Page 21 of The Last Date

“Trust me, my beautiful angel. Sometime very soon, I’m going to take you home and curl you up on my couch where we can watch movies all night.”

She nodded quickly. “Yes. Soon.”

Bringing my lips to her ear, I breathed, “Congratulations on the big sale. I’m so proud of you. You’re obviously very good at what you do. I think that’s amazing.”

Sasha’s eyes lit up. “Thank you. That means a lot.”

“I have to work some savage hours for a couple of days, but I’ll talk to you soon.”

Our lips met for just a few seconds, as I forced myself to pull away. Sasha grabbed the back of my neck, pulling my mouth against hers hungrily.

I’d been dreaming of that reaction. Sasha needed me. She held me so close, our bodies grinding together as her fingers tightened against my skin.

“It feels like you want me, baby,” I murmured.

“Yes,” she moaned softly. “Please’.”

“Soon, Sasha.”

Kissing the tip of her nose, I pulled her hands from my neck, kissing the back of one, then the other, before releasing her.

“Tell Sarah I said goodbye,” I said, disappearing into the night.

As soon as the sliding door was shut and locked, I came back a few steps to listen.

“Do you see what I mean?” Sasha half squealed. “He’s so damn gorgeous and sexy, but then gone in a couple of minutes.”

“He’s got it bad for you,” Sarah laughed. “Nobody swings by with top of the line catering unless he is seriously into you.”

Sneaking away, I didn’t want to eavesdrop more than absolutely necessary. I just needed to know that they had approved of my little drop in.

I had a few more plans in place for my sweet Sasha, and couldn’t wait for Saturday night, when I was going to kidnap her for an almost date.

CHAPTER NINE

* Sasha *

The next several days absolutely flew by, as I prepared all of the paintings to be shipped to the Eastman Corporation. I drew up incredibly detailed sketches of precisely how and where the paintings should be hung, giving them to our most-trusted installation team.

It was an incredible moment on Monday when an absolutely gigantic check was delivered. I was glad that Collin had been in the gallery at the time to take care of it immediately. He was obviously incredibly proud, and I knew that a bonus would certainly be coming my way at the end of the year.

On Wednesday morning, right after I had opened the gallery, I went to the back room to turn the music on, coming back to a steaming coffee and white pastry bag on my desk, just as the front door was swinging shut on the empty room . This time it was a raspberry vanilla puff pastry. Absolutely perfect with the coffee. It was light and buttery while just being sweet enough.

I really loved that Oakley kept bringing me food. It was such a small thing, but honestly, it made me feel incredibly cared for. Also, his choices in flavor combinations were absolutely brilliant.

Late Wednesday afternoon, I was just getting ready to close the gallery when my phone rang.

/>

I grabbed it instantly, hoping it was Oakley. “Hello?”

“Hi, Sasha, it’s Jason.” I must have hesitated for a second, because he laughed. “Date number sixty-six.”

“Of course. How are you?”

“I’m okay, but I’d be a lot better if you were free Saturday night.”

I paused again. “I am, but I thought we said that we weren’t right for each other?”

---