Project Date (18 page)
Authors: Kate Perry
His brow furrowed and he reached out to push back a strand of my hair that got loose from my ponytail. “Phil? You okay?”
I smiled and leaned into his touch. “I’m perfect.”
The corners of his lips turned up just a little, but his eyes were serious as he said, “Yes, you are.”
I smiled brilliantly—I couldn’t help it. “I’m glad we’re going out today.”
“I am too. Are you ready?”
I had the feeling he was talking about more than getting in the car and going, but I pretended it was a simple question and nodded. He was reaching to open the door for me when I asked, “No chance I can drive, is there?”
He glanced at me. “You know where we’re going?”
Pout. “No.”
He grinned as I climbed into the passenger seat. “Maybe you’ll get a turn later.”
Yes! I grinned at him as he closed the door and fastened my seatbelt like the good girl that I am.
I am. For real. Underneath it all.
I watched him settle into the driver seat and start the car. Masterful was the only word for the way he took command. It made me shiver in anticipation.
I never thought I’d be the kind of woman who’d want a guy to dominate her. It wouldn’t work, but something inside me was dying for Rio to try.
“What are you thinking?”
I started, turning to face him. “Excuse me?”
His glance was brief so he could keep his eyes on the road. “You were miles away. I wondered what you were thinking.”
“My mind was just wandering.” I blushed, wondering what he’d say if he knew.
He knew. I could tell by the look he gave me. In his eyes, I could see him struggling to trap my hands above my head and me writhing against him to stop it.
Whew. I fanned myself.
He grinned, but I noticed his knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel so hard.
“So,” I said brightly. “Where are we going?”
“To the coast.”
“I love the coast. What are we going to do?”
“Not what you want to do.”
Pout again. “Why not?”
He glanced at me. “We haven’t kissed yet and you want to go there?”
I faced forward, my arms crossed. Did it matter what we did first? “Are you the type of person who’d take exception to me ordering dessert first? Because I’ll tell you right now sometimes I want pie before dinner.”
“Thank you for letting me know.”
Were his lips twitching? “I’m serious.”
“So am I.” He glanced at me. “Thank you for telling me. I like knowing about you.”
“You do?” I asked suspiciously.
“Of course.”
“So you should know I like kisses,” I said, like a princess.
He briefly looked over at me again. “Good to know.”
“I
love
kisses.” I glanced at him to make sure he was paying attention. “I’d do
anything
for kisses.”
love
kisses.” I glanced at him to make sure he was paying attention. “I’d do
anything
for kisses.”
“Also good to know. What else do I need to know about you?”
“That my family is insane and my best friend is a guy.” I’d never mentioned Matt before. I figured he should know up front. Guys were weird about stuff like that, and no way was I changing my relationship with Matt. No way in hell.
“How long have you been best friends?”
“A loo-ng time,” I stressed with a meaningful look. “Since we were fourteen.”
Rio nodded. He appeared to understand what I was saying, but I knew for certain when he asked, “Will he approve of me?”
I pretended to size him up. “Depends on how you treat me.”
“And how well kissed you are?”
I smiled. “Exactly.”
We spent the next half hour in silence; Rio drove and I watched the scenery go by. A couple of times I tried to get where we were going out of him to no avail. Though we were headed toward the coast, so I don’t know why he wouldn’t tell me. But I just went with it. Dwight would have been so proud of me.
We passed a winery I recognized because Barry favored their sparkling wines. Sparkling wine was the same as champagne, and I hated them both. Barry always foisted them on me, as if the next time I’d realize how much I loved them. I never did.
I shifted in my seat so my left leg was bent under me and I faced my date. “Rio.”
“Yes?”
“I don’t like champagne.”
He remained silent for a long time, like he was processing what I told him. I could tell he realized the importance of this statement even if it baffled him. Finally he said, “I won’t buy you champagne then.”
“Thank you.” I relaxed and settled back to enjoy the rest of the drive. While I watched the scenery, I plotted. (Hey, it’s what I’m good at.)
If Rio was going to insist on refraining from kissing me, more power to him. It was honorable. Stupid, but honorable.
But I wasn’t going to make it easy on him.
I saw a reflection of my grin in the window and it was pure evil. I couldn’t help it. I was down with his reasoning—excellent intentions. That didn’t mean I had to play along. Not that I was going to take him down and pillage his mouth. No, I was going to respect his wishes. I just wasn’t going to make it easy on him.
Sometime while I was plotting his downfall, Rio turned off the two-lane highway that led to the coast. I sat up and took a look around. “Where are we going?”
“We’re almost there.”
“That didn’t answer my question.”
“Do you always have to be in control?”
“Not always.” What a lie.
He glanced at me, brow raised.
Hmmph. “Is that such a bad thing anyway?”
He chuckled. “No, but don’t you think it could be refreshing to surrender every now and then?”
The first thought that popped into my head was Rio in pirate garb and me in a flowy peasant dress, open to the waist, tied to his bed.
“What is it?” he asked.
I squirmed in my seat. “Do you own an eye patch?”
“No.”
“A whip?”
“Uh ... no.”
Shoot. Oh, well. Christmas wasn’t far off. I sat up. “Is that a carnival?”
“Yes.”
“I love carnivals,” I murmured, staring at the moving rides. It’d been so long since I’d gone to one.
“I know.”
I frowned at him. “How do you know?”
