Page 25 of Sweet on You
“So… those were your two serious relationships. Any casual ones?” His brows wiggled.
I laughed and picked off a piece of the bread in the center of the table and threw it at his face. He dodged it, ducking his head, but it hit his shoulder and bounced to the ground between Penny’s paws. She ate it so quickly, she actually made a snarf sound.
“I date,” I said. “I have the occasional dinner thing. But… nothing has stuck.” I shrugged. “Obviously,” I gestured to my ringless finger. “You?”
Lex snorted. “I haven’t had a date in over two years,” he said and I watched as the color crept up his neck, flushing his cheeks a rosy pink. “Two long years. Not since that ex I told you about. My effort has been on staying clean, the move here and some other… family stuff.”
A knot twisted in my stomach. He hasn’t dated anyone? It made me feel better and anxious all at once. We both grew quiet. I played with the small puddle that collected at the base of my sweating glass. And Lex seemed to focus on where the animals were snuggling together on the ground.
It was only a minute or so of silence, but it felt like eons. “So,” Lex said and I nearly jumped out of my skin. “It’s nice to see you splurging,” he said, gesturing to my drink. “I don’t see you indulge a whole lot.” His grin widened. “I was beginning to think you didn’t have any vices.”
“It’s not really a splurge,” I said without thinking. “Clear alcohol is allowed in moderation on my diet and I always order with seltzer water rather than tonic, because tonic weirdly has a ton of sugar.”
I clamped my lips together. Shit. Nutrition and fitness were quite literally my life. It was second nature to describe my eating habits and why I chose them. “Sorry,” I murmured and shook my head. “Force of habit.”
Lex smiled kindly at me. “Don’t apologize. I like hearing about you. About all the little details.”
I rolled my eyes. “It must be pretty boring hearing about why I chose vodka seltzer instead of vodka tonic.”
He shrugged. “What you think people find boring, some might find fascinating.”
“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure?” I said, reciting the old adage.
Lex paused and took a moment to reach across the table. His hands were chilly, but not freezing as they draped over my knuckles and gave me a gentle squeeze. “You, Veronica Tripp are no one’s trash.”
I swallowed hard and slowly lifted my gaze to his. The table between us was small—only a couple of feet in circumference, but in that moment, it felt like an entire valley was between us. Like those couple of feet were way too far away.
I don’t know who moved first. Maybe we moved at exactly the same time. But next thing I knew, we were leaning over the table, both sort of half-standing, half-bending and Lex’s lips captured mine in a tangle of passion.
Our kiss wasn’t sweet. It wasn’t tender. It wasn’t anything like all the times I had envisioned kissing Lex. He always seemed so gentle… so proper. But this kiss was feverish. His lips parted mine, urging me to open up to him which I quickly obliged, gasping as I opened my mouth against his.
Lex’s hands scooped up my hair to the back of my head and with a quick twirl of his fingers, a section of my curls were wrapped in his hands, tugging against his firm hold.
My head was spinning—I would have blamed the vodka seltzer, except I’d only had half of my first glass. His scent was all around me and I inhaled him as I savored his dizzying taste. I needed more of him.
I reached up with both hands, holding the back of his neck, kneading his firm muscles in my palms, and I swallowed his groan.
His tongue dipped into my mouth with such a smooth, strong motion, it left me breathless. I could taste his desire for me; I could feel his raw, unhinged lust. Heat was radiating off both of us, despite the chilly April air.
I hadn’t been kissed like that in… ever.
I was about to say years, but the truth was, even Brandon had never kissed me that intensely.
We broke from the kiss, panting, staring at each other from across the table. Almost immediately, I felt the blush crawling up from my chest and over my face. I glanced around the pizzeria, grateful for the fact that it was early enough that most people were still at work. If this got back to my mom? Or worse, mybrothers, I’d never hear the end of it.
I cleared my throat and we both lowered back down to our seats.
“That was…”
“Incredible,” Lex interrupted me, smiling that boyish grin. His russet hair was messed up from my hands running through it.
I gave a girlie giggle that, hand to God, didn’t sound a damn thing like me. “I was going to sayunexpected. But… yeah. I guess it was pretty incredible, too.”
His phone was face down on the metal table and buzzed like a machine gun. Both of our animals jolted awake and Frost gave a disgruntled meow in response.
I laughed out loud, unable to help myself from reacting to her cranky tone. “She’s an outspoken little thing, isn’t she?”
Lex’s brows jumped. “You have no idea.” He turned his buzzing phone over and all humor melted from his face as he looked down at the screen. I saw his swallow bob his Adam’s apple up and down and he held up a finger to me. “I-I have to take this. I’m sorry. I’ll just be a minute.”
