Chapter 5
DAKOTA
When we reached my parents’ brownstone, I stopped near the steps and tilted my head back to smile up at Ames. “Thank you for such a fantastic night.”
“I did good, huh?” he asked, one hand sliding up my back as the other lifted to cup my cheek.
“Better than good.” I nodded as anticipation swelled in my heart. “Coney Island was the perfect choice.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
I wasn’t sure it was possible for him to top today’s date since it had been so much fun, but that didn’t stop me from teasing, “Now that you’ve raised the bar even higher, what are you going to plan for our third date?”
“As long as you’re giving me more time with you, I’m sure I’ll come up with something.” He dipped his head and traced the seam of my lips with his tongue. When I gasped, he took the kiss deeper, leaving me breathless when he finally ripped his mouth from mine.
“Wow,” I breathed, blinking up at him.
“I want a fuck of a lot more of those kisses in my future, which gives me all the motivation I need to get creative with my date planning.”
I stroked my palms up his broad chest, smoothing out the soft material where I’d fisted it while he had been kissing me. “Just so long as you know that I’d be happy with something as simple as a picnic in the park if it meant spending more time with you.”
“I do, baby.” He flashed me an approving smile. “It’s one of the reasons I want to spoil the shit out of you because you don’t give a damn what I can do for you.”
I hadn’t really considered how much more difficult dating had to be when you wondered about everyone’s ulterior motives. “Oh, I’m interested in what you can do for me…but that has nothing to do with your money or fame.”
“Careful, baby,” he warned, his hazel orbs heating. “If you say more stuff like that, I’m not going to be able to walk away from you.”
“Good because that’s the last thing I want.”
“No, I mean literally.” He pressed closer, and his hard-on pressed against my belly. “If I get any more turned on, I won’t be able to hide my reaction to you, and the last thing I need is for someone to snap a pic of my dick when I’m hard as fuck. That shit would get shared far and wide.”
I didn’t like that possibility at all. Lowering my hands, I muttered, “Then I guess I’ll save those comments for when we’re somewhere more private.”
“Thanks, baby. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Ugh, I wish.” I dropped my forehead against his chest with a groan.
“I don’t think I can get away for the next couple of days.
It’s my grandma’s seventieth birthday tomorrow, and my mom planned a whole girls’ weekend thing to celebrate.
We’re doing a mini-spa day, going to a couple of shows, shopping at a few of her favorite stores, and a fancy afternoon tea on Sunday. ”
“Sounds as though your schedule is jam-packed with fun.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m looking forward to all the stuff she has planned, but I hate that we won’t be able to have our third date until Monday at the earliest.”
“So damn sweet,” he murmured against my lips before giving me another deep kiss that left my head spinning before he said good night.
I was so wrapped up in watching him walk away that I totally missed Charmaine coming up behind me until she murmured, “Okay, I am officially super confused. How in the heck did you meet Ames Yarrow? Let alone get to the point where he’s kissing you on your doorstep when you just went on a blind date with Steven last night? ”
“About that…” I trailed off as I turned to her with a sheepish smile. “I had my blind date but with Ames instead of Steven.”
She pressed her lips together, her eyes narrowing. “Crap, did Steven blow you off, and Ames came to your rescue while you sat in the restaurant all by yourself, feeling embarrassed? Am I going to need to give him an awful haircut at his appointment next month?”
I laughed and shook my head. “Before you get all fired up on my behalf and burn a bridge with your customer, let me tell you what actually happened. Remember when I asked for more information before the date and you said that I didn’t need to know anything else other than he met my height request?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“Ames was there when I explained to the host how I only knew my blind date was tall, and…well…he decided to take his place.”
Her eyes just about doubled in size as she gaped at me. “Whoa, I’m glad to see that everything turned out okay. Especially since you guys got a…false start.”
She elbowed me in the side, so I knew she was making a joke of some kind. But the punchline went over my head. “False start?”
“It’s a football term that’s perfect to describe this situation since you guys started out under false circumstances, but also because Ames is on the offensive line.
A false start is when an offensive player moves after taking a set position so they can’t bait the other team’s defense into committing a penalty.
It’s one of the most common penalties called against the offense. ”
I tuned out about halfway through her explanation. “Mm-hmm, yup. We defo got one of those, but he came clean with me tonight about what he did.”
Charmaine shook her head with a sigh. “I don’t understand how someone so smart can’t seem to understand even the simplest things about football. You do realize you’re going to have to brush up on the game if things get serious between the two of you, right?”
“Probably.” I hooked my arm around hers to tug her inside the brownstone. “But lucky for me, I have a best friend who knows everything there is to know about football.”
“I’d be happy to help you…for a price.”
“For a price?” I echoed with a glare.
She flashed me a mischievous grin. “I know I didn’t actually set you up with Ames, but you never would’ve been at that restaurant if it weren’t for your blind date, so you still owe me.”
“Owe you what—season tickets to the Nighthawks?” I asked, rolling my eyes.
She wagged her brows. “As much as I love that idea, how about a sexy football player of my own instead?”
“This was only my second date with Ames, and I haven’t even met any of his teammates yet,” I pointed out as I shook my head.
“It doesn’t have to be tomorrow.” She shrugged. “And I promise not to complain like you did if you set me up on a blind date with one of them, even if you refuse to give me their name.”
I bumped my shoulder against hers. “It wouldn’t be much of a blind date if I did because you’d know exactly who he was since you’re basically a stalker of the team.”
“Not a stalker, just one of their biggest fans,” she huffed.
We probably would have gone back and forth like that teasing each other for a while except my phone dinged with a notification.
Thinking it was a text from Ames, I yanked my cell out of my purse and gasped when I realized I had received an email from the human resources department at my top choice for investment firms where I wanted to work.
“What’s wrong?”
I looked up at Charmaine with wide eyes. “Hopefully nothing. I got an email from K-Corp.”
“Open it and see what they have to say.” She gestured toward my phone. “Maybe they’re offering you your dream job.”
“I highly doubt that.” I laughed and shook my head. “I haven’t even interviewed with them yet.”
“Okay, then maybe they’re asking you to come in for an interview as soon as possible so they can make the offer right after,” she suggested with a grin.
I clicked on the message, and it turned out she was at least half right. “Holy crap, they want me to interview with Justice Kendall on Monday.”
“See, I told you.”
No matter how good of a school I went to or how high my grade point average was, as a recent college graduate, I had expected it to take much longer to get my foot in the door at K-Corp.
Even just for an interview. Let alone one with a founding partner of the investment firm.
“First I met Ames and now this. I’m definitely on a lucky streak. ”
“And all because you let me fix you up on a blind date,” Charmaine bragged.
I didn’t argue with her logic…although I felt my good fortune had more to do with Ames horning in on that blind date.