DATE NIGHT
“Twyla,” he murmured, a hand on his chest as he trailed his eyes up and down her body, “you look amazing.”
Twyla wanted to return the sentiment, but she was speechless.
Just the sight of Arturo set her already thin panties ablaze.
The man was walking sex. He wore a black shirt underneath a tan suit that gripped his shoulders and thighs as if the garment had been made for his body.
Black loafers were on his feet, and two silver chains hung from his neck.
The razor-sharp line along his temples and hairline boasted a recent haircut, and he smelled divine.
Twyla was helpless to stop the whimper in the back of her throat from making itself known.
Arturo had been lazily dragging his appreciative gaze up her body, but at the involuntary sound, he snapped his eyes up to meet hers.
The desire he felt was evident in his golden-brown eyes, and it made Twyla’s body feel heavy with lust. Her breasts felt engorged and heavy with her arousal, her pussy tingled, and her skin buzzed.
She wanted to pull him inside of her home and then take him inside of her body.
“Not yet.” The words startled her out of her lustful reverie. His voice was low and full of warning.
Had he read her thoughts on her face? The notion made Twyla’s nipples hard as her pussy thumped.
Narrowing his eyes, he stepped toward her, crossing the threshold and wrapping an arm around her waist. Cupping the back of her neck, he tilted her head back and stared down into her wide eyes.
Twyla stared back at him, silently begging him to take whatever it was he wanted—all of the things his eyes said he wished to do to her.
“I’ve been impatiently waiting to taste your lips again. May I?”
As if there was ever any possibility of her giving another answer.
Twyla nodded emphatically, and Arturo bent his neck to press his lips against hers.
Reaching up, she clutched the wings of his back, feeling as if she needed to hold on for dear life, even though he kept it short and sweet. She felt dazed when he released her.
“This is a good lipstick,” he commented, rubbing his thumb under her bottom lip and making her face as warm as the juncture of her thighs. “Your lips still look as enticing as they did when you opened the door.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, suddenly feeling shy at his observation.
She’d wanted to look good for him; had wanted him to notice the little details of the look she’d pulled together.
The midi dress with ruching on the sides that flattered her pear shape and hugged her hips, the glitter in her eyeshadow, every shade of makeup she’d brushed on.
It had all been for him. That he acknowledged it warmed her heart and made her slip a little deeper into the feelings she had for him.
“If you don’t mind my asking, what is the brand?”
Twyla stepped out of his arms and turned to grab her bag off of the sofa, pulling out the tube to rattle off the name.
Arturo nodded and thanked her for the information before leading her out to his car.
He held her hand for almost the entire drive, only releasing her when he had to shift gears.
Twyla watched him as he drove, completely enamored by his profile, the effortless way he maneuvered the vehicle, and most of all, the way he held her palm to his, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand almost absently, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Arturo had insisted that they have dinner beforehand when Twyla inquired at their destination.
“If we eat after we dance,” he’d explained as they walked up to the tapas restaurant hand-in-hand, “you won’t be able to take me for dessert.”
That was all Twyla needed to hear. They were clearly on the same page.
The lighting in the restaurant was dim, creating an intimate atmosphere that was reinforced by the place settings.
At the table for two, the chairs were side-by-side instead of across from one another.
As they approached the table, Twyla was reminded of what happened the last time they sat next to each other at a restaurant.
As Arturo pulled out her chair, she shimmied a little before taking her seat.
Her excitement was almost too much for her handle.
After they ordered, the server took their menus and disappeared. Arturo draped an arm across the back of Twyla’s chair and trailed his fingers along the sides of her neck while simultaneously grabbing her hand. He held it palm-up as he trailed his fingers across the sensitive skin.
“Tell me about yourself, Twyla.”
Exhaling through her nose, she tried to ignore the tingles that shot through her body at his seemingly innocent ministrations and smiled.
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything,” he responded earnestly. “Tell me about your family. How many siblings do you have?”
“Technically, one.”
He quirked a brow. “What is technical about that? Either you have siblings or you don’t.”
