After dessert and coffee, I reluctantly drove her home. With each passing second, the disappointment built inside me. I wasn’t ready for this night to end. I knew that I hadn’t done enough to win her over, I’d tried my hardest, but it wasn’t good enough. As I pulled up outside her apartment, I smiled over at her, silently hoping that her boyfriend knew what a good thing he had going with her. Jealousy was eating me up inside.

I climbed out of the car. “I’ll walk you up,” I stated, closing her car door for her. She smiled gratefully and walked to the door, entering her passcode. I followed silently behind her, debating whether I could kiss her goodbye and what her reaction would be.

After she unlocked her door, she stepped over the threshold, holding the door open and eyeing me curiously. “Not coming in for the or something?” she asked, smirking at me.

My easy smile slid off my face as my heart sped up with excitement. Was she offering me sex? Had I impressed her? My mouth watered at the thought of peeling her out of that hot little dress.

I nodded eagerly, stepping forward quickly. Just as I was about to cross the threshold, she put her hand out, halting me. “I was kidding. Glad to see you’re so eager, but one night stands just don’t cut it for me, sorry.”

I swallowed my disappointment. So damn close but yet so far! “How about a two-night stand?” I offered. She laughed and shook her head slowly. “Three? Four? A week?” I asked, hating the desperation I felt inside.

“Sorry. If you want to come in for a coffee then feel free, but that’s all that’s on offer.” She leant against the doorframe, crossing one long leg over the other.

I sighed deeply and walked into her place, throwing my hands up dramatically. “This had better be one great cup of coffee.”

As I strutted into her kitchen without waiting for her, I heard her chuckling behind me. “Make yourself at home, why don’t you?” she teased, as I started up her coffee machine.

“I will.”

As I turned, I saw her standing just behind me. I grinned as I set my hands on her h*ps and lifted her onto the counter. A sexy little squeak of surprise left her lips as a blush coloured her cheeks. While she busied herself pulling on the bottom of her dress, trying to cover up her legs where it had risen up, I grabbed two mugs from the cupboard that I’d seen her get them from last time.

We took the coffees into the lounge and when she sat herself on the sofa next to me, instead of one of the two other free chairs, I decided to take that as a good sign. Now, if I could get her to agree to come out with me again, then maybe I would have a real chance with her. I’d just have to be patient for a few dates until she was ready to give it up. I could be patient; well, I was pretty sure I could anyway; I’d never actually tried.

We talked easily about movies that we’d seen recently or things that she wanted to see. She was gushing about some crappy sounding romantic comedy that she wanted to see. It sounded like a total chick flick to me – my worst nightmare.

After I’d drained my cup, I figured it was about time for me to leave and let her go to bed. We both had work the following day. “I’d better go and let you get your beauty sleep. Not that you need any more of it, of course.”

She stood and followed me towards the door. “Okay, well thanks for dinner. You should have let me pay this time though, seeing as you paid last time.” She smiled at me gratefully.

Okay, one last go, Nate. Last try. Give it your best shot. Nerves built inside me again. I gulped, willing my voice not to betray me. “Why don’t we go and see that chick flick? Like a date this time, a real date. We could get some food after?” I offered hopefully. Come on, Rosie; please say yes. Just say yes, come on. Screw your man, he’ll never even know if you don’t tell him, please! When she didn’t reject me immediately, hope bubbled up in my stomach. “We could go tomorrow night if you want...”

Her teeth sank into her bottom lip as she shook her head. “I’m sorry, Nate, weekdays just aren’t good for me.”

Wait… that wasn’t a no! She couldn’t do weekdays – did that mean she could do the weekend?

“What about the weekend then?”

She pursed her lips and her eyebrows knitted together. I stood there, willing her to agree. Just when I thought the silence was going to kill me, she spoke and put me out of my misery.

“Okay, yeah. I’m free on Friday or Saturday,” she mumbled, nodding but looking like she wasn’t sure she should have agreed.

