She gets all fidgety and nervous and adorable under my scrutiny, so I release her. Albeit reluctantly.
โSo, a minivan,โ she says, dropping her eyes and clearing her throat. I love that I put her off balance. I doubt much gets under this girlโs skin and Iโm happy as hell that I appear to be making my way in, slowly but surely.
โA minivan,โ I confirm, raising the wine bottle and glass questioningly.
โOh, sorry. Kitchenโs through there.โ Katie points to the most obvious doorway and I head in that direction. She follows after a few seconds. When I stop at the small island, she breezes past me, setting down the glass that I brought her and keeping her face averted. Makes me think she might be blushing again. After she rummages through a drawer for another minute, she turns her composed self back to me, a corkscrew in one hand. โThere has to be a story behind it.โ
โBehind what?โ I ask, content to just watch her rather than talk. Or think.
Her grin is more pronounced this time. โBehind the minivan.โ
โOh, right. The minivan. I have a brother who came with me. Heโs handicapped. I dropped him off at the gym on the way to the park.โ
Her expression softens. Visibly. โY-you have a handicapped brother?โ
โI do.โ
โAnd you . . . you take him places with you? You take care of him?โ
I shrug. โWell, I donโt know about that. I mean, heโs grown, so . . .โ
โDoes he live with you?โ
โFor the most part.โ
โThatโs . . . thatโs . . .โ Katie is looking at me like sheโs just now seeing me. Really seeing me. After several seconds, she glances down at the counter, at the glasses sheโs arranging in a straight line with the bottle of red. โThatโs very kind of you. Iโm sure he appreciates it.โ
โIโm sure he does, but like most guys, heโs got a piss-poor way of showing it.โ
โJust like a damn man,โ she says softly, glancing up at me from beneath her lashes, the hint of a playful smile still curving her lips.
โBastards,โ I reply.
Her eyes sparkle up at me and it takes every ounce of willpower I have not to haul her into my arms and kiss her senseless. Which might take a while. Sheโs got plenty of sense about her. Too much, maybe.
After a minute, when the temperature in the little kitchen is rising noticeably, Katie clears her throat again, pulling that swath of rich auburn hair over her shoulder like Iโve seen her do before. โSo what is it that you drive when youโre not carting your brother around?โ
โMaybe if youโre nice to me Iโll show you one day.โ
She grunts indignantly, her lips parting yet still curved. โIโm always nice to you.โ
โBut you could be nicer,โ I tell her with a half-grin.
She raises one dark brow, the sexiest damn thing I think Iโve ever seen on a woman. Besides her licking the corner of her mouth when sheโs concentrating or nervous, that is. โAnd just how . . . nice are you expecting me to be?โ
โNot that nice,โ I answer. โUnless you just want to be that nice. I would never argue if you wanted to be extra, extra, extra nice to me.โ
I give her my widest, most innocent smile. She laughs outright, an action that fills the kitchen with a delicate tinkle and turns her face from beautiful to breathtaking. A display like this from her is pretty rare, so pulling it out of her makes me feel like Iโve won the lottery.
โDo that again,โ I request quietly, so drawn to her that I canโt stop myself from moving closer, from reaching out, from touching.
โDo what again?โ she asks. When I cup her silky cheek in my palm, she straightens, but she doesnโt back away. A good sign.
โLaugh.โ
โI canโt laugh on command,โ she explains, her eyes flickering up to mine and away, up to mine and away.
โI swear to God, I think Iโd do just about anything to hear that again, to see your face light up like that.โ
My thumb blindly stroking the crest of her high cheekbone, I catch and hold her eyes this time. Theyโre like melted sapphires, a fathomless liquid that I could easily let myself drown in.
Katieโs lips open and close a couple of times, like sheโs trying to find words where there are none. But the time for talk is over. I feel like Iโve waited patiently for an eternity to taste, and now itโs time for my reward.
Slowly, I bend my face toward hers, hoping she wonโt move away, praying that she wonโt stop me. โYouโve been on my mind since the first day I saw you, Beautiful Katie. Itโs time you give me the answer to a question thatโs been haunting me for weeks.โ
I can feel the sweet, shallow puffs of her breath fanning my lips as I get closer. โW-whatโs that?โ
โDo your lips taste like cotton candy?โ
โHow would I know?โ she asks a bit dazedly.
โGive me five minutes and Iโll tell you.โ
I bring my other hand up to hold her face still as I brush my mouth over hers. When she doesnโt move away, doesnโt push me away, I sink into her lips like I might sink into a bed made of marshmallows. Sweet, plump, light-as-air marshmallows. And, God help me, Katie sinks right back.
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