He took a moment to examine the actress. Dina was right. The A-list actress was super skinny and although traditionally attractive, not particularly appealing. He frowned. Before today, he’d always thought she was hot. In fact, a lot of the women he’d dated before Dina resembled that body type. Her neck looked stringy, the veins in her arms ropey. When he held Dina against him, her curves had made him feel she was melting into him, like the two of them were becoming one person, even without sex.
When the actress and actor literally bumped into each other on the street corner, he leaned toward Dina. Her hair tickled his face and he pushed it out of the way, more to give himself an excuse to touch it than because it bothered him.
“He’s probably got bruises from her ribs.”
Dina buried her head in his shoulder and trembled with laughter. He squeezed her hand, his cheek twitching from trying not to disturb anyone. The smell of coconuts wafted from her hair and he focused on tropical islands, sandy beaches, anything but her silent laughter. Because if he thought about that he’d laugh out loud, and they’d get kicked out of the movie theater. Finally, she took a deep breath and pulled away, and while he was grateful for the absence of her contagious laughter, his body missed her closeness.
They continued to make quiet comments throughout the movie—she pointing out “too stupid to live” moments, he pointing out how the male lead was equally treated as eye candy—until inevitably, the credits rolled and the lights went on.
Somehow, during the length of the movie, their hands had become intertwined and their legs, extended in the red leather recliners, rested against each other. He didn’t want to move. Ever.
“That was a pretty ridiculous movie,” he said, as they finally rose and filed out of the movie theater.
“Oh, but I loved it,” Dina said. “It was so ridiculous that it was entertaining. What I love about movies like that is you know exactly what you’re going to get. There are no surprises, because there isn’t much depth to the story or the characters, but it’s exactly what you need at the time you’re watching.”
“I’ll keep that in mind for next time.” He gave her a sideways glance, intrigued by this amazing, intelligent woman who could find meaning and joy in anything she did.
“Good. Although we might need to discuss the genre next time. There are only so many skinny bimbos I can handle at one time.”
He took her hand in his. “True. And that’s just the guys.”
She laughed, and it was the sweetest sound. On their way home, they stopped for frozen yogurt, getting cups to go and eating while walking.
Dina looked over at Adam’s cup of yogurt, which was pineapple and coconut. “Um, we may have a problem.”
Adam stopped dead. “What’s wrong?”
Dina’s lips twitched and the pressure in his chest eased. “You don’t eat chocolate. That could be a deal breaker.”
Adam pulled her toward him and handed her his yogurt.
“My not eating chocolate is a deal breaker?” He drew himself up so he was as large as possible and looked down at her, focusing on her lips. There was a spot of chocolate, and he took his finger, dragging it across her mouth to wipe the chocolate away.
She nodded her head.
With the back of his hand, he caressed her cheek. Her skin was so soft and warmth pooled in his belly. “I would have thought that would be a good thing.”
“Wh…” She cleared her throat. “Why?”
He licked his finger, slowly, watching her mouth drop. “Because you don’t need to share.”
He bent his head toward her and kissed her cold lips that tasted of chocolate. In the background he heard a “plunk,” but to investigate would mean pulling away from her and he wouldn’t do that. The coconut scent of her hair mixed with the coconut flavor of his yogurt and he couldn’t get enough of her. After what could have been hours or seconds, she pushed against his chest and he took a step back, his breath in short gasps.
“I dropped the yogurt.”
Chapter Sixteen
Adam called her every day over the next two weeks. They went out on dates during the week and spent at least one day a weekend together.
And they didn’t have sex.
Prior to meeting Adam, Dina would never have characterized herself as sex-starved. She never would have characterized herself as “sex” anything, if she were being completely honest.
She’d had boyfriends—mostly several years older than her, since she used to relate better to older men who appreciated a woman with a brain. She kept a box of condoms under her bed. The box had been opened and several condoms had been used. But sex had never been something she thought about very often.
After meeting Adam?
She thought about sex constantly.