A faint smile curled his lips. “I asked your sister last night when you went to get her a glass of water.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what to make of it, that Rio did something so thoughtful as well as Daphne remembering such a detail. “The last time I went to a carnival, it was on the waterfront and Matt, my best friend—” I glanced at Rio to see how he’d react to my mentioning Matt. Nothing but interest. “Well, Matt challenged me to a cotton candy-eating contest.”
“And you won.” He didn’t sound surprised.
“Of course.” I grimaced. “I still can’t stand the sight of cotton candy though.”
He laughed. “No champagne, no cotton candy. Got it.”
We had to walk through the dirt parking lot for quite a while, but with each step I got more excited about the carnival. “Are we going to ride the Ferris wheel?”
“If you’d like to ride it.”
“Yes!” I jumped up and down only once. No, I didn’t clap too (my left hand was busy burrowing into his jeans’ back pocket). “And the merry-go-round.”
“Sure.”
“I want a corndog too.”
“Okay.”
“And—”
Laughing, Rio stopped and squeezed me to him. “You can have anything you want.”
“Really.” I glanced at his lips. “Anything?”
His gaze fell to my mouth. “I’ll get in trouble with that kind of promise, won’t I?”
His voice was low and husky and touched something deep inside me. Low inside, like in the vicinity of my private red-light area.
My mom didn’t raise a dummy (Daphne excluded), so I plastered myself against him, reached up, and ran a finger over his lower lip. It felt soft and firm and perfect. “Do you want to get into trouble?”
He leaned down until his lips hovered over the most sensitive spot on my neck. “You’re playing a dangerous game.”
“I’m not playing,” I whispered in his ear.
With a finger, he lifted my chin and gazed into my eyes. “I’m not either.”
“Aren’t you tempted to kiss me at all?”
The barest smile touched his lips. “I’m dying to kiss you.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Then why don’t you?”
“It’s not time yet.”
As far as I was concerned, it was way past time. “Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
I sighed and pulled back. “The next time I try to entice you to kiss me, play along and act like I’m irresistible, okay?”
“You are irresistible.”
Ha. So said Iron Man. But I let him pull me along to the carnival.
True to his word, we did it all, without reserve. We rode rides, played games, and ate corndogs (just two, because I didn’t want to throw up in his beautiful car on the way home). I won him a pretty big purple panda and he won me a tiara, which I immediately put on my head and refused to take off. Amazingly, he ran circles around me at the bumper cars, but I beat his pants off at the arcade games. Not literally, unfortunately.
I got so caught up in the moment and the fun we were having, I forgot to taunt him to see if I could wear down his willpower. I didn’t even remember my plan until nighttime when we were leaving, and even then the seduction began innocently (I swear).
We were walking to the car, holding hands, when impulsively I turned to him. “I feel great.”
He grinned. “I’m glad.”
“No, I mean really great.” I threw my arm out as if to hug the world. “I haven’t felt so light and carefree in weeks. Maybe months. It’s like all this weight I was carrying on my shoulders is gone.”
“Did you have a lot of weight on your shoulders?”
“You wouldn’t believe how much. But look at me now.” I bounced on my toes as I walked to show him how light I felt.
He stopped and drew me to him. He held the panda in one arm and was holding my hand with his other, so he bent down and rubbed his nose to mine. It was a simple gesture, but it stopped my heart with its tenderness.
“God, I love—” he paused “—being with you.”
I felt curiously deflated. I didn’t know what I thought he was going to say. We’d only known each other for a week, after all. So I just smiled.
“You don’t know how happy I am you walked into my gym,” he murmured in my ear.
I shivered and opened my mouth to reply. But I felt the butterfly brush of his mouth against my jaw and I was lost. His face rasped faintly against my cheek and I shivered again, wondering how his five o’clock shadow would feel on other parts of my body.
He let go of my hand and, gazing into my eyes, held the back of my neck. His fingers slowly speared through my loosened ponytail, using it to tilt my head back so we gazed into each other’s eyes.
Oh, God, he was going to kiss me.
My mouth fell open, partly in preparation and partly because I couldn’t believe the moment was finally here. I lifted my hand to his shoulder for more balance (in case kissing turned to groping).
His thumb caressed the corner of my jaw in slow deliberate strokes. I wanted to tell him to do that lower but I didn’t think I could form the words. Breathing was challenging at the moment.
He brought his head down until I could feel his lips hovering over mine. All I had to do was crane my head forward a tiny,
tiny
bit and we’d touch.
tiny
bit and we’d touch.
Only I didn’t want to be the one to initiate it. As much as I was dying for it, I wanted him to initiate it first, this time. It seemed paramount.
Next time, he was mine.
So I swallowed and waited, trying not to sway forward. His fingers tightened in my hair; oddly, it made my nipples tighten too.
Kiss me, damn it.
He dropped his forehead to mine, briefly, and stepped back.
No
.
.
But I managed to control myself from shrieking in frustration, even when he let go of my hair. I cleared the passion that had lodged itself in my throat, smiled like the siren I am, and asked, “Can I drive home?”
He studied me like he was considering pinning me to the ground and ripping my clothes off. I tried to convey with my gaze that I wouldn’t be averse to that idea. But then he smiled and handed me the keys. “Go for it.”
We made it back in record time, even though I took the long way just so I could savor the Mustang. Reluctantly I pulled in front of my house. It was dark except for the porch light and a light inside Magda’s apartment.
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