7. Holly
7
HOLLY
I yawned as we walked up the steps to my house. It was past one in the morning, well past my bedtime, but it was so worth it. I had such a good time with Asher tonight. Every second with him was so much fun.
Even in the club when I couldn’t talk to him, I could feel his eyes on me, watching me intently. At first, it was a little creepy. I kept averting my eyes, wondering why he was staring. But after a while, I started doing the same to him.
“Thank you for coming out with me tonight.”
I smiled up at him. God, this was such a fantastic date. And he didn’t care about my frizzy hair from my hat or the fact that I face-planted putting on my shoes. It was just so easy.
“It was great. I had a really good time.”
God, was that too cheesy sounding? Didn’t everyone say that? What else could I say? I stopped at my door and fiddled with my keys. Was I being too obvious that I wanted him to kiss me? I really, really wanted him to kiss me.
He leaned in, pressing me back against the doorframe and I sucked in a breath. It was going to happen. I looked up into those smokey eyes and held my breath. My heart hammered in my chest and dizziness washed over me in anticipation for what I knew would be the kiss that would change my life. He gripped my chin between his thumb and forefinger, leaning in. My eyes fluttered closed…
Warm breath caressed my skin just before his lips met mine and tingles shot down my spine. I gasped as he pulled back for a moment. I peeled my eyes open, gazing into intense eyes that I knew would draw me in and never let me leave if I allowed it. And then his lips were on mine again in a bruising kiss that was so demanding I could scarcely breathe. My fingers slid up into his long, thick locks, shoving the hat from his head as his fingers mimicked mine.
There was no denying he felt the same spark as me. I could feel it in the way he kissed me, the way he held me as if he couldn’t get close enough to me. I felt like I would combust if I didn’t have him right now, but before I could explore those feelings, he pulled back from me and shoved his hand through his hair, chuckling lightly.
“Uh…sorry. I did not mean to maul you on your doorstep.”
I was breathing hard, my chest rising and falling as if I’d run a marathon. “It’s…fine. Totally understandable…you know…given the circumstances.”
He cocked his head to the side. “And what are the circumstances.”
Hell, I didn’t know. I waved my hand around. “You know, jazz and late nights.”
His lips tilted in a smile as he bent over and picked up his hat that had fallen to the ground. Then he stepped toward me, and just for a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me again. But all he did was tug down the sides of my hat.
“Thank you for coming out with me tonight.”
I nodded way too many times, unable to come up with a logical response.
“Would you allow me to check out your house before I go?”
See, in my mind, that was totally his way of saying he wanted to see inside my house and check me out. So, I nodded. When I didn’t move, he snatched the keys out of my hand and unlocked the door, stepping aside to let me into my own house.
He walked through, flipping on lights as he went. I watched him curiously with mild disappointment. He really was checking out my house. When he came back only a minute later with no intruders, it was clear the night was coming to an end.
“So, did anyone break in?”
“Not tonight,” he answered, a faint smile touching his lips.
“You know I come home every day and do this.”
“What’s that?”
“Walk into my house all alone and survive.”
He strolled over to me, wrapping his arm around my waist and tugged me closer. “Well, maybe I’ll have to come over every night and make sure it’s safe.”
“That might be slightly drastic.”
“Maybe.”
God, he was so devastatingly handsome. How was I supposed to go to sleep when all I could think about was that kiss? I wanted more, and now he was in my house. What would he think if I suggested he stay? Would he think I was a slut? Maybe that’s what he was waiting for—an invitation. I could just open my mouth and say the words. I was a big girl. I could do it. Women did it all the time. It wasn’t that hard. I just had to say the words. Asher, would you like to?—
“Good night, Holly.”
I swallowed hard, chance gone. “Good night.”
He leaned and pressed another kiss to my lips, this one short and sweet. Then he turned and was out the door, turning back for just a moment. “Make sure you lock this behind me.”
“I will.”
As soon as the door closed, I sank down on the couch and sighed heavily. It wasn’t fair. I would have to wait days to see him again. How was I supposed to go to sleep after such an amazing night? It wasn’t possible.
Of course, I could stay up stalking him online. That could take up the whole night.
I sat upright when a knock sounded at the door. He was back. I jumped up and rushed over to the door, a grin splitting my lips. He came back. I swung the door open and smiled at him.
“Forget something?”
“Nope, but you did.”
I glanced down, then back at him. “Um…”
His eyebrow raised and he pointed to the door.
“Oh, you meant immediately after you left.”
“I did,” he smiled.
“And you stood out there waiting for me to lock up.”
He nodded. “Yep.”
So, he hadn’t come back because he missed me. That was slightly disappointing, but he hadn’t left until he knew I was safe. Mega bonus points in his favor.
