Page 15 of Certified Heartthrob

“I didn’t pounce!” I scoffed. “Jeez. You make me sound so predatory. And anyway...it was your fault. You asked to take me to dinner and got me half-drunk. I wasn’t thinking. I felt bad for you. All of your dates end in disaster and I...well, I haven’t been on a date in a long time myself...if I’m being honest.”

“I don’t see how that’s possible,” he said softly. “Listen, I just want to talk. If anything more than that happens, it’s on you. I’m keeping my hands to myself.”

I stood there for a moment, pouting like a child. God, I wanted it to happen again. But it couldn’t! He was the enemy! The man who was single-handedly trying to destroy us! He gave a convincing argument for me to trust him, and I guessed the real question was...could I trust myself?

“Fine,” I huffed, crossing my arms. “We should talk.”

Without hesitating, Mark went to the corner and flagged down a cab. “What’s your address?” he asked as we climbed in.

“I’m not giving you my address!”

His brow furrowed. “I don’t see what you’re so worried about. You’re the stalker here, not me. I just don’t want you to have to worry about getting home alone late at night when we’re done talking.”

The cab driver shot us a funny glance from his rearview mirror, putting on the pressure. At least Mark’s offer made me feel more confident that nothing would happen between us, and I was getting tired. It would be a relief not to have to make the long trek back after we’d finished talking at his place. Finally, I caved and leaned forward to tell the driver our destination.

As I showed Mark into my apartment, he immediately started walking around—studying everything I owned. I excused myself into the kitchen. This conversation required more wine. And it was better to keep drinking than to let my buzz wear off into a headache.

I emerged with two full glasses, handing one to him. He was examining a mantle of framed family photos. I hated seeing him so close to the images of my siblings. It was an unwanted reminder of what had really brought us together...what was really at stake if I couldn’t convince him to stop his crusade against us.

“Right then,” I sighed, taking a sip. “So...let’s talk.”

“This is a nice place.” He nodded, looking around. His eyes landed on a pile of laundry in the corner. “It’s messier than I expected.”

“I told you. I work a lot.”

“Yeah, but I figured you were too type-A to survive in a place that wasn’t perfectly clean.”

“You’ve passed an awful lot of judgements on me.” I rolled my eyes.

“I could say the same of you.”

“I don’t have to pass any judgments on you,” I argued. “You’ve made your intentions plain and clear with all your crappy dates and bad reviews. My job is to make you stop.”

“And your plan for doing that was...to kiss me.”

I let out a flustered growl under my breath. “Yes.” I exhaled. “In my own weird way...setting you up didn’t work. So, I thought maybe kissing you would. I thought maybe you’d remember what you were missing out on and actually give your next date an honest try.”

“Who says I miss out on anything?” he teased, raising an eyebrow as he stepped closer and closed the gap between us. His voice dropped down painfully low, to a deep, sexy tone that resonated between my legs. “Just because I’m not a romantic...doesn’t mean I don’t have other needs. Ones that, believe me, I have no trouble getting satisfied.”

I bet he didn’t. I felt myself swaying towards his intoxicating closeness, our eyes locked. We were dangerously close to making the same mistake all over again. And once again, I didn’t seem to have the willpower to stop it.

The longer his eyes burned into mine, the more my cheeks flushed with heat. The same wave rippled through my body, making my clit throb.

“I have to confess something,” he rasped. “I want to be clear that I haven’t made any moves here. But…” His eyes dropped. “You seem to have a certain effect on me.”

I glanced down and immediately noticed the bulge in his pants. The rather large bulge in his pants. Oh my god.

All at once, we crashed into each other again. I have to admit, it may have been me that made the first move...again. But I didn’t care this time. We were like a speeding train with too much inertia built up behind us to stand any chance at stopping now.

His fingers worked their way up the buttons of my blouse, sliding each sleeve down my arm with my bra strap sliding down with them. An awareness prickled through my body with the chill of the air against my bare skin. My nipples pointed in the openness, and he rolled each one between his fingers as our kiss deepened.

He dropped his kiss down to each breast, swirling his tongue around in all the perfect places. I barely noticed his hands moving down to my skirt, letting it fall in a pool around my heels along with my panties. Suddenly, I was standing there naked in nothing but my stiletto pumps.

“Your body looks even more fucking amazing than I imagined,” he whispered, trailing down my stomach with kisses.

“You imagined me naked?” I laughed with a gasp.

“The real question is...have you imagined me naked?”

---