Flirtation by Samantha Hunter

into her. “I want to spend more time with you.”
    “I want to spend more time with you, too, but I have dog-walking appointments.”
    “I thought you read tarot for a living?”
    “No, that’s one thing I do, but I have several odd jobs that keep the rent paid. So I really do have to go.”
    She wasn’t afraid of EJ; she just had a swell of emotion she didn’t understand overtake her, and she felt like she couldn’t breathe, the suggestion had become so thick between them.
    He crossed to her side of the table, letting go of one of her hands but keeping hold of the other. Kneeling down by the side of her chair, he looked concerned.
    “I’m sorry, Charlotte. I didn’t mean to come on so strong, but having you here in person ties me in knots. I don’t know what I expected, but I didn’t expect to feel everything that I do.”
    Charlotte melted at his confession, her panic easing as she looked into his beautiful face.
    “I’m sorry. I just have never…I don’t know how to respond to you. To this.”
    He leaned in, his face close to hers, his free hand sliding up into her hair. “I’m betting you know exactly how to respond.”
    All she could do was make a tiny “mmm” sound before his mouth claimed hers, and it was hardly a protest. She forgot everything as his lips touched hers in an exploratory kiss. It was the kind of kiss she’d never experienced and had always dreamt of, and her doubts evaporated as if they’d never existed.
    His hand stayed on the back of her head, angling her so he could widen her lips and access her mouth more effectively, tasting her as if she were living, breathing ambrosia. She sighed into his mouth, letting her tongue touch his and moaning at the power of the tentative touch.
    Just as she felt like she could sink into the kiss forever and never let it end, he pulled back, his eyes dark with desire, his breath coming slightly faster.The idea that she’d excited him so was unbelievable to her, but the pulse pounding at the base of his neck convinced her. She leaned forward slightly, wanting to kiss him in that spot, to feel the throbbing beneath his skin against her mouth. But then he spoke, halting her impulse.
    “I want to take you out. To dinner. On a date. Though right now I’d like to peel that dress off of you and taste every inch of you, my mama raised a gentleman. We should get to know each other a little. First.”
    The not-so-veiled heat in his expression and the seductive promise of his words pushed another flush up into her cheeks as she answered. “I’d like that.”
    Imagine. A man who actually wanted to take her out, not just take her to bed.
    He smiled, lifting his hand and rubbing her moist lower lip with his thumb. “How about the Isle, at the wharf? Tomorrow at seven? I’ll pick you up.”
    Her eyes widened. The Isle was one of the most prestigious restaurants in the area. She’d never even dreamed of going to a place like that, but the prospect of being taken there by EJ was too magical to resist.
    “Okay, but you don’t have to pick me up—I’d rather get there on my own, I have a lot going on in the afternoon, and will just be anxious if you show up and I’m not ready.”
    While that was partially true, she also realized, unhappily, that she didn’t want to tell him where she lived, especially now that she’d had a glimpse of hislife. Maybe he would change his mind. Maybe his opinion of her would change. She wanted the fantasy this time, and pushed the reality away just a little bit.
    “Modern women,” he sighed with comical exaggeration. “Okay, but I wish you would let me come get you. You could call me when you’re ready.”
    “No, really, I’ll be fine.”
    “If you insist, but I’ll see you home and I don’t want one word of argument about it.”
    He dipped closer to seal the date with another kiss, effectively quieting any objections she might have raised and erasing any more doubts before they had a chance to surface.
     
    EJ