“I will lock the door as soon as I shut it.”
“I would appreciate that. Otherwise, it’s gonna be a long, cold night for me.”
“Well, we can’t have that,” I laughed. “But I wouldn’t make you freeze.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Nope. I’d bring you some hot cocoa.”
He laughed at that. “Good night, Holly.”
“Good night.” Against every instinct in me, I closed the door and locked it immediately, then turned and squealed as I did a little happy dance.
Then I heard laughter outside. “I heard that.”
Embarrassment flooded me and I sank down against the door.
“Don’t worry,” he called out. “Made my night.”
Yeah, I was such a sucker for this man. How the heck was I going to survive even one day without him?
I loved this part of dating—when you found someone you liked so much that you couldn’t wait to see the other person again. Granted, I’d never once dated someone that made me feel like this. I melted in a puddle on the floor, staring up at my ceiling. I was on the verge of falling for this man hard, and if it all fell apart, it would be a real heartbreaker.
I woke up with the taste of you on my lips.
I smiled, biting my lip as I wiped the sleep from my eyes. Asher had sent that three hours ago. It was ten o’clock now, and I just woke up, but that wasn’t surprising, considering I laid on my living room floor for the better part of the night, just staring at the ceiling and grinning like a fool.
Rolling over in bed, I tucked the comforter around me, snuggling in deeper. I was too happy to get out of bed when I could lay here on this sunny winter day and think about the sexy man texting me.
I just woke up. I couldn’t sleep last night. Someone was keeping me awake.
I hit send before I could think twice about it. I felt like a teenager, lusting over my high school crush. Though, I couldn’t remember ever saying anything so bold when I was in high school. I didn’t have the courage to even talk to boys back then. I was still in the phase of passing notes and having my friends talk to boys for me.
While other girls were already sleeping with their boyfriends, I was still too shy to even think about what it really meant to date someone. I liked to think that protected me from the realities of growing up too fast. But I wasn’t like the other girls in my school who got pregnant at the age of seventeen and had to face the difficult choices life threw at them.
I waited for an answer and was disappointed when I didn’t see the little dots bouncing right away. It was silly to think that he’d be waiting by the phone for me. After all, it had taken me three hours to message him back. He was probably out running errands or something.
I laid in bed, twirling my hair around my finger, trying to figure out what I was going to do today when the doorbell rang. It was probably Mrs. Johnson next door. Sometimes, she baked me cookies when she had nothing else to do on the weekends. I was hardly ready to see anyone. Hell, I hadn’t even taken a shower, and I hadn’t bothered to wash off my makeup from last night, but it was fine for my neighbor.
I grabbed my fuzzy blue robe with bright yellow stars off the back of the door and pulled it on. I’d had this thing since I was in college and hadn’t bothered to replace it. It was warm and still had a few good years left in it. I slid my feet into the matching slippers and headed for the door, pulling my hair out of the back of the robe where it got tucked in.
The doorbell rang again and I hustled through the house, kicking the couch on the way. “Coming!”
I swung the door open, my smile fading almost at once. “No,” I whispered.
Asher leaned against my doorframe, looking absolutely stunning in faded jeans and a winter jacket and that sexy grin on his face while I…
I slammed the door in his face and spun around, groaning as I thunked my head back against the door.
“Holly, are you gonna let me in or are you gonna make me stand out in the cold?” he called through the door.
I grimaced, smelling my armpits. God, I hadn’t showered yet. I pushed off the door and looked in the mirror on the hallway wall. I had mascara smudged under my eyes. I was a freaking disaster.
“Holly?”
I shoved my fingers in my mouth and then rubbed furiously under my eyes, trying to wipe away the dark marks, but that did little to help the situation. The only thing that would help was makeup remover.
“Go away!” I shouted.
“I have hot cocoa.”
“Ugh. He’s so perfect,” I grumbled. I grabbed a hat off the coat rack, pulling it over my head, but that only made me look even more ridiculous. There was nothing I could do to fix the disaster that was me. “I’m not decent!” I shouted.
“I’ve already seen you and I still don’t care.”
I glared at the door. Did he really have to be so freaking perfect? It wasn’t fair. I mean, it was totally and completely wonderful, but that was supposed to come after months of dating when I was comfortable letting myself slowly be me around him.
Not after the first date.
Sighing heavily, I knew there was nothing I could do. If I let him stand out there in the cold, I would essentially push him away. But if I let him in…he would see the real me. It was a chance I was going to have to take.
I slowly opened the door, still donning the hat from just a few minutes before. His eyes rose as he forced his lips not to lift in a smile.
“You’re wearing a hat.”
“It’s cold in the house,” I answered, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Well, it is winter,” he answered, stepping inside, holding out a to-go cup for me. “I got you hot cocoa.”
