Shira’s heart thudded loudly in her ears when the knock sounded at her door. Why was she so fucking nervous? Pull yourself together. You don’t even plan on jumping him until later. For now, this is just like any other date. Her pep talk did nothing for her. Her fingertips were all tingles as she opened the door. He was so beautiful. She wanted to pull him by the neck of his shirt into her house right now and play naked tackle football. Clearly her libido was out of control.
She tried for nonchalant humor when she spoke, but failed miserably. Her voice came out much deeper and huskier than intended. Her “Hi stranger,” took on a very seductive, role-play-like nature, instead of the joke she’d intended. His intense perusal of her body as he didn’t answer made it clear he had heard it as well.
Don’t panic!
His gaze felt like a caress running from her strappy sandals, up her mid-thigh length form fitting dress, all the way to her heaving (Was she heaving? Oh God! She was heaving.) breasts. She was going to hyperventilate if something didn’t happen, and soon. Well, fuck this.
She reached out, grabbed his shirt collar and did what she’d wanted when she first saw him. He was inside, door closed, and playing tongue tango with her in an instant. And he was definitely participating. Yes!
Maybe they weren’t going out tonight after all. Now was as good a time as any. Carpe diem and all that jazz. Their kisses during their past dates were hot. But not just hot. More like H-A-W-T hawt. This kiss? This kiss put all those kisses in the kiddie pool. This kiss was scorched earth. He absolutely devastated her when he began to devour her lips with his.
He was firm and demanding and she yielded everything to him. At least at first. But she was not just a giver, she was also a taker and so when her senses came back online a few minutes later, she began to press her own kisses back at him, nipping and sucking on his bottom lip like she imagined doing to other parts of his anatomy. He groaned as she did, with clear invitation for more.
At that point, Shira was ready for anything. Wall? Couch? Bed? Clothes on? Clothes off? She really didn’t care. She just wanted to feel every inch of the hard length poking her through their clothes pumping hard inside of her. She would beg if he needed her to. Did he enjoy begging? She could do some damn fine sexual begging. Of course, she could also make him beg, but that might have to wait for another time. She was too far gone in lust to play at that game tonight. She was ready dammit. Anything!
Except him backing away.
She practically fell to the floor, because her knees went weak. She braced herself with a hand against the wall and thought maybe he’d backed up to position them somewhere else, or look for a condom, or something else along those lines. One look at his face and it was clear that wasn’t it at all.
What had she done wrong? Had she moved too fast? Well fuck him, if that was it. She was a modern woman. If she wanted sex, she wasn’t going to be shamed by anyone for being clear about what she wanted.
She didn’t see condemnation in his eyes, though. Before she spoke and made things worse by jumping to conclusions, she observed him and waited for him to say something, because what she did see there was trepidation. Was he breaking up with her? That couldn’t be it after that kiss, could it?
She needed to take control of her damn imagination. She decided to help him spit it out with a question, instead of any accusations or suspicions. “What’s wrong?”
He finally looked up, met her eyes, and said, “I have something I need us to talk about before we take this—” he waved between them, clearly indicating their bodies “—further.”
“Sounds rather ominous. Should I sit down or are you planning on leaving soon?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make it sound bad. I hope you don’t think it is, and I don’t plan on leaving. Unless I’m asked to.”
“Okay. Then let’s sit down.”
She turned from the door and within a few steps, she was sitting on her couch. He followed and sat next to her, turned toward her, and grabbed her hands in his. Sheesh. Didn’t he know this position never meant anything good was coming? All the movies and TV shows taught you that. Nervousness permeated her being and infiltrated the air around her. The room felt even smaller than usual, and it was hard to breathe.
“Just tell me, because it can’t be worse than the anticipation you’re creating.”
“I know you’re right. I just feel kind of stupid about it all. Okay. Here’s the deal. I haven’t been completely up front with you about what I do. And I didn’t want to sleep with you until there was nothing but honesty between us.”
Well, shit. Apparently, he was a more upstanding guy than she was girl because she hadn’t been upfront about what she did either, and she had no qualms about wanting to sleep with him. She flushed with embarrassment and that seemed to confuse him so she rushed to admit her own shame. “Um, funny you should mention that. I haven’t been totally upfront with you either.”
