Trying my hardest to be on my best behavior, I bit my tongue. “Why don’t we go sit, so we can talk?”
After we sat, I waited for her to speak first. The key to getting Bianca to forgive me was going to be patience, so I figured I’d start practicing with the easy things. She traced the rim of her glass a few times with her finger and then said, “My date was a nice guy.”
I closed my eyes briefly and then opened them. “I suppose if you’re dating someone other than me, I’d like them to at least be a nice guy, for your sake.”
“Thank you.”
I couldn’t help myself. “To clarify, just because he might be a nice guy doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to beat the crap out of him right now.”
She shook her head, but smiled. “You don’t have to worry. I’m not going to go out with him again.”
I sipped my wine, watching her over the brim of my glass. “I might have just lost some of my urge to beat him senseless.”
We were sitting on the couch next to each other, and Bianca twisted her body so that she was facing me straight on. “I wanted to like him. I wanted to have the tingles as he spoke during dinner, and I wanted to want to go home with him after we ate, to have mind blowing sex.”
I know I probably deserved for her to feel that way after the shit I’d pulled, but hearing her say that really hurt. “Well that makes one of us.”
“I don’t want to want to be with you.”
“Yes, I’m getting that loud and clear.”
She set her glass down on the coffee table and then looked me in the eyes. “But as much as I don’t want to feel a certain way, I do. I’ve tried to force myself to stop thinking about you, and I’ve tried to distract myself with another man. Yet here I am at the end of my date tonight.”
I set my drink down next to hers. “Listen to me, Bianca. I fucked up. I know I did. I’ve apologized, and I’ll keep apologizing over and over again. But you can’t deny that there is something going on here that is worth taking another chance on.” I caressed her cheek. “Take a chance on me, Georgy Girl. Take a chance.”
I finally admitted to myself that I was more afraid not to take a chance than I was of getting hurt again. Sometimes the reward is worth the risk.
I looked into Dex’s eyes. “You’ll always be honest with me?”
“I swear on it.”
I bit my bottom lip. The truth was, I couldn’t imagine never seeing this man again. He was right. Something was there between us. Something I’d never experienced before. Our connection was so strong; it was impossible to move on. “Okay.”
Dex’s face lit up, like I’d just flicked the lights on Christmas morning and he’d found a room full of presents. It was really adorable. “Okay? As in you’re giving me another chance?”
I needed to be serious, but couldn’t help but smile at how happy he seemed. “Yes. But…we need to slow down. I want to start over.”
“I can do that.”
“Starting over means dating. Getting to know each other. I want to know the real Dexter Truitt.”
He inched closer to me on the couch. “I’m an open book.”
“Good. We should probably start with a date.”
“I’d like that.” He inched closer again so that our knees were now touching. I was wearing a skirt and when his hand went to my bare knee, I felt it all over. His thumb gently rubbed at my skin.
Goosebumps were prickling from his touch, yet I managed to say, “I don’t have sex on the first date.”
He leaned in. “What do you do on the first date?”
My mind may have wanted to slow things down, but my body had other ideas when he began to wind my long hair around his hand. “Not much.”
He spoke over my lips. “How about kiss. Do you kiss on the first date?”
There was nothing more than I wanted than to kiss him again. Well, maybe there were other things I wanted even more, but that was definitely going to have to wait, too. I abruptly stood.
“I need to go.”
Dex stood. “Because you don’t trust yourself to stay here in my apartment with me?”
“I don’t and you know it. You know I’m attracted to you physically, and I can see that you’re going to make it very difficult for me if I stay. So I’m going to remove myself from this situation. Because we’re going to take it slow.”
He didn’t hide his disappointment. “When will I see you again?”
“Friday night. You can take me out on a proper date as Dexter Truitt. I think a public place is safest for now.”
Dex’s grin was wolfish. “If you think being in public with me will keep me from mauling you, then I suppose you need this date to get to know me better.”
I rolled my eyes, even though I secretly loved him admitting he couldn’t control himself around me, either. “Goodnight, Dex.”
“Goodnight, Georgy Girl.”
I had the worst first-date jitters I’d ever had—which may have had something to do with the fact that it wasn’t really our first date. I’d just discarded the third dress I’d tried on and was now sitting on my bed in only a bra and panties taking a minute to relax. Eyes shut, I took a few cleansing breaths and started to focus on the sound of my meditation balls humming as I massaged them in the palm of my hand. I rolled my neck a few times, loosening up my posture, and just when I began to find my calm, the doorbell buzzed.
Shit. I grabbed for my phone and was shocked to realize that it was already ten minutes to seven. I must have wasted almost an hour trying on clothes and attempting to meditate, when I’d thought it was more like fifteen minutes.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Covering myself with a bathrobe, I went to the door and pressed the button for the intercom.
“Dex?”
“The one and only.”
I buzzed him up. There wasn’t time for me to get dressed, but I quickly ran to the bathroom mirror to fix myself. Even though I’d done my hair earlier, changing in and out of dresses had made a mess of it.
When I was done, I unlocked the door and waited. Dex stepped off the elevator, and I watched as he walked down the long hall to my apartment door. God, he was really handsome. He wore a dark sportsjacket with dark slacks and a gray dress shirt, sans tie. But it was the way he strutted toward my door full of swagger and confidence that made my pulse race. There was actually a little flutter in my stomach as he neared my door.
Dex took my face into one hand and gave me a chaste kiss. After, he spoke over my lips, “I thought you wanted to go slow?”
“I do.”
“Answering the door in that robe and looking at me like that isn’t exactly the way to go about doing slow.”
I shook my head, hoping to wake up my brain. “Sorry. I lost track of time. Come in. I just need a few minutes.” I opened the door and went inside my apartment, but turning back, I found that Dex hadn’t followed me in. He was standing inside my open doorway.
“I think I should wait out here.”