Page 17 of XOXO

“Sonny, I mean, wow!”

“Good? It looks good?” he asked twice, and I finally understood what he’d been so excited about.

“Come here, baby,” he said, walking towards me and taking my face in his hands, kissing me deeply.

The man had this uncanny way of making me forget where I was every time he touched me. I mean, I was ready to take off my clothes and jump him after just one kiss, and judging from his lusty moan, he wasn’t that far off either.

“I can’t wait to get you home, Del. Gonna make you come so hard for me, baby. You want that, yeah?”

“Yes, Sonny, you know I do,” I answered, already wet for the blessedly insatiable man.

“Good. Lemme show you what I did here, ask you my favor, then I’ll give you what you want.”

“Blackmail?” I teased, eyeing him up and down.

“Nah, baby. I’d never withhold my body from you. I’m yours anytime you want me. You can say no, and I will make do. But I think you will like this.”

Sonny grinned and kissed me again, and I opened for him like a flower that’d been missing the sunlight. This was ridiculous. How could I miss him when we’d spent the night together? Besides, I just saw him a couple of hours ago.

After another moment of just holding on to each other, I eased my grip and wiggled to move back and he allowed it, brows furrowed and dark eyes churning with need. I knew how he felt.

Sonny led me to the table, and my stomach growled. But I wasn’t embarrassed. Not anymore. Not after what we’d done to and with each other. Sonny frowned though and fed me an apple slice, grabbing a small dish as he explained what everything was and the drinks beside them.

“I can’t believe you did all this,” I said, chewing on a cube of cheese.

“It was you. You’re my inspiration. Now here, sip this,” he instructed.

I could practically feel his excitement growing. It was contagious, but I had one minor issue I had never discussed with him. It was embarrassing, but I had to let him know the truth of it.

“Oh, um, I’m sorry,” I began, not knowing how to tell him this and feeling kind of silly. “You see, I don’t like whiskey, Sonny.”

He just grinned widely and grabbed my cheeks, kissing me on the lips and smiling the whole time like he couldn’t get enough of me. God, I didn’t know how he did it, but when Sonny Delgado looked at me like that, I felt like the most beautiful woman in the world.

“I figured as much, baby, and that’s why I made this just for you. Okay, well,” he added, eyes sparkling with mischief. “It’s something I’ve been contemplating lately. How to get women interested in my label. Just try it for me, and if you don’t like it, you never have to take another sip.”

“Okay. For you, I’ll try it,” I said, magnanimously. Of course, I ruined the effect by giggle-snorting, but he just grinned and kissed my cheek, One hand on my hip as he grabbed the drink with the other.

“Excellent. This is not straight whiskey. It’s a cocktail I made with you in mind,” he said, grinning at me as he held the glass to my lips.

I tipped it back, taking a healthy swig, and was shocked at the delightful flavors bursting across my palate. The cocktail was light and fruity with a spicy sort of bite that was the whiskey itself. I’d always thought of that particular liquor as a man’s drink, but this was actually quite refreshing.

“It’s good!”

“You sound surprised,” he teased, and pulled me closer.

He nuzzled my nose and dropped a quick kiss on my lips before moving on to the next drink and pairing.

“Now, of course, I would want something a little more sophisticated for the actual day, but I think I can manage, and the thing is Del, I couldn’t have done this without you,” he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck as I took the next nibble.

“What?” I asked, almost choking on the bit of prosciutto and melon I’d chosen as my next bite.

“Delani, I know it is fast and you and I have a long way to go yet, but I think this is big. My feelings for you, I mean, and I was wondering if maybe, well, if you wouldn’t consider being my date for Valentine’s Day?”

I swallowed without actually choking. Barely. My pulse raced as I stared into Sonny’s deep brown eyes.

“Are you serious?”

“About you, Del? Always,” he said, and hope glimmered in his gaze so bright it warmed me like a fire.

---