“How did you know?”
“You mentioned it last night.”
He shut the door, kicking off his shoes like he was staying a while. I pursed my lips to the side, wondering what to do. I’d never been in this situation before. He brought the drink to his mouth and took a sip. I watched as his throat worked as he swallowed the hot liquid. Without realizing it, I licked my lips, thinking about the kiss from last night.
“Holly,” he chuckled.
“Huh?” I asked, jerking my gaze back up to his. I could feel my face burning as his eyes danced with humor. I was making such a fool of myself. “Why are you here?”
Man, that was such a stupid thing to say.
“Because I couldn’t stay away. I had to see you.”
And just like that, my ovaries exploded. How was this man still single? Actually, how was it that he didn’t have women chasing him down the street on a daily basis? Just his looks alone had me drooling over him, but one word from his beautiful, perfectly formed lips was enough to make me cease talking just to hear what he would say next. And I was a woman who loved to talk!
“Holly?” he laughed, rubbing his neck uncomfortably. “This is the part where you say something. You’re kinda leaving me hanging.”
I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. “I’m sorry, but I was imagining women chasing you down the street with machetes and pitchforks, and you running for your life in just your boxers.”
“Why were they chasing me with machetes and pitchforks? What did I do?”
“You? Oh, it was nothing you did. No, they were chasing you, and then they were going to kill off each other in order to win your hand in marriage. Sort of like a reverse Medieval Ages battle to the death marriage thing.”
He nodded slowly. “Okay.”
“Yep. Still want to spend the day with me?”
“Even more now than when I showed up on your doorstep.”
“Well, in that case, I really need to shower.”
“Okay.”
“And it’s going to take some time.”
“I’ve got all the time in the world,” he said, strolling into my house.
“Just make yourself at home.”
He sat down and grabbed the TV remote, winking at me. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
I nodded and watched him for a moment, then took a step backward. Then another and another. When I was far enough away, I turned on my heel and fled the three steps down the hall and slammed the door to my room. I knew he heard that and probably thought I was insane, but if he didn’t leave when I told him about the women chasing him down the road, I was probably okay.
“This is going to be fine. Yes, he’s in the other room, but you can do this. You take a shower and try not to think about the fact that he’s in the other room. You shower—Crap, I already said that. Okay, shower first and think about everything else later.”
I grabbed a fresh towel and opened my bedroom door to creep across the hall to the bathroom. I really hoped he didn’t need to use the toilet because I only had one bathroom in this small house and I was going to be a while.
Even though I knew he couldn’t see me inside the bathroom, behind the closed door and through the shower curtain, I was completely aware of every move I made, trying to look sexy as I took a shower. It was the most ridiculous thing I’d ever done, and I knew it. But I couldn’t seem to stop myself.
I shaved every inch of my legs, even though nobody had sex for the first time in the middle of the day. What if he brought me back here at night and wanted to have sex? Or what if we went to his place? I needed to be prepared for any possibility, which meant I needed to pick my outfit for the day very carefully. There might not be the opportunity to come back and change into something sexy later on.
Then again, depending on what we did today, I needed to be comfortable. I didn’t want to wear a thong all day if we were watching a movie. They were uncomfortable enough as it was. Then again, maybe underwear wasn’t a concern. Maybe I should be thinking more about my jeans. Did I wear the really comfortable ones that were stretchy and didn’t dig into my stomach as much or did I wear the ones that made my ass look phenomenal, but left me with indents in my stomach at the end of the night? Stripes across my abdomen would not be a turn-on.
There was only one way to handle this. I pulled on my robe after toweling off and headed into the living room, well aware of how ridiculous I looked. It couldn’t be any worse than I looked this morning. But Asher wasn’t there. However, there was a delicious smell wafting in from the kitchen.
I weaved my way into the kitchen and stared at the handsome man standing at my stove. He glanced over his shoulder at me, then did a double-take, his eyes roaming up and down my body as if I were naked.
“Not that I mind you in a bathrobe, but I thought you were getting ready.”
Damn, call the fire department to put out the flames because the way he was looking at me, I was about ready to combust. “Um…I am. I was,” I stuttered. “I was just wondering what we’re doing.”
“That’s up to you.”
“So, you drove all the way over here and you didn’t have a plan?”
“Not really,” he said, leaning back against my counter, crossing his arms over his chest.
Did he realize how sexy that made him look? How his muscles bulged under his henley, stretching his sleeves tight around his biceps? No man should look that good in the kitchen. And then I imagined what he would look like holding a puppy and sighed.
“Everything okay?” he chuckled.
“Yep. Just a few more errant thoughts running through my head.”
“More machetes?”
“Nope. Puppies.”
“Okay.” A dimple popped out as he turned back to the stove and flipped the eggs. He was cooking in my kitchen.
