He pulls back after a few more seconds, resting his forehead to mine. “You look absolutely perfect. I couldn’t wait another second to kiss you.”
“Missed me that much?”
He laughs once, lifts his eyes to mine, but the humor is gone. “I wish you weren’t so damn irresistible.”
I rub my thumb against his lip, removing the red lipstick that was transferred. “Feeling is mutual.”
We make our way to the car, both with smiles on our faces and our fingers intertwined. Milo is a gentleman, opening the car door for me and then walking around.
He starts the car and then stops to look at me. “You find me utterly impossible to resist as well?”
“I wouldn’t say impossible.” I don’t know that I should ever let him know how much I think of him.
Mischief starts to swirl in his green eyes. “Would you care to make a wager on that?”
“On what?”
“On whether you can keep your knickers on ‘til the end of our date.”
I roll my eyes. “Fine, what do we bet?”
I’m totally winning this. First, Milo doesn’t know the depth of my competitive side. I never lose. I ate an entire jar of hot peppers on a dare once. I skinny dipped in a freezing cold pool because Heather bet me a hundred dollars I wouldn’t do it. There is nothing about this date that is impossible for me to resist. Do I like him? Yup. Do I want to have sex again? Abso-fucking-lutely. Will I if it means I will lose? Not a chance in hell.
“If I win, which means we’re having some Earth shattering fucking tonight, you have to tell Callum about how good I am in bed.”
Not even a possibility. “You want me to tell my boss how good you are in bed?”
“No,” he corrects. “I want you to tell my wanker of a brother that I fuck better than you’ve ever had.”
“Your brother is also my boss,” I point out.
“Scared, are you?”
“Of what? You going home with some blue balls?” I scoff. “Please. If I win you have to do something equally as mortifying.” I ponder what the best thing is. I could have him quit, but that’s not what I want. Milo makes coming to work exciting for me.
Not just because I have these feelings for him, but he makes me smile.
During the day I get funny notes and emails, showing he cares for me. I get to spend my time with him and I learn new little details each day. Things that would seem insignificant to anyone else, but that show me who he is.
Which is why it’s been so easy to fall for him.
“I’m not embarrassed by anything, sweetheart.”
Such a load of shit. Everyone has limits. I try to remember something, anything, that I can use. And then I remember . . .
“But you are afraid of something, aren’t you?”
“Danielle,” he warns.
“Yes, if I win, you have to take a video holding a sweet, cuddly little bunny rabbit.”
“I’m going to fuck your brains out tonight,” Milo threatens.
Really, I wonder if I shouldn’t lose just for . . . no, no, no, I must stay strong. “I wasn’t planning on taking my panties off for anyone tonight, so game on. I hope you’re ready for Thumper.”
“Oh, I’m thumping something all right, but she’s in the car right now.”
I smile, my hand resting on his leg and moving towards the bulge in his pants. “Tomorrow, you can make good on that promise.” I rub him a little bit. “But tonight, nothing in here is coming out.”
Milo grips my wrist. “Game on, sweetheart. Game the fuck on.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Milo
Bloody hell I’m still fucking hard.
We’re sitting at the table of some fancy restaurant Nicole recommended. The food is shit. They promised my favourite Italian dish, only it tasted nothing like it does in London. Not that the food is particularly fantastic there, but still.
Now, I’m sitting here, thinking of all the ways to get Danielle in the bathroom where I can sink my cock in her.
And I’m harder than I was before.
She smiles over her wine glass as if she knows it’s me who is suffering with this bet.
“I’m going to wipe that smile off your mouth,” I threaten her playfully.
“Whatever you say,” she shrugs and then sips her wine.
If that was the case, we wouldn’t be sitting at this table right now. I’d have her back at my flat, christening every surface we can find.
“Be careful of the words you use,” I warn.
Danielle shakes her head. Her dark brown hair falls around her face and I would appreciate it if I didn’t find everything she did fucking attractive. “I had no intentions of having sex tonight.”
“Why in the bloody hell not?”
I must’ve said that a bit louder than I thought because she leans close, her voice is low. “Because we’re going slow.”
“Slow and reverse are two different things.”
She sighs. “I know you’re not exactly working with a manual right now, but we’re on our first real date and all you’re worried about is getting in my pants.”
Fucking hell. I hate it when she’s right. It’s rather annoying because instead of me telling her to piss off, I actually have to acknowledge it.
“I’m sorry. I’ll behave so we can have a proper date. And that wasn’t the only thing I’m worried about,” I inform her. “I’m pretty sure I’ve debated just about everything from the beginning.”
Which is true. I don’t know what the protocol on a first date with someone is. I wanted to get her flowers but worried it would be lame. Then I wasn’t sure if American girls like that sort of thing or if they like a man to play it cool. Honestly, this entire thing has been a fucking nightmare.
Not the date itself. That’s all gone quite well, but the lead up I could’ve gone without.
“Thank you.” She smiles warmly, and I mash my teeth together to stop from saying something stupid.
“Tell me, am I allowed to kiss you goodnight?”
Danielle reaches her hand across the table, her fingers tangling with mine. “I very much hope you do.”
“Good. I’m barely keeping myself in my seat as it is.”
“Milo, there aren’t rules or anything. It’s that we kind of did things a little ass backwards and I want to give us the best chance at working. What you did today with Parker, meant everything to me, I want you to know that.”
Her words embarrass me a bit, because it was nothing, really. My mum has been complaining about my rubbish in her home. Sure, a few of these comic books were collector’s editions. I thought about keeping them, but I chose to give something that got me through a very difficult part of my life to someone who might need it.
While Ava is me, literally, at that age, Parker will eventually get there. Maybe this will help even a little.
“I’m happy to do it,” I tell her.
Danielle grins at me, her lashes fluttering softly as the candlelight dances across her skin. “You keep this up, you might get lucky tomorrow.”
Now it’s my turn to smirk. “Let’s just worry about getting through tonight. If I have my way, you’ll be naked in the car.”
We make it through dinner with an easy conversation. She tells me about her time at university, and I tell her about London.
I miss it.
Not just because it’s home, but because Tampa is like being stuck in your bathroom after a four-hour long steam shower. It’s hot, muggy, and the insects are enormous. My plan was to be here for a few months, get my job back, and then quit. I’m well aware of the faults in that strategy, but I liked the idea of leaving my daft brother with his pants down.
Of course, everything has changed now, and I don’t know when or if I’ll return to London.
I pay the bill and take her hand as we exit the restaurant.
“Dinner was wonderful,” Danielle says as she hooks her arm around mine.
“It was.”
“Have you been to the beach at night?”
I haven’t been to the beach at all, really. I’m rather pale, so the idea of sitting out in the miserable heat and sun isn’t appealing to me.
But the way her face lights up makes me think nighttime is different.
“I haven’t had the time, why?”
She smiles and sighs. “It’s my favorite. Would you like to go?”
How could I possibly say no? “Sure.”