Biting back my victory growl, I grinned, fighting the sudden urge to rip my shirt off and spin it above my head in celebration. “How about Friday and Saturday?” I pressed.

She laughed incredulously. “How do you know you’ll want to see me both nights? Maybe the date will be boring and then you’d regret asking me out again.”

I stepped closer to her and her cocky smile fell from her face.

“It won’t be boring, I can tell,” I replied honestly. For some reason, I knew she wouldn’t bore me. It wasn’t just the way she looked, it was her.

“Alright, I’ll agree to both nights, but I’d like to impose a get-out clause. If Friday sucks then either one of us can cancel Saturday, deal?” she suggested, stepping back slightly because I was encroaching on her personal space.

It had taken longer than I’d hoped, but I’d finally got her to agree to go on a date with me. “Deal. So, can I get your number?” I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and passed it to her.

She punched in her number before holding it back to me.

“I’ll see you Friday then.” She bit her lip as she opened the front door, waiting for me to leave.

I gulped, needing to push my luck a little further. “Before I go, I wondered if you’d be interested in making a little bet with me.” I raised a challenging eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes, laughing. “I’m not betting on how the date is going to end, if that’s what this is going to be about.”

“No, actually, I was going to bet you twenty bucks that I could kiss you without using my lips.”

Her nose crinkled up as she frowned. “That’s impossible. You can’t kiss someone without using your lips,” she countered. I waited, letting her think about it while silently praying she hadn’t seen this trick before. “Alright, yeah, I’ll take that bet,” she suddenly agreed, smiling confidently.

As I took another step towards her, she instantly stepped back and bumped into the wall behind her. I smiled at her deer-trapped-in-the-headlights look. The vulnerability of her and her cute little bewildered expression made my lungs constrict. Unable to keep the smile off my face, I bent my head slowly towards hers. Her breathing sped, but her eyes never left mine. As my lips touched hers, I tried not to moan at the soft feel of them. My whole body was itching to grab hold of her, kiss the life out of her and hear her moan my name. In that moment, I knew I shouldn’t have kissed her, because now I didn’t want to leave.

I forced myself to pull back after a couple of seconds. “I lost,” I whispered to her obviously shocked face.

She burst out laughing. “Damn it, how did I fall for that?”

“Because deep down you wanted to kiss me too.”

A wicked grin crossed her face. “If I’d wanted to kiss you I would have done this…”

Her hand fisted the front of my shirt as she pulled me closer to her, going up onto tiptoes at the same time. Her lips crushed against mine. I grunted, shocked by her boldness. When she didn’t pull back I moaned in the back of my throat and wrapped my arms around her, crushing her body against mine. Her arms slipped around my neck as I pressed her against the wall. I couldn’t seem to get close enough.

I wanted desperately to deepen the kiss, but I didn’t want to take it too far and have her nervous on Friday, thinking I wanted sex. When the kiss broke, I pressed my forehead to hers. I couldn’t help but smile when she took a couple of seconds to open her eyes. A smile twitched at the corners of her mouth, almost as if she was replaying the kiss in her mind, savouring it.

“I’d better go,” I whispered, rubbing my nose against hers lightly making her arms tighten around my neck slightly before she let go and stepped back smiling sheepishly.

“Okay, see you Friday.” She smiled, biting her lip. I turned for the door but then stopped when I remembered I hadn’t paid up for the bet. Fishing my wallet from my pocket, I dug out a twenty and held it out to her. She burst out laughing. “Again you manage to make me feel like a hooker. Great job.”

I laughed too. If she was selling those damn kisses I’d have myself bankrupt by now – I was fast becoming addicted to them, yet I’d only had two.

“A bet’s a bet.” I shrugged, holding it out to her again.

She took it from my hand and stepped closer to me, wrapping her arm around me and pushing it into my back pocket, patting my ass gently after. “You keep it. That one was on the house, a free sample,” she teased, as she put her hand on my chest and pushed gently, guiding me out of the door.

