The Vine (7 page)

Pretty fishwife lady seemed to have finished. I was smirking slightly, which I knew would irritate her, and it had the desired effect because she scowled at me and turned away muttering expletives. The door was now open, and scary lady stood in front of Lizzy, probably trying to talk her out of going to dinner with me. But that’s not why I started to feel pissed off. The reason I was annoyed was because she was blocking my view of the gorgeous girl I had come to take out to dinner.

Lizzy was like an obsession to me, and right at that moment, I needed to see her completely, not just glimpses. As if reading my mind, mad, scary, pretty, fishwife lady was storming off from in front of her and into another room.

As I watched her retreat, my eyes then slid back to the beauty I’d been itching to see, and as my eyes reached her I felt them widen, because the stunning image I saw in front of me was beyond anything I had imagined over the last few days. I mean, I knew Lizzy would be looking gorgeous for our date, but the woman who stood in front of me looked like a goddess. It was like Aphrodite was standing right in front of me, a vision to behold. And I knew right there and then I would never forget this moment for as long as I lived.

Lizzy started walking to me, and I thought to myself that I had better stop staring, so I raised my eyebrows at her in appreciation. I went to say “Wow”, but no words came out, so I think I just mouthed it. I did manage to compliment her, telling her she looked amazing, although I was still trying to take her all in. Her sleek hair, tan skin, and gorgeous green dress complemented her complexion and her gorgeous figure beautifully.

I held out my hand to Lizzy, my eyes not leaving her but hoping she wouldn’t decline my gesture. Thankfully she didn’t, and as I took her hand it melted into mine, and in that moment I knew that I never wanted to let her go.

When Daniel pulled up at the restaurant, I quickly got out of the car to open Lizzy’s door. This was normally Daniel’s domain, but in the crazy state I was in over this girl, I didn’t want anyone else doing anything for her, just me. I held out my hand to help her step out of the car, and when she did I felt like the luckiest man alive.

I am quite an old-fashioned gent at heart, so I held out my arm for Lizzy to take so I could escort her into the restaurant—although, I possibly had other motives, like keeping her close to me, and also showing everybody else that she was with me.

Her petite hand in the crook of my arm, clutching onto my upper arm like her life depended on it felt divine, and I had a mad rush of feelings of happiness toward this woman. In that moment, I wished I could be her one and only, and her protector forever.

When we entered, I received a warm welcome from Marco, the owner of this particular restaurant and a great family friend. I noticed his eyes widening as we entered, firstly, because I knew he’d be appreciating the fine looking lady on my arm, and secondly, because I had never brought a woman here to dine. I’d only ever come here with my Mum, Dad and brothers. In fact, we’d had some great family occasions here, the last being Cole’s thirtieth birthday.

Marco showed us through to my usual table; even though I knew where I was going, I let him walk in front, since there was no way he was going to walk behind us and eye up my girl. That voice is in my head told me she was not my girl, but I ignored it, thinking she was for tonight, and that was all that mattered for now.

I pulled Lizzy’s chair out for her before that weasel Marco could get anywhere near her, and then I mentally berated myself of the ridiculous thoughts I was having. Marco was a dear friend, and not some sort of sex pest that I was making him out to be. I sat in my
seat and we both picked up our menus, but while I was looking at it, I was not taking in anything on it. Instead, I was thinking to myself,
If I’m this protective over Lizzy with a male friend and we are just on our first date, what am I going to be like for the rest of our lives? Oh, my goodness, there I go again, planning our future together and we haven’t even chosen our meal yet. What has this beautiful young woman made me become?

At this thought, I needed my fix of seeing her as it has been a whole thirty seconds. I smiled to myself and looked over the menu and the sight that met me made me truly ecstatic, because as I looked over to Lizzy, I caught her totally checking me out. I grinned at her because I was so elated and I looked back to my menu thinking maybe there’s hope for us yet.

Dinner came and went far too quickly. I ordered coffee, but other than that, I really didn’t know what else to do to keep Lizzy there with me. From where I was sitting, I could see the restaurant had cleared out, all except for us. I had eaten a lovely meal, drank some great wine, and had dined and chatted with the most intriguing woman I had ever met. Lizzy had really opened up to me and I had loved every minute of it. I felt like I knew her so much more, even after just one night.

