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“Jess,” Drew said.
“Yeah?”
“Calm down,” he said, grinning.
“Just so you know, most women don’t love being told to calm down. I’ll let it slide, though, seeing as I’m acting like a basket case.”
“You are a little,” he said. “But I get it. And I’d love to come with you. It sounds like fun.”
“You would? I mean that’s great, but I’m surprised. I didn’t think you would want to come.”
“I’m a bit surprised myself, but then again, I already told you that you’re not what I expected. I get why you want me and Emma to meet, though. I would want the same thing if I had a kid.”
I searched his face as he gave me his answer, surprised and a little bit touched to see that he really did look like he'd been caught off guard. I had a pretty good idea that hanging out with kids wasn't high on his list of priorities. I felt another surge of warmth over the fact that he was willing to make an exception for me.
I would have told him so, but that was the moment that the lights began to dim, signaling that the performance was about to begin. I settled for scooting my chair closer to his and putting my hand on his thigh, feeling his raw muscle pulsing beneath my fingers.
As the stage lights began to flare and the first performer took the stage, I became clearly, terrifyingly aware of one simple fact. It had been five years since I'd been anything approaching this happy, and it was all because of a man who was still a mystery to me.
Chapter 12: Drew
“So, what did you think?” I asked. “Now that we’re out of the theater and none of the performers can hear you, what did you honestly think?”
"Are you kidding me?” Jess asked. “It was amazing. Easily the most impressive thing I've ever seen. Those aerialists? They were unreal! Like seriously, how can they move that way? If I tried anything like that, I’d break my neck. I wish I were even half that good at anything."
I grinned at her. “I have no doubt that you are. And I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. I had a good time, too, but I think part of it was watching your reactions.”
Jess groaned. “Oh man, was I so obvious?”
“You don’t have a good poker face,” I said. “You told me that once before, and you weren’t kidding.”
She smiled and shook her head. “Okay, fine. Underestimate me. One day you’ll realize how crafty I can be.”
She laughed, which made me laugh. Without thinking about it, I put my hand on her thigh, the same way she'd done to me in the theater. It wasn't much, as far as sexual touches went, but it was enough to make my cock stir in my pants. Jess looked so sexy in her dress, and when she smiled, her whole face lit up. It was difficult to focus on driving with her sitting next to me.
Things between us had been far better than I'd expected. She was fun, surprising, and so sexy it almost hurt to look at her. Only one thing wasn’t perfect. She’d made it clear early on that she wasn’t the kind of woman who just hopped into bed with anyone. She wasn’t just being modest or coy. She had been telling the truth. There had been kissing and some making out, but nothing beyond that. I hadn't been so sexually frustrated since high school.
The fact that I was still dating her, even though she was making me wait, surprised the hell out of me. With any other woman, I would have walked away. I had in the past. The world was full of attractive women who wanted a quick fling. There was no point devoting so much time to just one of them.
I was a man with needs. My sex drive ran harder than a jet engine on one of my planes. If I hadn't been dating Jess, I probably would have slept with several different women in the last month, just to keep my needs satisfied. But I was with Jess. No matter how deep my urges ran, I refused to cheat on her. That wasn’t me. Not now. Not ever. So, that left me in a difficult situation.
She was making me wait. The more she did, the more I wanted her. Each time she went home after a date, I wasn't sure I would be able to take it any longer, but I also knew I wasn't going anywhere. Unlike so many other women, Jess was worth the wait.
“Hey,” I said. “You want to come to my place? Have a nightcap?”
“No hanky panky, right?” She laughed and squeezed my hand to show that she wasn’t trying to be mean-spirited.
“Nope, don’t need to worry about that,” I said. “Not until you’re ready. You know that.”
She nodded. “I’d love a nightcap. Lead the way.”
We drove the rest of the way to my loft in silence, my hand still on her leg, and each of us in our own little worlds. It wasn’t until I had the key in the lock that she spoke again, and it was to say something that surprised me, as it usually was.
“Have you ever realized that we’ve never gone to my place?” she asked.
I frowned, thinking about it. "No, that's not true. It can't be. Come on. I've got a really good bottle of champagne chilling."
"No," she continued, following me into the loft and flopping down on my couch as if she were a resident and not a visitor. "It's true. You’ve been there to pick me up, but the front door is as far as you ever get. You've never actually been inside my place."
