Page 10 of Nyctophilia

Jasper slid in the booth close to me, and our thighs pressed together. I contemplated protesting. I shouldn’t have been okay with being this close to a man, any man, on a first date. But something made me feel like Jasper and I had been going out for dinners forever. And I wasn’t about to complain about feeling this good. Being this close to Jasper, in the back of a dark room, was almost too much for my senses.

“Um, so…” I started to ask him a question when I noticed his gaze drifting down to my chest, then snapping back to my eyes with a guilty blush. I gulped audibly. I could feel myself drawn to him, so I had to get things back on track.

I tried again. “Why did you invite me for dinner?” I traced a ring around my water glass.

When he finally spoke, he sounded surprised. “Why wouldn’t I have invited you?”

It was a direct question and I found myself nervous to give him an honest answer. I couldn’t meet his gaze. “Because you could have answered any questions I had over coffee, and been here with someone like Rose.” I hated how quiet my voice got, and I pulled my hands into my lap.

“What do you see when you look at yourself?” Jasper asked me.

“I’m sorry, what?” This evening was already way off track from whatever I had planned in my head.

“When you look in the mirror, what do you see?”

“I’m not sure.” I didn’t know whether I should be honest or bluff my way out of this line of questioning. It didn’t matter because my decision was made for me.

“How about I tell you what I see?” Jasper said. “I see a beautiful woman. I see a woman who pretends she’s shy, but isn’t. I see a woman with a world full of potential.”

My heart skipped a beat. Did he actually think all of this about me? Maybe I had read him entirely wrong.

Jasper took my fingers in one large calloused hand and forced my eyes to meet his. “Do you want to know a secret?”

“O… okay,” I managed to stutter out.

Jasper dipped his head close to mine, his full lips dangerously close to my own. If I turned my head a micrometer our lips would be touching. His voice was quiet, yet his words managed to reverberate through my entire body. “I didn’t think you’d ever say yes to dinner with someone like me, so when I saw my opportunity to force your hand, I took it.”

Before I had time to think he closed the distance between our mouths. I was pretty sure my heart was going to explode. Jasper’s lips were on mine. He was kissing me. It was better than any fantasy I had come up with, any dream I had envisioned. His lips were soft, and moved against mine gently, like he was afraid he was going to scare me off. I didn’t know what else to do, so I kissed him back with everything I had. He started to part my lips with his tongue, before breaking away with a groan.

His sweet words contradicted his kiss, sending a shiver down my spine. I debated if I was more shocked he had been paying so much attention to me, or that we had kissed. Or how good his touch felt. “Oh. Well. I don’t think that’s a good idea.” That wasn’t what I had wanted to say to him. It had accidentally come out. I shook my head, hoping to correct my words.

His mouth tightened and he pushed his dark hair off his forehead. I immediately ached at the loss of contact from both his hand and his lips. But he brought his hand back to mine. Jasper’s voice was hoarse as he looked deep into my eyes. “Are you really going to pretend you didn’t want to have dinner with me after that kiss, Green? Don’t tell me you don’t feel this when I touch you.” He drew lazy circles on my wrist with his index finger. My stomach tightened with every rotation he made.

I couldn’t think. Not when he looked the way he did, admitting what he was feeling, doing what he was doing with his hands. I hesitated. I had no idea what to do in this situation. My previous first dates had been chaste movie nights with some awkward getting to know you talk. Kisses like that before dinner were out of the question.

Jasper’s voice dropped an octave, and he ran his finger softly up and down my forearm. “Don’t tell me you haven’t been thinking about all the things I could do to you with these hands since the first time you saw me.”

This was definitely how all those girls ended up in his bed. But I had to concentrate. I had questions. Sex hadn’t led me astray so far in life, and I could withstand Jasper’s games now to get what I needed. Shaking my head, I tried to brush off Jasper’s advances the best I could. “I didn’t realize this is why you invited me here.”

He stalled, and his smile was slow and dangerous. “Green, are you telling me you’re going to try to interrogate me before I even have a drink?” Raising his other hand, he flagged down the waiter. We ordered our meals and Jasper requested two whiskeys, neat.

I didn’t know how much longer I wanted to keep avoiding his advances. “How did you know I drank whiskey?” Most of the guys who had taken me out before had ordered me a drink with an umbrella in it, or was some ghastly shade of pink.

Jasper winked. “Consider it a lucky guess. Now let me ask you a question. What do you want, Ava?”

“What do you mean?” The question threw me for a loop, and I didn’t know what kind of answer he was looking for. At the present, I wanted a lot. A lot I wasn’t comfortable admitting.

He cocked an eyebrow at me, gesturing around the restaurant. “I mean, what do you want out of life? I’m assuming you don’t want to spend your entire life making sure people aren’t talking about you.”

“I want…” What did I want? No one had asked me before, and I wasn’t expecting Jasper of all people to ask me these questions tonight. I thought for a moment. “I want to be taken seriously. I want to be strong enough to stand on my own feet.”

Our drinks arrived, and Jasper swirled his lazily. He nodded, looking solemn. “Good answer.” Jasper threw his drink back in one quick shot.

I felt my chest tighten, and knew I was in trouble. Flirty Jasper who acted interested was attractive. This Jasper who was looking at me with eyes like liquid caramel could be dangerous. Very dangerous.

He met my gaze and grinned. “Okay. Before you explode, shoot.”

Here was my chance. Putting the image of Jasper swallowing his drink out of my mind, I began with, “Why are the woods dangerous?”

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