“The trouble with free samples is that they always leave you wanting more.”

“You should go before you ruin everything. You sound like you’re fast turning this conversation into something crude and suggestive. I can still change my mind about Friday, you know.” She coughed dramatically. “Wow, it sounds like I’m getting sick… maybe I won’t be able to make it after all.” She coughed again looking at me warningly.

I held my hands up innocently. “I’m going. Go take some cough syrup and don’t you dare cancel on me, muffin.”

She giggled as she closed the door in my face, leaving me standing there like a moron. I laughed and turned for the stairs, unable to restrain my huge grin. I jumped the last four steps like a little kid. As I stepped out of the building, I pulled out my cell phone and opened up my messages, deciding to send her one.

‘Let me know if you don’t get rid of that cough before Friday. I have a doctors outfit I could bring round ;P’

My phone beeped with her reply just as I slid into the driver’s seat.

‘My cough seemed to clear up as soon as I shut the door. Maybe I’m allergic to the slutty lines? :S’

I laughed and shook my head, hitting reply immediately. Friday seemed like a long way away now; I was highly excited about it.

‘I’ll find a cure don’t worry, muffin. I’ll sext you tomorrow x’

Chapter Seven

All through the next few days I couldn’t stop myself from texting her. Thankfully though, she obviously didn’t think I was coming on too strong because she replied to every single one, plus she hadn’t cancelled for Friday. Throughout the week, my mind would wander to her as soon as I had free time. I’d be sitting watching TV and something that she’d said or text me would spring to the front of my mind and I’d just sit there laughing.

I’d had such a busy week, working twelve hour shifts, that by the time I got home all I wanted to do was eat, sleep and text Rosie.

On Thursday night I called her just to make sure we were still set for our date. It was the first time I’d actually spoken to her since Monday and the sound of her voice made a goofy smile slip onto my face. We’d ended up talking on the phone for over an hour. Usually talking to girls bored me, but with Rosie I just seemed to enjoy her company and her personality.

When I finally disconnected the call, I frowned at it and decided not to text or speak to her again until our date the following day. I was fast turning into some whipped guy that hung on her every word. Turning onto my side, I shoved my cell phone into my bedside drawer and slammed it shut, knowing that I needed to limit the damage she was doing to me. I was getting a little obsessed with her; I could feel it building inside me.

But no sooner than the drawer closed, I heard a beep signalling a new message. Excitement built in my chest as my hand shot towards the drawer, yanking it open again, eagerly whipping out my phone because I thought it would be her again. But as I opened the message, I saw it was from one of my friends instead of her. I didn’t realise how disappointed I would feel. I sighed, sending a quick reply before dropping my phone back onto the bed and shaking my head at myself.

“Stop, Nate. She’s just a hot girl. You want her body and nothing more. Get over it already because you’re acting like a pu**y right now.”

As the words left my mouth, I knew they were wrong. I didn’t just want her body, because that wasn’t the reason I wanted to call her again even though I’d hung up less than three minutes ago. I’d never had a real girlfriend before, not a proper one that I had feelings for. I started to wonder what it would actually feel like to have one girl that you cared about above everything else; one girl that you wanted to go home to every night, and talk to instead of going out with your friends. Maybe it would feel a little like what I was feeling now – sort of contented and happy.

I frowned, wondering again, like I had wondered probably a hundred times since I’d met her, why did she have to have a boyfriend? She was the one girl that I had even the slightest of feelings for, yet she had to already be with someone. But, like I’d also wondered and contemplated probably a hundred times since I’d met her, did she really have a boyfriend? She’d agreed to come out with me, and she’d certainly flirted with me several times by text and on the phone just now. If she did have a boyfriend who’d moved from Barstow to be with her, wouldn’t he have been sat next to her while she was just talking to me for over an hour? Wouldn’t he have noticed her sending a ridiculous amount of texts and ask her who she was messaging?