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I continued peppering her with questions because I was interested, and she patiently answered them all. When the tacos were assembled, we sat next to each other at the counter to eat. I loved that her enthusiasm for life extended to food. She ate three tacos, I ate five, and between bites, we talked.
When our tacos were gone, I went to the freezer and got two Choco Tacos.
Allie giggled as I handed one to her. “You take the taco Tuesday theme very seriously.”
“Is it really taco Tuesday if you don’t finish with one of these bad boys?” I asked as I took my seat and opened my dessert.
“I guess not,” she laughed.
After we finished dinner, we worked together to clean up and do the dishes. Like much of what I did with Allie, it was a new experience for me. I soaked up what it was like to have her in my life and at my side while the back of my mind zoomed ahead to figure out ways to keep her in my life.
Once we’d cleaned everything up, we settled on the giant couch in my theater room to watch TV. I was hyper-aware of how much I wanted Allie when she curled up at my side, and I slung my arm over her shoulders.
We’d just gotten into our second episode of Yellowstone when she started tracing circles on my knee. It was the slightest of touches, but it made me feel like I’d been plugged into an electrical outlet.
Turning, I tucked my fingers beneath her chin, tilted her head back, and kissed her. I loved everything about kissing her. The feeling of her plump lips beneath mine, the way she lost herself in the moment, and how she melted into me. When she climbed onto my lap, I could feel the strain on my self-control. Pulling away from the kiss, I cupped her face in my hands.
“Baby,” I growled. “Don’t tempt me.”
It was more than just the kissing or that she was on my lap. It was seeing her kiss-swollen lips, the expression in her hooded eyes that screamed take me to bed, and the soft flush on her skin that told me she was as worked up as I was. I wanted to be selfish, throw caution to the wind, and take her to bed, but I knew down to my bones that it would be the wrong move. Nothing about our relationship thus far had been traditional, but I was bound and determined to make sure that she knew through my actions that I was interested in more than a few days of fucking.
“We don’t have to have sex,” she murmured breathlessly.
“And we won’t. I’m following the five-date rule.”
“Who made up that rule?” she asked.
I lifted one shoulder. “Who knows, but it’s a thing, and I’m following it.”
“Five dates isn’t the thing,” she chuckled. “It’s three dates.”
As she spoke, she moved in my lap. I bit back a groan as I dropped my hand to her hips to hold her still.
“By that measurement of time, we’re still early,” I reminded her.
“No, that’s wrong,” she argued. “Tonight is our third date.”
Her enthusiasm was almost enough to crack me, but I held firm.
“Tonight is our second date,” I corrected.
She shook her head. “Nope, it’s our third. Oscar night, last night, and tonight.”
I snickered. “Nice try, baby. It only counts as a date if you begin the night together. Look it up. I promise it’s a thing.”
“Have you always been such a stickler for the rules?” she teased.
I looked her in the eye so she would know how serious I was. “Only with you. There’s no playbook for our relationship, but I know that jumping the gun to sex isn’t the way to go. Let’s get to know each other first.”
The way she smiled made it clear that my words meant something to her. That alone gave me the strength I needed to stick to my plan.
Our time was coming, and I knew when we crossed that line, it would be epic.11AllieEven though Vaughn and I had spent most of the past three days together, I still found myself a little nervous about tonight’s date. Since he’d made plans for us to go out, it felt way more like a date than the past few nights had. Now if I could only get him to tell me what we were doing so I wasn’t flying blind. I’d never been that great at surprises, and he’d had a lot of fun torturing me once he realized I was the kind of person who shook their Christmas presents to figure out what was inside.
Vaughn was too sexy for my own good in his khakis and a navy button-down shirt. I was seriously considering tugging on one of the loops in the waist of his pants to lead him up to the bedroom so I could strip it right off his lean body. But I hadn’t taken the time to do my makeup and hair and get dressed up—albeit in something comfortable based on his suggestion—just to wreck it all before Vaughn had the opportunity to properly appreciate the effort I’d put forth.
