Page 11 of Christmas Eve Do-Over
"Ladies first," he grunted.
I took a few cautious steps forward, not wanting to test the strength of that magnetic field again. "I don't mean to confuse the situation, but I think it's clear we have some chemistry still. Perhaps friends with benefits isn't such a bad idea, no?"
Duke's posture straightened up, his chest testing the fibers of his henley as he sucked in a deep breath. He advanced on me quickly, his movements precise and quick. So very unlike the laid-back Duke that I knew. His eyes seemed determined to drill holes in my skull, their color more steel than blue. The look on his face was one I'd never seen before and therefore couldn't define.
I stood still, not knowing what he had planned, but wanting a front seat to the action. Wanting a seat next to him. Wanting a seatonhim. Wanting all 150 prepositions in the English language as long as they were with Duke.
I didn't even get the chance to run through more than the first four prepositions that came to mind, nor ponder why I wanted so much more from him than any other man I'd dated, prior to him being before me and above me, his height making him tower over me.
His hands, the ones that had been around my neck just minutes earlier, cupped my face, his touch gentle and reverent, so counterpoint to the laser-like focus of his gaze. He leaned in, the beard tickling along my jawline before I felt his lips on the corner of my mouth, a featherlight kiss followed by another on the other side.
The heart murmur and the hot flashes were back with a vengeance, along with a troublesome burning in the nether region. Listen, I'd felt desire before, many a time, but this? This yearning for this particular man was out of control, like the wildfires that swept through California every year in the summer, destroying everything in its path.
I wanted to treat him as my personal cat scratching post, with me as the pussy in this scenario. But before any purring of any kind could be had, he pulled away, dropped his hands, and dropped his truth bomb.
"No." Another step back. "I want all of you, Shasta." Another step back, so far away I couldn't smell his cologne any longer, the one I'd already memorized and categorized as my favorite scent of all time. "Let me know when you change your mind and we'll go on our first date."
With that parting shot, he spun and walked away, taking the air from my lungs and strength from my legs. I sank down onto the mat, wondering how I'd gone from besting him in Jiu Jitsu to him besting me in life.
And why, oh why, was I suddenly considering throwing my decades-long promise to myself out the window? Maybe dating someone wasn't such a bad idea. Was it?
