Page 41 of Poinsettia Lane

He doesn’t have to tell her to wait this time, and his hand is there to help her out of the truck again. He parked right in front of her porch steps, so the house lights cast a halo effect as she looks up into his eyes. Asim doesn’t let go of her hand, instead pulling her closer before sliding one hand to her waist and cupping her face with the other, while her hands settle around his lower back. His thumb lightly strokes from the corner of her jaw to the tender spot beneath her ear, sending a shiver down her spine.

“May I kiss you?” Asim phrases it as a question, though his tone sounds more like a statement of fact, with his voice hushed and low, for her ears only. Everly nods her consent anyways, tipping her face up and leaning toward him. Asim’s eyes flicker between hers for a moment, then he looks down at her mouth, lips slightly parted as he leans forward to meet her.

The first brush of his lips on hers feels like coming home. Soft and warm, she sighs into his mouth, melts into his hold. The second is more demanding, meeting her mouth firmly, tongue stroking the seam of her lips and requesting entry. Everly opens for him, and he lets out a low groan from the back of his throat the moment his tongue tastes hers. She lets him lead, and he is happy to do so, plundering her mouth with his tongue and exploring every inch of her.

They meet over and over again, lips and teeth and tongues colliding and dancing for position to be the one to taste the other. Asim’s lips capture hers, refusing to let her go, and his fingers tighten where they grip her. Hishand slides up her waist to splay across her ribs, just barely grazing the underside of her breast, and Everly’s nipples instantly harden when his other hand tangles in her hair and pulls, tipping her head back for a deeper kiss. The slight sting in her scalp only increases her ravenous desire for him, sending tingles down her spine. In return, she threads one hand into his hair at the nape of his neck. The other is still fisted in the hem of his shirt.

Just as she starts to feel light-headed from the lack of oxygen, Asim pulls back, loosening his hold on her hair and leaning his forehead against hers, breathing heavily.

“If we don’t stop now, I won’t leave.” Asim’s voice is strained, like it took considerable effort to say those words to her, and his Arabic accent is heavier than normal. “I want you to invite me in. I want to tear you out of that torturously sexy dress and taste every inch of you. I want more, I want it all, Everly. But I’d also like to take things slow. Sex has ruined things for me in the past, and I would hate it if I let that happen with you, especially on a night that I suspect has already been a lot for you emotionally. I like getting to know you, and I don’t want to push either of us into too much, too quickly.”

Everly debates inviting him in despite his clear hesitation, but she doesn’t know if she’s ready for that either, even as her body is currently begging to climb him like a tree.

She slowly nods in agreement, rocking her forehead against his, and he briefly closes his eyes, then nods back. Asim peels his fingers from her ribs and slides his hand from her hair, gently cupping her face in both hands and dropping his lips down for another kiss, this one sweet and chaste. She slides her fingers from the back of his neck and lets them rest on the tense muscle of his shoulder. As he pulls back, he stops inches from her face, pinning her with those intense green eyes as they seem to search her soul.

Her favorite color, Everly realizes. In this light, his eyes are her absolute favorite color, or maybe her favorite shade of green has changed to match that of his eyes.

Easing back from each other, Asim’s hands slide down her arms and he grasps hers lightly, giving her fingers a squeeze before letting go and turning to walk up the porch steps. He stops outside her door, shifting to look at her a step behind him and tucking in some of the stray hairs that came loose from his manhandling.

“This is the best evening I’ve had in years, maybe ever," he says, and Everly blushes, looking down in an attempt to hide the shy smile that blooms across her face. Asim bends down to meet her lowered gaze, and she pulls her keys out of her purse before meeting his eyes again.

“This is the best evening I’ve had in a long time too. Thank you for… everything," she says.

“Truly my pleasure.” Asim still has a small, blissful smile on his face, and it warms Everly up inside. “I’ll wait here until I hear you lock the door," he says, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Everly offers a quiet goodnight, turns and enters the house, locks the door behind her. She hesitates, then presses her ear to the door, hands splayed wide against it. Unsure what she’s hoping for, she simply listens as he waits a beat before his steps slowly back away. Everly sighs, then slips out of her heels and walks through the foyer to the darkened kitchen, peering out the window to see him getting back in his truck before the brake lights flare and he drives off.

Happier than she can ever remember feeling, Everly gets ready for bed and slips between the sheets. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, hoping to dream of him and imagining what steamy scenarios her unconscious mind might come up with. Maybe they go swimming in the river, or skinny dipping. She imagines the bite of the cold water and the contrasting heat she’d feel from his skin, and goosebumps pop up along her arms. Everly wiggles around, feeling exhausted and yet somehow full of energy at the same time.

Her toes are sore from her shoes, her brain is tired from the mental gymnastics, and her cheeks hurt from smiling so much, but that doesn’t diminish it in any way. It’s been a truly wonderful night, panic attack and all.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

ASIM TEXTS HER periodically over the next few days, checking in and sending Everly sweet little notes. They set up a time and date to donate the poinsettias during the upcoming week, and Everly compiles a list of places she would like to donate them to. In the meantime, she’s overdue for some quality friend time with Frankie.

Snagging her phone off the bathroom counter, Everly hits the video call as she wanders into her walk-in closet and waits for them to pick up. She’s back home from work at the hotel after an aggravating day involving two of their longest-standing repeat clients somehow double-booking the same luxury suite and it was an absolute nightmare to sort out. She debates whether to take a bubble bath now, or wait until she’s done talking with her friend, but Frankie picks up before she can decide. Their sparkly, hazel brown eyes light up her screen, shelves lining the coffee house stockroom behind them.

“Hello, this is Frankie, who am I speaking with?”

Everly snorts a laugh.

“Yeah, yeah, hilarious.” She deadpans, rolling her eyes into the camera.

Frankie laughs and props the phone up on a box as she unpacks and shelves supplies.

“So, tell me about your daaaate!” Frankie sings the last word and wiggles their eyebrows at her suggestively. “I heard through the grapevine that you two were, and I quote, “just so darn cute together” end quote.”

“Wait, what?! You heard from who?!” Everly does not like the relentless gossip mill in this town, and shenormally stays out of it.

“Oh, you know. Just Nancy, doing her thing. She said she ran into you both as you were finding a table. Told me all about it when she was ordering her coffee this morning. Said she offered for you to sit with them just to pull your leg and see what you’d do.” They roll their eyes at this. “Old lady jokes, am I right?”

“So that’s what her name was. Nancy.” She narrows her eyes. “Such an old lady name too.”

Frankie snorts. “Okay, okay. Enough about Nancy. How was it?”

“It. Was. Amazing.” Everly flops dramatically onto her bed, hair splaying out around her. She hasn’t stopped thinking about her date with Asim since the moment it ended. “Also humiliating, but mostly amazing.” Everly tells Frankie everything, all the dirty details they’ve been wanting for weeks, finally feeling in a secure enough place emotionally to share it, and Frankie is eating it up like it’s the latest reality tv show.

“Okay yeah, definitely a keeper,” they say. “I can’t believe you had a full on panic attack though, and on the boat? Why?”

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