Page 11 of Sexpresso Night

She laughed and they both straightened. He closed the dishwasher door, which was all the separated them, and moved toward her. Their eyes met and held. And held. Then he dropped his gaze to her lush, pretty mouth, and he longed to taste it.

“I…um…guess I should go.”

“Stay.” He didn’t hesitate for a second to give the order.

She didn’t hesitate for a second to agree. “Okay.”

“Come on. Let’s go sit down and talk some more. I’ll buy you a coffee.”

“I think I’ve had enough coffee. Speaking of not sleeping…”

“Sleeping is overrated.” He gave her meaningful look. “There are much better things to do at night. In bed.”

Pink bloomed in her cheeks and that made him happy. And made him think of pink blooming on other cheeks at the firm touch of his hand. And that made him horny.

“How about decaf?”

“Okay.”

He got them drinks and she waited at a small table that had cleared out. Another long line waited at the counter, but to hell with it, he was sitting with Danya. They’d just have to work harder back there.

It wasn’t like him to not step in and help out with anything that needed doing, but Danya was here and she’d just broken up with her boyfriend and she was all raptly interested in pretty damn much everything he had to say, so no way was he blowing this chance.

“Here you go.”

He pulled his chair up close to hers so their arms brushed against each other. Perfect.

“So what would you think about a cupping party that you had to pay to get into?” he asked, stirring his decaf latte. “I’m thinking of doing that on Friday nights. Maybe twenty-five bucks a person, and you’d get more detailed tasting information, a half pound of coffee to take home, maybe even I’d do wine and cheese before the cupping.”

“Wow. That sounds amazing. Before tonight I wouldn’t have even dreamed of something like that.”

He nodded, lifted his cup to his mouth. “I guess I could try and it see if there’s enough interest.”

She studied him and the warm interest in her eyes was so flattering, heat shot straight to his groin.

“It’s a very sensual experience,” she said slowly. “The tasting, the smelling.”

“The mouth feel,” he added, holding her gaze, knowing both of them were thinking of other sensual experiences. Other things a mouth could feel.

“Mouth feel. Um. Yes.”

They stared at each other. Her small tongue came out and licked across her upper lip. His blood sizzled.

“Tell me about you,” he said, almost groaning at his lack of originality. “I know you’re taking courses at UCSB, but what do you do besides that?”

She was sipping her drink and when she lowered the cup, a smudge of creamy froth stayed on her upper lip. He couldn’t help it. He had to.

He leaned toward her and brushed his index finger across her mouth. “You had some froth…”

She blinked at him, then lowered her eyes. “Oh.”

“You were saying…”

“Um. I got my bachelors degree in Environmental Studies a few years ago. I went into the Peace Corps while I figured out what to do with that. I decided environmental law was where I wanted to go, so now I’m just finishing up my law degree.”

“Wow.”

“And I work as a research assistant with one of the faculty of Environmental Studies. My boss just got a big grant to start a new project, and he wants me to work on it, too.”

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