He smiled back at me, but his eyes flickered down at his watch. I saw the indecision in his eyes. I was about to convince him with kisses when he ran one hand down his face and let out a low sigh. “What time is the next showing?”
“Eight!” I yelped, jumping up and down on his lap, knowing I’d won.
“Easy, beautiful.” He chuckled darkly. “You keep doing that, and we won’t be making the movies.”
I kissed his lips long and hard as his hands wrapped around my waist.
Pulling back, I said, “I want popcorn, a Slurpee, and Snowcaps.” I kissed his cheek again then instantly debated if this was crossing the FTF line. But I wanted to watch this movie, so I pushed down the little voice of reason in the back of my head.
He stood, forcing me off his lap. “Let’s go before it gets too late. I have to finish this proposal. I need to secure this deal tomorrow.”
I barely refrained from groaning. I was a selfish little witch. I knew he had work to do, but still . . . I wanted to watch my movie. And for whatever reason, I wanted to watch it with him.
“We’ll have to grab a quick dinner.” He piled his work papers in the center of the coffee table.
“Better yet, let’s grab a hotdog at the movie theatre.” I wasn’t normally into greasy food, but my stomach was suddenly grumbling for a hotdog.
He snaked one arm around my waist and pulled me in. “Great idea.” He pecked my lips sweetly, which awakened the butterflies in my stomach.
I bit my lip and peered up at him through my lashes, studying his strong yet handsome features. I drowned in the sea of blue looking down at me, and a lightness spread throughout my limbs.
Releasing a silent sigh, I went up on my tiptoes and kissed him again. “Thank you,” I whispered against his lips.
***
BRIAN
Her makeup was scattered all over my bathroom counter. She told me she needed five minutes to freshen up, but as I rested against the frame of the bathroom door, I wondered how long her five minutes would actually be. Probably as long as Trey’s five minutes.
I rubbed the back of my neck, forced stress off my face and tried not to let my impatience show. My watch indicated it was almost time to go, and I counted the number of hours I had left before tomorrow’s morning call. I was torn. My responsible side needed to get my shit together and get the proposal done, but my fun side wanted to let loose and enjoy the evening with Kendy.
She cast me a look and flung her makeup brush in my direction, barely missing my chest, which made me laugh. “You will not be thinking of work when you’re with me.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I lifted my hand to salute her.
With her, all sensible logic flew out the door. This woman, I swear, had a way to get me to do whatever she wanted, where there was no way I could say no to her.
Funny enough, my father was the same way with my mother.
My jaw locked automatically as soon as the thought filtered through.
“Loosen up. Going out tonight will do you good. Work smurf. That stuff will be there tomorrow.”
“All right then, Ms. Fashionista. You don’t want to be late for your movie, so hurry your ass up.” I picked up the brush and tossed it with a swish back in her bag.
I was constantly having this internal struggle within myself, listing reasons why I shouldn’t be with her, reminding myself that she was ready to hook up and marry this other guy.
I’d played our conversations over and over again in my head. Her constantly talking about him. When I thought of Stiff, I pictured myself knocking him on his ass, staking a claim on her as they had in the caveman days.
True, I didn’t know him, but I didn’t like that he was still somehow the center of her world. I told myself that I’d promised her we were only ‘FTF-ing’, though I’d grown to hate that word. It seemed like weeks ago I’d promised myself all I needed was a little excitement, some fun, and a break from my day-to-day stress.
I had thoroughly screwed myself. I knew this, because I watched her every move, and as she looked in the mirror and held up two different pairs of earrings, I thought it was the cutest thing. Everything she did was damn adorable.
I wanted to tell her we should forego the movie and make a movie of our own. Or just rent one instead and make a point not to watch it.
She finally decided on a pair and looked at me for approval. “Beautiful,” I said, but I wasn’t talking about the earrings. Damn me and my inability to keep our relationship purely platonic.
I was screwed. I should cut myself off because the more we prolonged this relationship, the harder it was going to be on me. But I knew I wouldn’t. I just couldn’t. I knew myself. So I needed to formulate a plan.
I would have to convince her to pick me over Stiff. As irritating as it was that I even needed to prove myself over the prick, I knew that’s what I would have to do.
Smiling to myself, a thought pushed to the surface. Going forward, I’d break every FTF rule there was in that damn handbook of hers. Every single one.
***
I pulled her to the elevator and pressed the down button. As we stepped onto the main floor, I held her hand and opened every door that led us to the outside without breaking contact.
We hailed a cab, and I kissed our locked fingers, making sure I was breaking some unspoken rule. She had this look in her eyes, like she was quietly questioning my affection, yet she didn’t stop me.
I opened the door as we stepped into the cab, and she babbled on about how she hadn’t seen a scary movie in forever, since she’d left Bowlesville. I wondered if she knew she had repeated herself three times.
“Are you scared of zombies?” she asked, lowering her tone in a scary way, which had the opposite effect on me.
“There’s nothing I’m scared of, Kendy,” I told her with confidence.
She laughed and flipped her blonde locks over her shoulder. “Silly me. Thinking this blue-eyed bad boy was scared of anything.” She pushed at my chest with her index finger.
I laughed and pulled her in closer, taking in her intoxicating scent. I hadn’t felt like this in a long time—fully content, like nothing was missing—and I couldn’t help but feel as though it had everything to do with her.
I didn’t tell her that I was lying. Instead, I released a shallow breath and remained quiet. Because the truth was, there was only one thing that scared me . . . losing her to Stiff.
Losing her to anyone who wasn’t me.
***
KENDY
We were still holding hands as we strolled down the street. I’d never mentioned holding hands was against the rules, but really, I should’ve added that to my made up list. If we were going to keep our relationship strictly platonic, there didn’t need to be any handholding business.
I didn’t want to lead him on, but he knew what our relationship was. I glanced at his profile, wondering what he was thinking. A little stubble had grown on his chin, and I wanted to run my fingers down his face—better yet, my tongue. But then we’d never make the movie.
As we stepped in front of the attendant, I pulled out my wallet. I had to pay for my own ticket. I needed to make sure this wasn’t a full on date and keep the friendship lines clear.
“What’re you doing?” he asked incredulously.
“Paying for my movie.”
He moved my hand away from the window. “No, you’re not.”
I leaned in so no one could hear me. “We’re already boom-booming, and you’re taking me to the movies? Nope. I’m paying for my own. FTF handbook.” I winked at him to soften the blow.
A muscle moved in his jaw, but his face remained unaffected. “You and your damn make-the-rules-as-I-go handbook.”
Giving him a satisfied smile, I shoved my money toward the attendant through the small window. “One for Zombies Take Over.” I flashed a flirty smile, causing the teenage boy to blush, but then Brian blocked my path and moved my money to the side.