“No need to apologize. I get it. I work in the food business too,” I told him just as he leaned over the counter to my left. His elbows and forearms were on the edge of the bar in front of him, his body tilted slightly so he was facing me, even though he was technically in front of the seat to my side.
He had on a dark-green short-sleeved T-shirt with the restaurant logo on it, along with a pair of jeans. It was the same outfit that Tammy was wearing, but Axel just seemed to wear it better—at least to me he did. He was only inches from me, and I could smell his divine scent of pine and peppermint.
His hair was pulled up into his standard messy bun that he’d had every time I saw him, and my fingers itched to work their way through the soft hair.
My gaze came back to his eyes, and the look he wore told me he knew where my thoughts had gone. Okay, time to redirect.
“Umm…I thought of some more, uh, confusing words and phrases for you,” I said, stumbling through my words as I stared at the sexy man in front of me.
“I’m ready,” he said, smiling at me.
I reached for my drink to distract my eyes from staring at his playful expression.
“Uh, the word killer,” I started. “Obviously, it can mean someone who has killed someone. But if you were to go see a movie or a concert and someone said, ‘That movie was killer,’ it actually means the movie was great.”
Axel stared at me for a second and then shook his head. “Your language is very weird.”
I chuckled, nodding. “I’m not disagreeing with you.”
“Okay, give me another,” he requested.
“Well, there’s also the word hot. That can mean the temperature is too high and uncomfortable, or sometimes even it refers to food being too spicy.”
He nodded as if I was telling him deep government secrets and he was thirsty for that knowledge.
“However, it can also be a form of flattery if you call someone hot,” I added. “Like if I tell you that you are hot, it means I think you are attractive, good-looking, or sexy.”
He paused after that and stared at me for a moment.
“Doyou find me hot, Stella?” he asked, his voice a little lower than normal.
It was a simple question, but I found myself suddenly nervous to answer.
The truth was, yes, I found him unbelievably hot, but he was so far out of my league, it wasn’t even funny, so I wasn’t sure I wanted him to know that I had pictured him naked countless times over the last few days.
My delayed response caused his smile to transition from teasing to lascivious, which in turn practically caused myovaries to spontaneously combust. This man should come with a warning label.
I gulped, feeling my face heat. “Objectively…yes.”
With my thoughts now diving into naughty territory, my brain thought of yet another confusing phrase to add to the list.
“Umm…there’s also another one,” I began, looking around me and leaning in closer to speak quieter so no one could hear me. “You can tell someone you want to fuck them or you want to fuck themup. The first one is usually a good thing. The latter one means you want to beat them up.”
After I said it, I felt like maybe I shouldn’t have. The blue in his eyes deepened to an almost black color, and I realized I may have taken this lesson too far, but then he produced a naughty grin, and I realized he was enjoying this.
“I understand the latter phrase now, but I think I need more of an explanation about the first one,” he said in the same quiet tone I had. “What did you mean exactly when you said you wanted to fuck me?”
Did someone turn the heat up in here? My body felt like it was on fire with the intense heat his eyes were throwing my way.
“Hey, Romeo,” Tammy called out, breaking through the sparks that were clearly flying between the two of us. “Help me swap these two kegs out.”
He leaned back from the bar but still maintained eye contact with me before winking and turning to help Tammy.
I hadn’t realized I was holding my breath until the deepest sigh known to man released from my body.
When he finally came back a few moments later, it was with my food order, which he set down in front of me.
“Now, what were we talking about before I had to go help Tammy?” he asked, a smirk on his face letting me know he definitely remembered.