As I looked at her, I saw her eyes glaze over as she once again slipped deep into thought. I put my hand into my pocket and took out a penny. I slid it across the table to her, and with the noise and the movement, I watched her jump slightly. Lizzy looked between me and the penny a couple of times, and I could see confusion written all over her face. Adorable. When she looked back to me and I saw the slight concern in her chocolate pools, I knew I needed to alleviate her confusion.

“A penny for them,” I said with a gentle smile playing on my lips.

“Sorry,” she replied, her brows knitting in confusion, causing creases on her forehead.

My goodness, she’s sexy.
“A penny for your thoughts,” I said to clarify.

With that, Lizzy immediately broke out in the most breathtaking smile. I noticed she seemed to have a thousand different smiles, and this was my favourite to date. It was so cute. Although I was biased, to me it didn’t matter which smile she wore; I loved them all. They all had the same impact on me, and to be honest, as long as she was smiling, that was all that mattered. I was miles away in my mind, thinking of Lizzy’s beautiful face and all the things I’d like to do to this wonderful woman, when I heard the penny slide back across the table toward me. I looked down at Lizzy’s finger on the penny, and then my eyes followed up her arm and grazed her shoulders as I met her laughing eyes. I threw my head back, laughing at being the one caught deep in thought.

Neither of us mentioned our thoughts; we just carried on chatting easily until, unfortunately, it really was time to go.

I stood when Lizzy excused herself to go to the ladies room, and I watched her walk away. She really was amazing, but the most enchanting thing about her was she’s totally unaware of just how magnificent she really was. I walk over to Marco to settle up the bill and he smiled at me knowingly. “What are you looking so smug about?” I questioned.

“Ah nothing,” he replied in his broad Italian accent. “I’m just happy to see you so happy. I know you’re rumoured to have had a lot of women, Lucas, but seeing as though I have never seen or met any of them, I was beginning to wonder if it was all a ruse to cover up that really you—what do you English say—ah yes,
bat for the other side
.”

I laughed out loud at this statement. “No, Marco, I’m definitely not batting for the other side, as you put it. I’ve just never found the right woman, that’s all.”

Marco smiled and asked, “Until now?”

I nodded and revealed something as much to myself as to Marco, “Yes, until now.” I settled up and went over to the cloakroom. As Marco held my jacket up and I slipped it on, my thoughts were still circling around what I had just admitted out loud, and
to someone else too. I looked up, and Lizzy was in front of me, glowing and radiant as ever, which made me smile. Honestly, I felt like I hardly ever smiled, but when I was around her, my cheeks were practically throbbing from all the grinning I did.
That’s got to be good, right, for someone to have such a positive effect on me?

I held up her cardigan for her to slide on and as I did, my arm touched against her breast; the sexual electricity that rushed through me caused me to lightly moan. Thankfully, it was at the same time Lizzy let out a light gasp, so I didn’t think she heard it, but I most definitely heard her. That small gasp was like a hot wire straight down to my groin.

As I finished helping her into her cardigan, the laughter stopped and I knew a serious look of lust covered my face. How was I going to let this girl leave me tonight? I knew I’d have to, but I felt like stamping my feet like a child and saying no I don’t want to!

I put my hand on the small of her back as we stood in front of Marco. I shook his hand and then he kissed Lizzy in the over-the-top European way he does, whilst I looked away. I knew it was just a friendly goodbye gesture from Marco, but I seriously couldn’t watch another man touch her, let alone hold her face and kiss her. I kept my hand on her lower back as I guided her out to the car, where Daniel was waiting with the door open. Lizzy climbed in and I followed; as soon as we were seated and strapped in, I grabbed her hand and laced my fingers through hers. She smiled at me like it was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her. Little did she know it was as much for my benefit as it was for hers; in one day she’d become my comfort blanket.