“So, again, where are we going?”
“You can decide.”
I laughed at that, but when he turned to me with a serious look on his face, all the laughter died. “You’re serious? You want me to decide where we go?”
“Yep.”
“But…I’m a woman.”
“I’m aware.”
“Do you realize how hard a decision like this is?”
“What would you normally do on a Sunday?” He slid the eggs off the pan and onto two plates.
“Well, frankly, I was planning to lay in bed all day and daydream about you.” I slapped my hand over my mouth, mortified I’d actually said that.
But as usual, he just chuckled and carried on with what he was doing. “Since I’m here, we can cross that one off the list. Go get dressed. We’ll figure out something.”
I nodded and turned back to my room. “Go get dressed,” I murmured to myself. He acted like everything was so simple. Didn’t he realize that getting dressed when I had no idea where we were going was a monumental task? I had no idea what to wear. I could drive myself insane trying to figure this out.
Staring into my closet, I decided I would just pick the first thing that came to mind and go with it. Skinny jeans to tuck into boots. Check. A warm sweater, but not too warm in case we were in the truck for an extended amount of time. I grabbed one off my closet shelf and tossed it on my bed, along with a camisole for underneath. Okay, with that settled, the only thing that was left was undergarments. Oh, and socks.
I felt very rushed, but the smell of the food cooking and knowing he was waiting out there for me made it difficult to delay. I took the towel out of my hair and let it hang around my shoulders as I made my way back to the kitchen. He was just plating the bacon and buttering toast when I sat down at the small two-seater kitchen table.
“It smells delicious.”
“I figured you hadn’t eaten yet. Your text said you just got up.”
“So, you did read my text before you showed up at my door,” I grinned.
“Maybe, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me.”
He dropped the toast on my plate, sucking the butter off his finger before shooting me a wink. Seriously, was this guy real? He set the plate in front of me, but I was too nervous to eat. How was I supposed to shove food in my mouth when this sexy man was in my house?
“Something wrong?” he asked as he shoved a bite of toast in his mouth.
“Nope.” I took a bite of my toast and worked past my nerves. So what if the man of my dreams was in my house? And did it really matter if he was treating me like a queen after only one date? Not at all. I should be so freaking grateful for this. It was amazing. Thrilling, even.
But I suddenly felt like maybe this was some big joke someone was playing on me. Like maybe there was a hidden camera and someone was going to pop out at me and yell Gotcha! He was just too damn good to be true.
I dropped the toast and brushed the crumbs from my fingers. “Look, Asher, I really like you, but?—”
He smirked, “Uh-oh. Here we go.”
“Why are you here?”
“Because I like you.”
“I don’t get it.”
He leaned back in his seat. With his sleeves pushed up and his muscular forearms on display, he looked so delicious I could eat him for breakfast, but that wasn’t the point of what was going on here.
“What exactly don’t you get?”
“I don’t understand why you’re here. We went on a date last night and then you showed up this morning. Uninvited. Who does that?”
His jaw hardened slightly and he shoved back from his seat. “I didn’t mean to intrude.”
Oh crap. Had I gotten it all wrong? Was I ruining all of this? He moved to storm past me, but I stood up, blocking his path with my hand held out. I was not good at this. At all. With my hand resting against his very hard, very nice chest, I swallowed and went for it. All in.
So, I took a chance and looked up into those beautiful gray-blue eyes. “That didn’t come out the way I meant it to. What I meant to say was…I’m not used to men being…interested and willing to see a woman the day after a date. There are usually all these rules and—” I shook my head, sure I was just making a fool of myself. “When I asked why you were here, it’s because I just can’t believe that we had such an amazing date last night and then you came here this morning and you brought me hot cocoa. And you’re cooking in my kitchen. And you want to take me out and spend time with me, and you’re asking me where I want to go. And it’s just so…different from the way I’m used to dating.”
When he just stared at me, I felt like such an idiot.
“Say something.”
“That’s a lot of ands.”
“It is.”
“I came over here this morning because I couldn’t wait to see you again. I don’t give a shit about what other guys do. I wanted to see you, and I was hoping you wanted to see me, too. I had the day off, and I don’t normally do much of anything other than grocery shop for the week. I’d rather spend the day with you. And I wanted you to choose because I don’t care what we do as long as I get to see you.”
Wow. That was a completely perfect answer.
“I could go grocery shopping with you.”
“Okay,” he smiled slightly.
“But I have to warn you, I tend to meander when I shop.”
“Then I’ll meander with you.”
I couldn’t help the grin that broke out over my face, or the one that was plastered to my face for the rest of the day. It didn’t matter where we went or what we did. I was hopelessly infatuated with this man, and I didn’t see it getting better any time soon.