Temporary Bliss (Bliss #1)(16)
Author: B.J. Harvey

The third date rule will no longer apply after tonight and thank God for that! I’m dying to find out how talented Daniel is with that mouth of his. We may be stranded on second base, but that doesn’t rule out an instant home run, especially where he’s concerned. That grin, the twinkle in his eye, that delightful mouth that can turn my insides to jelly within seconds…

Argh!

I’m shaved, showered and exfoliated head to toe by the time Kate walks in the door. Dumping her purse and keys on the kitchen counter, she stands there blatantly checking me out. With a little twirl of her finger, I do a spin showing her the complete look.

“Very nice, babe. New top?” she asks, leaning forward and checking the inside label. “Yes, and expensive too.” She leans against the bench and quirks a brow at me. “A lot of effort for a date, Mac,” she adds with a grin.

“Don’t,” I say sternly but with a huge smile. “Don’t say it. I just want to look nice for him. What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing,” she says in an annoying sing song voice. “I’m going to shut up before you start freaking out on me. It’s nice seeing you like this. Dating, and actually wanting to go out with the same man more than once.”

“Hush now. Can you do something with my hair?” I tilt my head and give her my best sad puppy dog look which wins her over every time.

She lets out an exaggerated sigh. “Oh, come into my bathroom. I’ll do something with this mess of yours.”

“Yay! Love you.” I pucker my lips at her for an air kiss just as she grabs my hand and drags me towards her miracle station aka her bathroom.

At seven-thirty, Kate and I are sitting on the couch watching our favorite entertainment news show and catching up on all the celebrity gossip when there’s a knock at the door.

“I’ll get it,” Kate says, jumping to her feet and rushing to the door before I have a chance to stop her.

“Hi, you must be the smoking hot volcano of fine I’ve heard so much about.” Her voice is full of glee as she greets him. Damn that girl! “I’m Kate, Mac’s best friend and roommate.”

She’s holding her hand out to him which he shakes firmly, being the gentleman he is and I don’t miss the low chuckle he makes at Kate’s introduction. I shake my head as I walk towards the kitchen to grab my purse.

“Nice to meet you,” he says before looking my way. He stops and stares at me.

“What? Do I have something on my face?” I ask, rubbing my hands over my face. Dammit, that’s all I need.

“No, gorgeous, you look beautiful. I just wanted a moment to take you in,” he says with a wide grin.

I look down at my outfit. A burgundy tank with lace cut outs, a pair of cute black skinny jeans with cargo pockets on the legs and three zips on the thighs, and black leather, zip front ankle boots that I saw in Nordstrom’s today and couldn’t leave behind.

“Oh!” I blush. Damn that man and his ability to make me lose my head at a moment’s notice.

He walks towards me, stopping so close I can feel the heat radiating off his body. He lifts his hand up to my face and pushes a wayward hair back behind my ear. “You look sexy when you blush,” he says so quietly that I’m sure I’m hearing things. He kisses my cheek softly before pulling back and smiling. Damn he has the straightest teeth I’ve ever seen, and perfectly white. Does he not have anything wrong with him? Like even just one thing…well, not that thing because that would be a disaster for all women kind.

“Do you want to have a drink here first, or should we get going?” I ask, doing a last minute check of my bag for the essentials: lip gloss, mascara, perfume, deodorant, condoms.

Check!

“Well, if you don’t mind I’ve made us a dinner reservation for eight so we should probably get going,” he suggests.

“Sure. Kate, love you. See you when I get back?”

“I won’t wait up,” she replies with a wink. “Anyway, I’ve got a date with the Salvatore brothers.”

Daniel walks towards the front door, grinning ear to ear. He turns and grabs my coat off my arm, holding it out for me. “Bye, Kate. Hope to see you again sometime.”

I walk up to him and guide my hands into the arms of the coat. Daniel runs his hands over the shoulders and down the front of the jacket, his hands skimming my br**sts as he smoothes it out for me. “Perfect,” he says before leaning forward and kissing my forehead. “Just like you.”

I hear Kate sigh behind us, and I giggle as I wave bye to her and walk out the front door with my Delicious Daniel.

I’m barely fifty feet down the sidewalk before I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket with a text. Pulling it out, I see its Kate, I sigh, already knowing what I’ll see when I read the message.

“Kate? Already?” Daniel muses.

“Yes, no doubt it’ll be about you,” I say jokingly. I open the message and snort at what I read.

Kate: Hot damn, Mac. If you don’t want him, I’m more than happy to take him off your commitment phobe hands. He has me drooling at both ends!

I hear a chuckle come from Daniel, and as I look up at him I see that he’s read the message over my shoulder. Holy crap!

“I’m so sorry! Kate lost her brain to mouth filter a long time ago.”

“I like her. She tells it like it is.” He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me into his side, kissing my hair before murmuring, “Although, I’d love to know if I make you drool too.”

“I bet you would, Superman. Remember, you said you’d show me how well you play cards,” I say with a slight hip bump.

“Oh, I will, Mac. Don’t doubt it for a second.” He flashes me that sexy grin of his again.

After another block of walking, and me silently scolding myself for choosing such ridiculous but pretty shoes, we stop outside a cute little Italian restaurant. To be honest, it doesn’t look all that inviting from the outside. Daniel sees the disbelief on my face and grins.

“Just trust me on this, Mac. You’re going to love it.” He grabs my hand and steps forward. I think he’s going to open the door for me, but instead he pulls me into his arms and dips me backwards, planting the mother of all hard kisses on my waiting lips. Having kissed the life out of me, he pulls me back up and holds me while I regain both my breath and my senses. He literally just swept me off my feet, in the middle of the freaking sidewalk.

Holy mother of God. This boy is a card shark!