Aaron wasn’t sure what reaction he’d expected. After that entryway mauling from them both, he’d known it was now or never, and he really didn’t want to ruin everything by going in with a lie. What he definitely had not been expecting was that she had a confession to make as well. The absurdity of it all hit him and there was no preventing the laughter that broke out.
Of course, expressing amusement in the face of someone’s confession was usually not the right thing to do, but this was why he felt—even after such a short time—that they were meant for each other. Across from him, Shira was loudly entertained. Lovely. All the horrible tension that had built up around them in the wake of their make-out session diffused almost completely.
In the aftermath, Shira wiped away tears from laughing so hard, and he was relaxed and ready to talk. “What a pair we make.”
“Yes. Apparently. Who goes first?”
“I will. Since I started it.” He snorted. “Quite literally. You see, I own the company that created Immedia-Date.”
Her eyes got big and her hands tensed in his. “You what? Could you repeat that?”
He thought he’d been done being nervous until she reacted with total shock at his pronouncement. Fuck. “I’m the CEO of the company that made the dating app we used to meet each other.”
“Huh. That’s what I thought you said.”
She looked pensive and didn’t speak for a while, and his anxiety started to rise with each passing heartbeat. He really had fucked this up. He was about to say, “I can explain,” which, of course, he couldn’t, not really, but it was the kind of thing you always said when trying to salvage a relationship. Before he could stick his foot in his mouth, though, she began to talk.
“Do you know Keren Sabinski?”
“Um. Yes. Why?” Not what he expected.
“She’s the reason we’re here today. She’s one of my best friends and she asked me to test her company’s, well, your company’s latest app for her when she had to bail on a get-together.” She paused, staring off into the distance. Then…she giggled.
He hoped that her amusement was a good sign, but he wasn’t ready to drop his wariness just yet. It would be best to get some direction from her about the turn in their conversation. He asked. “And that’s funny?”
“It is when you realize that the only reason you and I met was because some birds shit-bombed Keren.”
He had to laugh too. He remembered walking into the meeting that first day he’d met Shira and seeing a disorganized Keren with wet hair, which wasn’t what he was used to from her. “I wondered about that at the meeting that day. Her wet hair and all.”
“Yes. I’m sure, knowing her, she washed her hair at least ten times.”
His heart stopped racing and his fingers, which he hadn’t realized had started gripping her hands too tight, relaxed. One of the reasons he’d fallen so hard for this woman was because she had a quick mind and a relaxed nature. Whenever they stumbled onto topics they couldn’t agree on, it was very easy to debate with each other but ultimately, to walk away comfortable with not agreeing. Of course, they agreed on the important things, but knowing how to argue with someone—he’d learned from his parents—was one of the tricks that lead to a long, happy relationship. If this was any indication, they argued well. Still, he hedged. “We okay?”
Her eyes startled to his, and her brows were drawn. “Of course. Why would I care if you’re the CEO of that company or any other? I assume you didn’t tell me because it would have been awkward, which is a great segue into my confession.”
“Oh? Are you the CEO of a company too?” When she smiled, he took it as a reward for trying to lighten the mood. That smile was what he wanted to see each morning and night and many times in-between. He knew things were moving fast, but he was pretty sure he was in love with her. Saying that would definitely be moving too fast, so he kept it to himself.
“I am a blogger. I write about dating and self-defense. Most guys freak out when they hear that I share information about my dating life, so I tend to keep that detail to myself.”
He had hoped to take her news as easily as she had his, but he had to admit that he was taken aback. “Have you written about us?” Clearly his anger showed on his face, or in his tone, or both because she looked hurt and yanked her hands from his as she stood up and faced him. She was closing down. All her innate openness and humor from a moment before? Gone. He hated it, but he also hated thinking about his life being used as fodder for gossip. “Without asking me first?”
“And this is why I don’t tell anyone. Yes, I have. If you understood me at all, you wouldn’t be so upset. You would trust me not to do something to hurt you. But, maybe you don’t. Maybe I’ve been deluding myself with how close we’ve gotten in such a short time. So… If you need to leave, then go.”