31
1031 Words
“Hi,” I say, feeling shy. “You look great.”
“Not as great as you.” He holds out the flowers.
I take them from him and invite him in. “I’ll just put these in water and get my coat, and we can get going.”
Kage closes the door as I head into the kitchen in search of a vase. I find one in a cabinet over the fridge. I fill it with water, remove the plastic wrap and ribbon from the bouquet, and recut the stems of the flowers.
Then I try not to fidget as I arrange the flowers in the vase and Kage stands two feet away drinking me in like he’s a cactus in a drought-ravaged desert and I’m the first spring rain.
I’m so flustered by the intensity of his gaze, the floodgates open.
“You hung up on me before I could tell you that Sloane and her boyfriend will be joining us. Actually, I’m not sure if he’s technically her boyfriend. That’s just what I’m calling him because there’s really no polite term for ‘flavor of the month.’ She goes through men like tissues. Not that I’m judging her. I’m not. I’m just saying he’ll be there. This guy. Oh, and a few of his friends, too, apparently. I hope that’s okay. I know this was supposed to be our date, but actually, it’s a double date. I mean, it is still our date, it’s just that more people will be—”
Kage reaches out and gently grasps my wrist. “Easy,” he murmurs. “Take a breath.”
I close my eyes and do just that. “Sorry. I’m not normally this high-strung.”
“I know. Me neither.”
When I open my eyes and look at him, he’s looking back at me with so much desire burning in his eyes that for a second, I lose my breath.
He takes the kitchen shears from my hand, sets them on the counter, and pulls me toward him, his grip on my wrist still gentle. Coaxing, not demanding.
A “please,” not a command.
He winds my arms around his shoulders, grasps my waist and pulls our bodies together, and gazes down at me.
His voice low, he says, “I haven’t stopped thinking about you since the day we met. I’m not someone who obsesses over things, but I’ve obsessed over you. To the point of distraction. To the point where it interfered with my work. I can’t get you out of my head, and I’ve tried. Hard. It was useless. So I gave up trying.
“I’m not going to play games with you. I won’t try to keep you guessing. I’ve told you what I feel and what I want. I’ll keep doing that until you feel safe enough to take the next step or you’ve had enough of it and tell me to f**k off.
“There’s no need to be nervous around me. I’m the least unpredictable man you’ve ever met. What I want from you won’t change if you say the wrong thing. It won’t change if you gain weight or cut your hair or decide to go vegan. It won’t change even if you say you never want to see me again and we go our separate ways. I’d honor that request, but it wouldn’t make me stop wanting you. But you should know…”
He hesitates. “You should know that I’m not a good man.”
I’m locked in his embrace. My heart is beating like a hammer. I feel like the floor has dropped out from under my feet, or that I’m tumbling freefall through space, and it’s all because of his words and his smell and his warm, strong body pressed against mine.
If and when he kisses me, I’m toast.
“A bad man would never warn a woman he wanted that he wasn’t good.”
Frustrated by that, he shakes his head. “It’s not hyperbole. It’s the truth.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“You should.”
“What if I said I didn’t care?”
“Then I’d say you were being foolish.”
We stare at each other, nose to nose, both of us breathing raggedly. It would only take a slight bend of his neck for his mouth to be on mine.
Suddenly, I want that so much, it leaves me breathless.
“You promised you’d never hurt me. Was that the truth?”
He answers instantly. “Yes.”
“So you being bad…that’s about other people?”
He struggles for a moment in silence, his brows drawn together, looking so handsome, it hurts. “It’s about my job. My lifestyle. My life.”
“You’re telling me you’re a criminal.”
Again, he answers instantly. “Yes.”
If my heart beats any faster, I’ll drop dead. “How big of a criminal?”
“The biggest. The baddest. The worst.”
“This doesn’t make sense. What kind of criminal would go around advertising he’s a baddie?”
His voice turns hard. “The kind that needs the woman he wants to understand what she’s getting herself into.”
I laugh a little, confused and frustrated. “So now you’re trying to scare me away?”
“I’m trying to educate you.”
“May I ask why?”
His voice goes rough. “Because once you’re in my bed, you’re mine. And that’s it. Once I have you, I’ll never let you go. Not even if you ask me to.”
We stare at each other. After a moment, I say, “Wow. We haven’t even had our first date yet.”
He growls, “This is who I am. The only bad thing I don’t do is lie. I’ll never lie to you, even if I know you’ll f*****g hate it.”
He’s agitated, I see that clearly. Agitated and irritated, his temper high.
It doesn’t scare me. Instead, it intrigues the hell out of me. So does everything he’s said.
All that money I spent on therapy…what a waste.
- Writer
