“Are you looking at my mouth, Riley?” he asks, his voice hushed as he leans in closer.
“Well,” I say, still whispering, with a nod. I then point to the corner of my mouth. “You’ve got something. Here.”
“Oh.” He chuckles and wipes a hand across his mouth, but somehow misses the crumble. “Did I get it?”
“No.” I giggle, pointing again, but this time to his face. “It’s there.”
Swiping again, he looks at me expectantly. But no dice. “It’s still there.”
“Obviously I can’t see it.” Jake shoves his face closer to mine. “Do you mind helping a guy out?”
Swallowing again, I give an internal speech to my nerves, shutting them up as I reach out and gently, using my thumb, wipe the chocolate off his face. As I pull my hand away, Jake looks down and sees the chocolate that’s transferred itself from its location onto my skin now.
“I don’t like wasting things.” Taking my hand, and still keeping his eyes locked with mine, I watch in slow motion as Jake lightly places his mouth onto the very tip of my thumb, licking the chocolate off, before he smacks his lips together and grins.
Everything inside of me hitches. I’m not prepared for any of this. My homework was to ask him out, and now, this man is in front of me licking my fingers.
I. Cannot. Cope.
I’m fighting a solo argument in my head. There is something in this moment that feels so good. Warm. Amazing. Even if we are in the kitchen of my childhood home.
My family. Oh yeah.
Remembering them, I try to turn my attention back to plating the desert, but Jake’s got other ideas. He looks around the room and finds something he’s looking for. He then takes my hand and pulls me toward the pantry.
My mind is screamingBRAKES!but my body steps on the gas. “What are you…”
“I think you want some powdered sugar to put on your truffles?” he says with a wink.
“No.” Who would do that? “I would never…”
“Riley. Stop talking.” Wrapping his arms around me, he pulls me in close as he pushes my hair away from my eyes. “I’m going to kiss you now, mostly to get you to stop talking. Is that okay?”
“Well, yes, but…” I can’t even argue any points. It only takes him a moment, and it is oh-so-slow and oh-so-sweet, as his lips slant across mine and everything in me explodes. There’s a specific feeling that comes up for me as he pulls me in so my body is firmly against his.
Jake’s movements are slow, strategic, and gentle, his hands sliding up and down my arms as I revel in the tension crackling in the air around us. He pulls away for a moment so we can catch our breath, but I can see it in his eyes as he gazes upon me, his eyelids heavy as he drags his eyes from mine to my lips and back again.
“Riley?” he asks, as if he needs to question the moment and ask permission again. I don’t say a word; instead, I reach out and tug on his shirt, pulling him close to me yet again and landing his lips on top of mine.
There’s no hesitation, no slowing down now. His lips are soft and warm, like Kryptonite for me. So, so bad, but I only wantmore. I can feel his heart racing against my chest as we press harder against each other’s bodies. His hand cradles my neck, holding me in the perfect position so I can also wrap my arms around his waist and grip his shirt tighter in my grasp and bring him in and against me, more.
For a moment, we’re suspended in time and nothing is moving except us, our lips, and our hands, and it’s so delicious.
We stay here, in our own little world for a moment before I finally slow things down and pull myself away. We’re like this for just a second, our foreheads touching, as we catch our breaths.
“Um…” I clear my throat, untangling myself from his arms as I smooth out my shirt. “I was going to ask you if you’d like to go out for a coffee and dessert tonight. But we kind of skipped the whole date first, kiss later thing.”
“I want nothing more than to go out with you to anything, anywhere tonight,” he whispers, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me back against his chest. His eyes bounce between mine as he grins. “Riley, you are…”
“Hey, Riley,” Travis’s voice shakes us both out of our reverie. “What’s up with the sugar, sugar?”
“They’re coming.” I fall out from the pantry first, smoothing my hair back as I walk over to where I’d left the truffles. “It’s coming. I-I was looking for some extra chocolate for shavings, but…”
Glancing at Travis, I’m in time to witness the look of confusion followed by realization cross his face when Jake exits the pantry behind me. I want to act like nothing just happened, but even I know that the electricity in the air right now is palpable, and Travis would have to be a darn fool to not feel it.
But I’ll try anyway.
“I made Jake help me,” I begin, but Travis shakes his head.
