“You look gorgeous,” I said, reaching for her hand after she pulled her door closed behind her, and we walked to the truck.
“Thank you. I feel like I’ve lived in shorts and a tee since arriving in Rosewood River, so it was fun to get fixed up a little,” she said, chuckling when I opened the passenger door and gripped her hips, lifting her up before setting her on the seat.
“Well, you look good in everything, Weeze, but this dress in particular is something.”
“I figure if this is a onetime thing, we may as well have some fun with it,” she said with a laugh.
I made my way back to the driver’s side, trying not to be offended by the hope in her voice that this was a one-and-done.
We drove the short distance to my house.
Yes, I could have walked.
She could have walked.
But I wanted to show her that this date mattered to me.
“Oh, we’re going to your house?”
“We are,” I said, pulling into the garage and coming around to help her out.
“Good, I think it’s better we don’t make this a big deal. No sense being seen out in public together when we aren’t in workout attire.”
Buckle up, sweetheart. It’s a big fucking deal.
“Sure,” I said, reaching for the button on the garage door and smiling when I noted the sun just tucking behind the mountains.
I timed this perfectly.
“Oh, it smells so good,” she said when we stepped inside.
“Yeah, I made some spaghetti sauce, but I wasn’t sure if your stomach was ready for that, so we also have just noodles andbutter,” I said, making my way to the kitchen and lifting the lid on the sauce to smell the perfect mix of garlic and oregano.
“That was thoughtful,” she said, moving to stand beside me as I heard her stomach rumble, and I barked out a laugh.
“Are you hungry?” I turned to face her, ready to kiss her right here. Right now.
But timing was everything.
Eloise was different.
Special.
I couldn’t rush this. The last thing I wanted to do was to scare her off.
“Maybe I’m a thoughtful guy,” I said, arching a brow before turning to place the bread in the oven. Something seemed a little off with her, almost like she was nervous, but I wasn’t quite sure. “How about a glass of wine?”
“That sounds great.”
I poured us each a glass of red and handed it to her. I held up my glass and waited for her to do the same. “Cheers to seeing where this goes.”
“Put your glass down, Clark.” Her voice was firm, and I internally groaned, because I knew she was going to put a stop to things right now. She couldn’t get out of her own head with this.
I set my glass down, and she did the same. I prepared to hear all the reasons why this wouldn’t work, because that was her MO.
But she shocked the shit out of me when she lunged forward, one hand on each side of my face, and her mouth crashed into mine.
My hand found the back of her neck before tangling in her hair, while the other moved behind her ass and scooped her up easily, setting her on the counter. Her legs opened, allowing me to stand between them, and our lips never lost contact. My tongue slipped inside and tangled with hers.
