Page 67 of Rush

“Mmm,” he murmurs. “You taste good, too.”

He’s going to kill me, I swear.

“You sure you don’t want to skip the date and just get to the sex?”

He laughs a throaty sound, and I have to squeeze my thighs together.

He moves his lips to my ear. “Anyone ever tell you, the longer you wait to have something…someone, the better it will be?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s, Great things come to those who don’t wait.” I smile cheekily.

He chuckles again. Then, he kisses me. One quick, firm kiss that leaves me aching.

“You ready?” he asks, and I nod. He slips his hand into mine. “Let’s go do our date, so we can come back here…and I can make you come. Multiple times.”

Sweet Lord.

He leads me out of my apartment building and to his truck. He opens the door for me, and I get inside. I’ve gotten much better at climbing in this beast, and the high heels definitely help.

I buckle myself in and ask, “So, where are we eating?”

He shifts to look at me. “There’s this Thai place in East Village. It’s nothing fancy, but—”

“I was sold at Thai. And I don’t need fancy.”

“You deserve fancy. I just…I know you don’t go to bars, for the obvious reason, and I didn’t know if the same went for restaurants because they all serve fucking alcohol, but this Thai restaurant doesn’t have a liquor license. It’s one of those bring-your-own-booze restaurants, so there will be alcohol there, but they have outdoor seating, and you can’t drink out there, so…”

He’s babbling. Ares never babbles. And I feel bad that my problem with alcohol is causing him a problem. But I also love that he cares.

“Ares”—I place my hand over his—“I’m going to love it. I’ll be there with you, and that’s all I care about.”

His eyes meet mine, and I smile at him.

He turns his hand over, palm up, and links his fingers with mine.

Hand-holding. So simple. But so incredibly thrilling.

The touch of that one single part of his body against mine is sending my hormones haywire.

My hand looks tiny compared to his, but I don’t care. It makes me feel feminine. And I like the feeling.

He lifts my hand to his lips and presses a kiss to it. “I’m sorry, Ari.” His lips brush my skin as he speaks, “I didn’t see you the moment we met, and I’m so fucking sorry for that.”

“I don’t understand.”

He looks at me, and the look in his eyes…anguished, makes my heart clench. “Yesterday, when you came to my apartment and told me the truth and apologized, you were so fucking brave. And I was a coward because I should have been apologizing to you, too. For all the shit I’d said to you. The way I’d acted toward you.”

“It’s in the past, Ares. It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does. I judged you. I was a total asshole. And you’re this amazing, talented, incredibly strong, beautiful woman, who fights and slays her demons every damn day, and I’m a coward, who let my own shit get in the way of me seeing all of that…seeing who you are. And I’m so fucking sorry, Ari. But I promise, I will make it up to you. I will treat you the way you deserve to be treated.” Another kiss to my hand. “I like you for who you are. Baggage and all, babe.”

And I’m done for.

This guy. Sweet Jesus, this guy. He slays me.

I can feel my throat starting to close up. “You’re going to make me cry and I really don’t want to because I’m not wearing waterproof mascara and I look really bad when I have panda eyes.”

He lifts his eyes to mine, and they’re glittering with emotion and some other thing I can’t quite put my finger on.