Page 119 of Fostering Chemistry
34
MIA
“Don’t fillup on chips and salsa,” Diego warned. “The meal’s going to be worth the wait.”
Aaron laughed. “You’ve never even been here before.”
“But you have, and you’re going to love what I chose for you.”
When we’d arrived at the Mexican restaurant, we’d let Diego order, and I was excited to try everything he’d selected. Plus, it kind of lent the feeling of this being a date. In books, I’d read scenes where the man sometimes ordered food for the woman at a restaurant. And while I wouldn’t want that kind of thing to happen all the time, it was exciting to at least try it. Only in this case, my date had ordered food for me and two of my friends.
It did feel like Diego was my date though, because, well, he was. It was finally here. The night I’d spend with him. Given our history of ups and downs, you’d think I’d be a little apprehensive about it, but I wasn’t. Not at all. I was completely ready. More than that. It felt like we were finally going to indulge ourselves after weeks of foreplay. All day, he kept touching my arm, or putting his hand on the small of my back. Twice, he winked atme, and something about the gleam in those dark eyes was so sexy. Every time I looked at him sitting next to me, it sent shivers of anticipation down my spine.
Cody said something, and the others laughed. “What?” I hadn’t meant to tune out. I was glad I was here with all three of them, not just Diego.
“Cody said that if we go to a restaurant where all the waiters speak sign language, then he’ll order the food,” Aaron said.
I grinned at Cody, and he gave me a soft smile back. It was amazing to see him talk so easily about it. He’d only told me about being a child of deaf adults two days ago, and now he was already talking openly about it. I could see from Aaron and Diego’s expressions that they were a little surprised, too, but they took it in stride.
Something about what we were doing this week seemed like it was good for Cody. Hopefully, it was good for all of us. The more time I spent with the three of them, the more I liked all of them.
“And then if we go to a snooty upscale restaurant, Aaron can order because none of us speak ‘high class’,” I said with an evil grin.
Aaron rolled his eyes and threw a tortilla chip at me. It hit the rim of my glass and then sank into my margarita, making me laugh. “What about me? What kind of restaurant would I do the ordering at?”
That stumped them for a moment. Then Diego leaned in, bringing his hand up to shield his words as his lips nearly touched my ear. “At a restaurant where the entire waitstaff is male. They wouldn’t even notice that the three of us existed because they wouldn’t be able to take their eyes off of you.”
Wow, that made my cheeks flush and my thighs clench. I took a hasty sip of my margarita, forgetting that it had a soggy chip floating in it.
“What’d he say?” Cody asked.
I didn’t know how to answer that, so I took another sip.
“Whatever it was made her face turn bright red,” Aaron said. “But it’s their night.”
Just hearing those words made my pulse quicken. It wasfinallytime to be with the tall, dark, and devastatingly handsome man next to me. Not because we were drunk at a party, or because I’d managed to land on top of him during a scavenger hunt—twice. Tonight, both of us were here for the right reasons, and I hoped Diego was looking forward to it as much as I was.
In a matter of hours, we’d be lying next to each other in a bed in the dark. That thought alone made shivers of anticipation run up and down my spine.
But maybe I was setting my sights too high. Maybe Diego would go into RA or den mother mode, and he wouldn’t be like the wild man who’d had his hands all over me at the party. But… I really didn’t think so. At least not judging by the looks he kept giving me. And those little touches.
Even now, his chair was close to mine as the four of us talked. Or rather, Aaron was doing most of the talking, but he was being very charming and entertaining, regaling us with stories of some of the crazier things his many siblings had been up to recently.
Diego’s arm dropped casually around my shoulders, and I couldn’t help leaning toward him. Just the faint scent of his cologne turned me on. Actually, everything about him did.Hopefully, my cheeks weren’t turning the same color as my strawberry margarita.
After that, I tried, but I couldn’t focus on the conversation around us. Instead, I subtly bumped my hip against his, just to see what he’d do. I soon found out as he pulled me closer to his side. Aaron rolled his eyes briefly, but he and Cody knew that this was our turn tonight, and they could probably see how damn excited we were about it.
The food came, heaping and plentiful. Steaming fajitas, tacos, and enchiladas. It did look amazing, but no more so than the feast Diego had cooked at my welcome dinner.
When the waitress reached between Diego and Cody, Diego leaned my way to give her more space, and at the same time, he put his hand on my thigh.
The quickening of my pulse was instantaneous. I was wearing a skirt and a sweater with a scoop neck. The skirt wasn’t super short, but it ended above my knee. Diego’s large hand was warm against my skin through the soft fabric. I shivered, wishing we were back at the condo.
But Diego seemed determined to give me a preview. His hand was high on my thigh, his fingers spread in a possessive way.
Across the table, Aaron wolfed down a taco in three bites, and Cody seemed to like his marinated chicken on rice and beans. But Diego and I weren’t eating, our bodies still close together, and his touch still responsible for my erratic heart rate.
And then his hand slid upward—just an inch—but enough to make me jolt. He waited a moment, perhaps to see if I would bat him away, but there was no way in hell I was going to do that. Instead, I took a drink of my margarita and scooped some fajitavegetables onto my plate in an effort to convince the others—and perhaps myself—that I was hungry.
