Way too handsome for my good.
I shake my head, staring into his eyes. My heart is going a mile a minute. “Not cheesy at all.” My voice sounds breathless.
Something ignites in his eyes and it makes my stomach flip.
I take the rose from him. Pressing it to my nose, I inhale.
It smells amazing. He’s amazing.
Adam turns the engine on. We’re back on the road, and a few minutes later, he pulls up into the car park at Point Dume.
“We’re here.” He turns the engine off and gets out of the car.
I follow suit. Keeping ahold of my rose, I hook my bag on my shoulder and get out of the car, carrying the pizza box in my hand.
Adam is opening the trunk. He gets out a blanket and a bag.
“Here, let me take that.” He takes the pizza from my hand. “You’re not afraid of heights, are you?”
Smiling, I shake my head. “I spend an hour a day sitting up on a high rock while I sketch.”
“Good point.”
We walk up the trail for a short distance, and I follow Adam along until we’re on a grassy cliff edge, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
I can hear the waves washing up against the rocks below.
Stopping, he puts the blanket down and then the pizza box. Kneeling on the blanket, he opens his bag and pulls out two wine glasses and a bottle of sparkling water.
“Dinner is served.” He grins up at me.
And I feel that smile in all parts of my body, my heart especially.
I kneel down across from him on the blanket. “Do you always carry wine glasses and sparkling water in your car?”
“Only when I know I’m going on a date with a beautiful girl, and I want to impress her.”
Beautiful girl.
Okay, I might have swooned a little.
“And do you go on dates with beautiful girls often?”
“First time for me.”
“Dates or beautiful girls?”
“A date with a beautiful girl.”
I let out a little laugh. “Smooth.”
He winks at me. On any other guy, it would look cheesy. On him, it works.
“Anyway, how did you know I’d say yes? I could have said no.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No, I didn’t.” I smile at him. Then I say, “Why did you wait so long to come over and talk to me?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure.” His shoulders lift. “I guess, you were so concentrated on your drawing, and I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“And what changed yesterday?”
“Max.”
“Ah, Max. How is he, by the way?”
“Dead. I killed him for telling you that I’d been watching you sketch.”
“You need help burying the body?” I say with a straight face.
“Bonnie and Clyde style?” His eyes smile at me.
“Totally.” I laugh.
“Well, thanks for the offer—and good to know that you have my back if I need to dispose of a body—but lucky for Max, I love him like a brother, so he’s still currently breathing.”
We lapse into silence.
“It didn’t matter, you know, that Max told me that you were watching,” I say softly. “I already knew. I was…well, I was kind of watching you, too.” Biting my lip, I slide my eyes to him, gauging his response. “Maybe not as much, but I was watching.”
His eyes lock with mine. “The drawing?”
“Yeah.” I blush.
“It’s really beautiful.”For a second, I wonder if he’s talking about me again or the picture.
“I’m glad you like it.” I look away, the moment almost too much for me.
I’m feeling too much, too soon.
“Do you have your sketchpad with you?” he asks.
“Yeah. I carry it everywhere with me. Kind of sad really.”
“Not at all. If I could carry my surfboard everywhere with me, I would.”
“You really love surfing.”
“Yeah,” he breathes the word out. Then, his eyes meet back with mine.
“I thought maybe you might want to sketch out here after dinner, which we should eat before it gets cold.” He opens the pizza box.
“Are you going to watch me sketch?”
His lips tug up at the corners.
“I can look away while you do it, if you want?”
“No.” I smile. “I kind of like it when you watch me draw.”
Our eyes meet again.
“Me, too.”
Adam pulls up outside my apartment building and turns the engine off, plunging us into darkness, except for the low light of the streetlamps.
We were out for hours up at Point Dume. After we ate, I drew for a while, doing a sketch of the view, and Adam watched, asking me questions as I drew.
It was perfect.
Then, we went for a walk until darkness forced us back to the car.
Now that he’s driven me home, our date is over. I’m just reluctant to leave him. I’ve never had such a great time as I’ve had with him.
I turn in my seat to face him. “Thanks for a wonderful afternoon slash evening. And for the ride home.”
“Thank you for saying yes to going out with me.”
“I was always going to.” I smile, resting my head against the seat.
“Oh, I know.”
“Cocky.” I laugh.
“Nah. I’m just irresistible.”
That he is.
“Are you going to let me pay you for this drawing?”
He’s referring to the sketch I did of the view from Point Dume.
“No, because that would be beyond weird—you giving me money while we’re out on a date.”
“Good point.” He chuckles. “Well, thank you for the drawing. It’ll look great next to my other one.”
I get my bag from the car floor, my rose in my hand. I’ve hardly put it down all night. “I should get inside.” I reach for the door handle.
“I’ll walk you to your apartment.”
I almost sigh a breath of relief because my time with him isn’t quite over yet.
We climb out of his car at the same time, and he meets me at my side.
We start the walk to my apartment, side by side, and I feel his hand brush against mine. Then, his little finger hooks onto mine until he has worked his fingers into mine, and he’s holding my hand.
The sizzling sensation from his touch on my skin is indescribable.
My heart is going nuts, and my breathing is out of control.
“Well, this is me,” I say as we reach my front door.
Reluctantly I let go of his hand. I get my key out of my bag and turn to face him.
He’s a lot closer than I expected. We’re literally standing an inch apart.
I can feel the heat of his body, and he smells so good, like the ocean and something so uniquely him.
I look up into his face. He’s already staring down at me. And the way he’s looking at me…it’s like need and desire and a whole other bunch of stuff I can’t even begin to explain. It makes my toes curl, and my own need unfurls inside of me.
His hand comes to my face. His thumb brushes over my skin and grazes the edge of my lips, making me shiver.
I have never felt anything like this before, the way I feel with him right now.