As our hands rested on my lap, I was stressing. I didn’t want her to leave me that night…or ever. I rubbed her fingers lightly, and the small movement relaxed me and took the tension I was feeling away. The next thing I knew, Lizzy rested her head on my shoulder. It shocked me at first, because I felt it was such an intimate gesture for her to do, but it also relaxed me further. I turned and looked down at her, and her eyes are closed. I leaned
in further and caught the wonderful scent of her hair, and then I was away in thought again, but this time, I was wondering how the rest of the evening was going to play out.

I sure as hell knew what I wanted to happen—I wanted to take her home and make wild, passionate love to her, which I just knew from all the feelings I was having would be amazing. But to be honest, I would’ve even settled for her coming to my home, going to bed with me and drifting off to sleep, our bodies entwined. I knew neither of those scenarios was going to happen, because even if Lizzy wanted them to, I wouldn’t follow it through, knowing it wouldn’t be right. So I would be taking Lizzy home to her flat and doing the right thing for a change, because this woman deserved to be treated like the lady she was, tonight and always.

I knew I was jumping the gun again, but if we ended up going the distance like I was hoping, there would be plenty of time for all the other fun stuff. I smiled at this roguish thought entering my head after all the lovely sentiment I had mentally just paid Lizzy. As we pulled up at her flat, Daniel got out and opened Lizzy’s door. Her eyes flickered open and she moved to step out of the car. My shoulder felt bare; I liked her laying her head there.

I followed her out of the car, and Daniel shut the door and went back to sit in his driver’s seat to wait for me. I’d told him after the restaurant we’d be driving back to Lizzy’s, but he would sit and wait instead of leaving. It was bad enough I had to say goodbye to her at all, so I certainly wouldn’t be rushing it. I walked Lizzy right up to her door and as we faced each other, I saw her shiver. I didn’t want her to go in, but I offered that she should after seeing that she was cold. Lizzy then offered me in for a coffee, and as much as I would’ve liked to, I knew the temptation of being alone with her would be far too much for me to handle.

She was totally unaware of it, but she was turning me on just by standing there in front of me. So I regretfully declined her offer, blaming it on her scary flatmate rather than admitting I’d
be weak if left alone with her. At the mention of her flatmate, she did her amazing little giggle and leaned into me as she did it. I noticed she did this a lot, and I was hoping that it was just with me—it was too much of an intimate movement to think of her doing it to anyone one else.

“I love it when you do that,” I said.

“Do what?” she questioned innocently. I explained it to her, and also told her how intimate and trusted by her it made me feel. I also said how special and privileged it made me feel, but I wasn’t even talking about the gesture, I meant
her
; I was talking about how she made me feel
all the time
.

Then she floored me yet again when she told me that I was special and that she did trust me. I told her how happy I was to hear her say that, and I also owned up to the real reason why I’d declined her coffee invitation. If Lizzy had put her trust in me, I at least owed her the decency to be honest with her, and plus, I knew we were both on the same page about being alone together. I could tell by her eyes and body language that it was not a one-way street. Lizzy thanked me, and I knew it was loaded with more meaning than just for the date.

I leaned in to kiss her lips and she closed her eyes, but at the last minute, I changed my mind and kissed her cheek—it seemed like the right thing to do, although I was then still at her cheek debating what I should do.
Should I do the gentlemanly thing, or do I kiss her how I really want to kiss her, and how I think she really wants to be kissed?
That was the problem though; I thought that was what she wanted, but I didn’t know for sure.

In that instant, I was blown away as she answered my unspoken question by placing her lips against mine. I lightly kissed her back before accepting her tongue into my mouth, and then I experienced the most amazing kiss of my life. Although passionate, it was also tender and meaningful. I pulled Lizzy into me; I needed her as close to me as she could get without me being inside her, and as our kiss deepened, I was without a doubt in heaven.

After a short time, I had to pull away—believe me, I didn’t want to, but without this going any further I seriously couldn’t take another second of this amazing kiss. I was sure if the kiss lasted long enough, and with Lizzy’s lithe body pressed against me, I could’ve orgasmed right there. I pressed my forehead against hers, cupped her precious face in my hands and lightly sighed. I had to tell her what a deliciously sexy woman she was, and she looked down shyly and I could tell I had embarrassed her with my statement. I lifted her chin back up with my finger, as I figured that no one that beautiful should ever be looking down to the ground.