Page 11 of Catch a Tiger

He’s not normally this brash. He normally doesn’t come on to women either. Something about Maria has stirred awake something inside him that’s been sleeping for a long, long time. A horny, teenage kid wrapped in an adult, overworked body.

But that’s what he’d like to do. He’d like to fuck her. Not just fuck her and leave, but his cock definitely would like to slide into her pussy and his mouth would definitely like to devour hers.

Despite the acidic scent of coffee throughout The Brew, he could smell her unique scent. Honey. Caramel. The smell of her strawberry shampoo when he leaned in close. All those scents drew him in and he could easily be addicted to them.

He growls under his breath. She’s not coming. She chickened out.

Just as he puts the car into drive, the apartment door opens. Maria is there and so is her roommate. Her roommate waves, and then shoves her outside and slams the door behind her. It’d be laughable if Mark didn’t see the look on her face. She’s definitely terrified, but she straightens her shoulders and puts one foot in front of the other anyway.

She’s striking in her yellow dress. It’s form-fitting at the top and flows out around her waist and down to the middle of her thighs. With her dark purple hair, it’s a beautiful contrast.

She has make-up on. Not a lot, but enough that it brings out the vibrant shade of her eyes. Truth be told, he prefers it when she doesn't wear make-up, but most women do. Most women think they have to change their face to be more beautiful. He won’t tell her that though. By the way she nibbles her bottom lip as she walks to his car, he can tell she’s already nervous enough.

Climbing out of the car, he jogs around to the other side and opens the door for her. She meets his eyes, only for a second, and mutters, “Thank you.”

She braces her hand against the doorframe, but just before she can climb in, he gently grips her upper arm. It pulls her attention back to him, and slowly as if he might scare his little mouse, he leans in and whispers, “Relax. I won’t bite.”

He doesn’t miss the shiver that momentarily quakes her body. He loves how responsive she is to him.

She’s back to nibbling her bottom lip again, and she turns to him. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

The wind blows a strand of hair in her face, so he reaches and brushes it behind her ear. “I’m sure. Get in the car, Maria.”

“Okay,” she says meekly, and she listens to him, gingerly sliding inside.

He grins and shuts her door, then makes his way to his side of the car. Soon, they're driving down the road to his favorite restaurant. They have reservations, and thankfully, he texted his buddy who works there as a waiter that they’d be a little late. He promised he’d hold the table for them.

It isn’t far, just down the street in fact, and soon, he’s parking. He exits the car and crosses to the other side to open hers. She smiles a small smile at him when he holds out his hand for her.

“Thank you,” she says as she takes his hand and climbs out of the car. “You have a nice car.”

“Thanks. I bought it a few weeks ago.”

He doesn’t let go of her hand as they make their way to the busy restaurant’s front door. When they arrive at the door, he opens it for her and ushers her inside. He knew it’d be busy, but he wasn’t expecting it to be this busy. People are everywhere in the front entrance, waiting for their table to be called.

Taking Maria’s hand one more time, he guides their way through the people to the front desk. His buddy is standing there, staring at the computer with deep concentration. When he doesn’t look up, Mark raps his fingers on the desk.

Startled, Jim looks up. “Mark! Finally, man. I was just about ready to give your table away. I didn’t think you were coming.”

“I told you I was.”

He pushes his glasses up his nose with his pointer finger. “Yeah, but that was twenty minutes ago. Do you see how busy we are?” Jim gestures to the crowd behind them.

“Well, thanks. Is it ready now, or should we join the people behind us?”

Jim grabs two menus and gestures for them to follow him. Walking backward, he holds out his hand to Maria. “I’m Jim. And your name is?”

“Maria,” she says, taking his hand.

“Well, beautiful Maria,” he says, turning back around and talking over his shoulder as they weave between tables. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Maria blush at the praise. “You must be something special if you’re going on a date with Mark.”

She snaps her attention to Mark. “What do you mean?”

Jim raises an eyebrow at her when they arrive at the table. “He doesn’t date. Not that I’ve seen anyway. It’s always a table for one.”

Maria slides into her chair at the same time Mark does, sitting across from him. She keeps her eyes on Mark when she answers with, “You don’t say.”

Holding his hand with the menus over his heart, Jim says, “I speak the truth and only the truth. Like I said, you must be special.”