a gulp of my drink, trying to hide the uneasiness on my face. I have no idea how to respond, but at the same time, I like the sound of what he’s saying. I want to hear more.
When I lower my glass, I set it down on the bar and lean in slightly to raise an eyebrow at him, trying my hand at seduction. “Yeah...is that so?”
He licks his lips and grins at me. The corners of his eyes crinkle, and I melt even more.
Did I do it? Was I sexy?
I’m beginning to realize that the feelings I’m experiencing now are the very ones that have always eluded me. Even when I let Jarrett lead me to his room that night, I didn’t really want to follow him. I did it out of curiosity, to prove to myself that I could at least try. But tonight, with Kai and his gorgeous grin, I feel myself slipping into a decision that might just have me saying yes if he invites me to leave with him. And the difference is, I actually want him to.
I want him to, but at the very same time, I desperately want him to get up and walk away…far away…so I don’t have to make a decision I will regret. The last thing I want is a repeat performance of that night at the party.
I’m on my way to thinking up something else clever to say when Leah appears next to me. She loops her arm through mine with a grin.
“You guys wanna come join us on the deck? The stars are amazing.” She points toward the open air beyond the doors.
I glance at Kai who smiles and shrugs, giving me the opportunity to respond.
“Sure,” I reply lightly, glad to have a welcome distraction from the intoxicating state my mind has been in.
At my response, Leah tugs my arm and pulls me with her toward the deck. I quickly grab my drink and look over my shoulder to see Kai following with a smirk.
Leah leans into my ear, tequila on her breath. “Drew is…yummmm…” She speaks in slow, intoxicated syllables.
I lean closer to her. “Yeah? Even more so than you thought?”
She continues to hold onto my arm as we cross the threshold onto the aged wooden planks of the deck. “I’m going home with him tonight,” she whispers and then glances behind at Kai briefly. “And Kai is…cutttteeeee…”
