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“Strawberry cheesecake?”
“Yeah, it’s my favorite.” I hand her the spoon. “Why?” I give her a side glance. “You don’t like? ‘Cause I’m sorry to tell you, but if you don’t like strawberry cheesecake, I don’t think we can be friends.”
“No, it’s actually one of my favorites too. I just didn’t see you as somebody who’d like it, I guess.”
“Well, Miss Dawson, I guess you don’t know everything about me either, now do you?” I quirk my brow at her before grabbing some ice cream and shoving it into my mouth. “Damn, so good.”
I offer her the box, and Vanessa slides her spoon into the ice cream, bringing it to her mouth. I watch as those pretty red lips wrap around the spoon, and she sucks the ice cream off, all kinds of ungentlemanly ideas popping in my head.
Get your mind out of the gutter!I chastise myself, shifting in my seat and wishing there was some kind of pillow so I could cover my hard-on.
“I have to admit, you were right,” she hums. “I do feel better, although I’m not sure if it’s the ice cream or the alcohol.”
I give her an assessing gaze. It’s hard to decipher her features since we’re sitting in the dark, but from the light coming from the living room, I can see her cheeks are slightly flushed, pupils dilated, and her eyes have that almost glazed look to them.
“Are you drunk?”
“No, not drunk. Buzzed?” She runs her fingers through her hair, pushing it back. “Probably. I didn’t have anything to eat since I threw my dinner at the asshat.”
I choke on a laugh. “You did what?”
“I threw his fancy steak right into his face.” She downs her drink, a frown appearing between her brows, not that it stops her from reaching for the bottle once again. “And I’m not even sorry about it,” she hiccups.
So definitely buzzed.
Those chocolate eyes meet mine, a twinkle of amusement shining in them as she leans closer as if she’s about to tell me a secret. “You should have seen his face. It was totally worth the money I paid since Mr. I-Only-Like-Fancy Restaurants wants the best.”
I shake my head. “You’re one savage woman, Vanessa Dawson. You know that? Remind me not to get on your bad side.”
“You better remember that.” She jabs her finger playfully into my chest before finishing off yet another drink. “Kiara would have been proud.”
“Kiara?”
“My best friend,” Vanessa explains. “She’s like a sister to me. She hates John. She called him a dweeb, and she couldn’t stand to be in the same room with him. I should have known something was up then.”
“The best friend’s never wrong,” I say as I scoop more ice cream.
“Especially not Kiara. That girl has a sixth sense, I swear it.”
“Sixth sense,” I shake my head. “You girls are sometimes scary as fuck.”
“Not that it serves us any good,” Vanessa huffs. “I spent so much time on our relationship, and what for? He’s been dragging me along all this time. Every time I’d bring up our future together, he’d find some reason to push it off. Moving in? When he gets his next promotion. Marriage? Let’s wait a little bit longer; he’s working on a big project. I can’t believe I’ve been so stupid.”
“It’s not your fault,” I repeat. “He’s the asshole here. He should have never strung you along if he wasn’t invested in your relationship. But that’s on him, not you.” I nudge her with the ice cream. There’s still a little bit left, and I figured it’s better to get any food into her if she plans on drinking. “Eat. Even melted like this, it’s still so damn good.” From the corner of my mouth, I can see Vanessa watching me. “What? Do I have…”
She lifts her hand and brings it to my face; her fingers gently brush my chin as she swipes her thumb over the corner of my mouth.
I suck in a breath, surprised at her nearness. Her hot breath touches my skin, making me shiver, although I’m sweating from the warm breeze, that doesn’t help at all with the summer heat.
“You had somethi—”
Vanessa blinks, her words trailing off as she realizes how close we’re sitting to one another. Her gaze meets mine, those rosy lips parting in a slight O. Her pupils are dilated, whiskey and strawberries mixing on her breath.
“Vanessa?” I ask, my voice rough, throat dry.
Her tongue darts out, sliding over her lower lip, but her eyes are still glued to my mouth. She looks up, and I’m hit with the full force of that intense brown gaze. I suck in a breath. I don’t think I’ve ever realized how long her eyelashes were or that she has the faintest dust of freckles scattered over the bridge of her nose. Or…
Before I can blink, her mouth is on mine, and holy shit. Her fingers tighten on my chin as she slides her mouth over mine.