Twyla laughed at the confused expression on his face.
“I have a sister. We have the same father but different mothers. She’s younger than me by a year, but we aren’t close since we were raised separately and rarely saw each other growing up.
Technically we’re siblings, but we have no familial attachment to one another.
” Twyla shrugged, far too resigned to the situation to be affected.
“If we ran into each other at the grocery store, we probably wouldn’t share more than a nod of acknowledgment before moving on. ”
Brows furrowed, Arturo shook his head before squeezing her hand.
“I’m sorry that the adults in your life didn’t do a better job of giving you and your sister the opportunity to build a relationship. Unfortunately, I know firsthand how damaging that can be.”
Twyla shook her head, willing away the sudden prickling of tears that his empathy wrought.
“No need to apologize. We’re grown now, so it doesn’t matter. She’s probably not even thinking about me.”
He pinned her with his piercing, knowing yet kind gaze. “But it hurts you, and for that, I’m sorry.”
She opened her mouth to respond, but there were no words for her to say.
It did hurt her, no matter how far back in her mind she pushed it.
That he’d not only figured it out, but acknowledged her feelings made a wonky sort of fluttering take place in her chest. Arturo lifted her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss in the center of her palm.
“I regret dampening the mood, but I don’t regret learning more about you. Tell me your favorite thing to do when you have uninterrupted time to yourself.”
After taking a shuddering breath, Twyla used her cloth napkin to dab the corners of her eyes. When she finished, she aimed a grateful smile at Arturo.
“My absolute favorite thing to do when I have the time is to drive down to the beach early in the morning and watch the sunrise. Seeing the sun slowly pop out over the water brings me peace each and every time. I don’t get to do it often enough, but beach days in general are my favorite.
I’m not a big swimmer, so I don’t go further than knee-high water, but sitting on the beach at any time of the day is the most relaxing thing that I love to do. ”
Arturo’s full lips had split into a grin as he watched Twyla’s face while she spoke. When she noticed his gape, bashfulness washed over her and she dropped her gaze to the table.
“I would love to take you to the beach,” Arturo announced. “We have some of the best beaches in the world in Panama.”
“Is the water blue?” Twyla asked giddily.
“It is. Beautifully so. You can stand in it up to your knees and look down to see fish swimming around your feet on the bottom.”
“That sounds amazing,” Twyla breathed wistfully. It sounded like Arturo wanted to take her to visit the other country, and the idea excited her. As much as she wanted to see the beach, taking a trip with him would surely be wonderful.
Dinner concluded, and Arturo took Twyla to Shadows, a nightclub near downtown.
The dance floor was filled with people grooving to the DJ's skilled set.
Without hesitation, Twyla allowed Arturo to pull her into the fray.
He pulled her back against his chest and wrapped his arms around her as they rocked back and forth to the thumping bass.
She wound her hips against him as he gripped her hips and kissed along her neck.
Song after song saw them wrapped up in each other on the dance floor as Twyla’s arousal continued to build.
By the time Arturo pressed his lips to her ear and asked if she was ready for her dessert, she was a live wire.
All it would take was him brushing against her beaded nipples or licking the shell of her ear and she was liable to explode.
Thankfully, the drive from the club to Arturo’s two-story house on the east side wasn’t long.
Neither of them spoke during the drive and Twyla was too wrapped up in her imagination of the night ahead to wonder at his silence.
He parked in the garage and came around to open her door.
Linking his fingers in hers, he led her into the house.
She gasped when Arturo looped an arm around her waist and tugged her flush against his body, her feet lifting from the floor, his fingers tangling in the thick coils of hair at her nape.
Releasing a breath through her nose, she stared up at him, waiting for the kiss she just knew was coming next.
The press of lips that would finally allow her to have him the way she wanted.
He didn’t kiss her. Instead, he stared down at her searchingly.
“Are you certain this is what you want? You were quiet during the drive, and I should have asked this before we came inside. Forgive me; I’m just so eager to have you.”
Twyla huffed out a laugh and shook her head.