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“Well,” she said, “this is a first date. It might not matter.”
Levi wished she’d stop shrugging. He wanted to reach across the table and smooth the worries away from her brow, rub her shoulders until the muscles of her back relaxed and hold her in his arms so that she couldn’t hear the cruel words people say—words that put such a stony look on her face. And so she wouldn’t see people hesitate before shaking her hand.
But she was right. They were at a restaurant, on a first date, and he could tell by the wary way Mina kept one eye on where his sister sat and one eye on him that she didn’t trust either of them.
If he wanted his sorry to matter, if he wanted anything to matter, he had to make it past this first date, to date number two and three, to hanging out at her house and binge-watching Netflix, to... He didn’t let his mind go further. That future was unknowable, even to the people who wrote Kimmie’s favorite horoscope websites.
“Well, I’d like to make it to a second date,” he said, his words bringing a little life back into her smile. “And a third. Tell me more about teaching.” Then he reached his hand across the table, palm up in invitation. When she placed her hand in his, he folded his fingers around the warmth and softness, never wanting to let go.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“YOU SHOULD PARK in your own driveway,” Mina said, though she couldn’t deny the fluttering of pleasure in her chest that he was pulling up to the curb in front of her house. That small, silly gesture had meant more to her than the beautiful flowers.
“Nah. This is a date, and a date gets brought home, not brought next door to her home.”
She could see the muscles of his face twitch in the light of the streetlamps. Levi wasn’t the grouch she’d first thought him to be, but his emotions were subtle, and she’d have to work for them. Which was fine—he would have to work for her, too. Meeting his sister in the restaurant had been painful.
“Stay here,” he said, his large, strong hand giving her knee a quick pat. The pleasure in her chest expanded as her date walked around the front of his truck and opened the door so she could step out.
“I like this old-fashioned courting.” Feeling cared for rather than coddled, she slipped her hand into his and accepted help out of his truck. Then she tucked herself against the warmth of his body as they walked up to her front door. The dry night air was chilly on her bare shoulders, but she’d rather be slightly cold and lean against the man next to her than get her cardigan out of her purse.
They stayed touching, even as she fumbled at the door with her keys. Levi pulled away for only a moment, as the lock clicked and the door opened, and Mina flipped on the light.
The moment felt more real with the light on. In the restaurant, she’d been debating how insulted to be by his sister and how much she was going to blame Levi for it. In the car, with the chill of the fall air sneaking in through the cracked windows and the sharp scent of wildfires off in the distance—their smoke obscuring any hope of stars—everything had taken on a surreal feeling, as if some other Mina had been in that truck.
But now she turned to face him, his eyes locked on her as he closed the door behind him. The intensity of his interest tingled her skin. Tightness in her belly traveled down her thighs to her feet before boomeranging back to the more sensitive skin between her legs and around her nipples. Levi must have felt it, too, because they seemed to step into each other’s arms in one choreographed movement. Before she could think, or even breathe, she was wrapped in his arms. Her head tilted up, and his lips pressed against hers.
She tensed.
Levi didn’t lift his head from hers, but a question lingered between them. May I? his hesitation seemed to say. A far cry from Should I? Mina walked her fingers up his neck until they were in his hair. The movement grounded her, reminded her who she was here with and why. Fear of being hurt or hurting had halted her movement forward, but this was a man she wanted to put her trust in.
She wanted to believe.
She grasped his hair and pressed her breasts up against him. His fingers on her waist tightened once, before his palms flattened out.
Mina understood the desperation in his hands as he held her to him. She felt that desperation, too. The need and the wanting. In the back of her mind was a tiny reminder to wait, that rushing into sex got her into trouble. But those worries were swept aside when she opened her mouth, and his tongue tickled the top of her bottom lip.
