I'm All Yours (11 page)

“Yea
h
, I guess getting stuck in the ele
vator isn’t all bad,” she said.

The waiter came back carrying their two entrees
and placed the plates on the table
,
along with a silver dish housing the famous house Parmesan cheese blend.

“Can I get you another mineral water, sir?”

“That would be great,” said Kyle.

When the waiter
left, both he and Evie burst out laughing.

“You laughing about the same thing as me?” asked Evie.

“The cheese?”

Evie nodded and laughed again.

“Should I hide it?”
asked Kyle.

“Nope, you’re safe tonight. You’ve done nothing to piss me off
…
so far.”

“While we’re on that topic
–
c
an
I say that I’
m
sorry about what I did
?
I mean standing you up on live TV. It was a shitty thing to do.”

“It really was
,
but I guess I shouldn’t have thrown the drink and cheese at you.”

“And brought out the press…”

Evie colored up again this time
,
not from
embarrassment
but regret. She
’d overreacted to the whole thing
,
and it had been downrig
ht mean to bring along the reporters
that night.

“Let’s agree not to talk about it again,” said Evie.

“
That’s more than okay with me. H
ow’s your food?” asked Kyle.

“It’s great.”

“Yeah, mine
,
too
,
but I think it needs a little more cheese.”

He picked up a spoonful
and held it above his plate
,
and they both laughed again.

***
*

Kyle watched as Evie finished up the last of her past
a.
He realized h
e’d wronged her for
so long
.
Him thinking she was
nothing but
a
self-
centered bitch. A
nd after the drink and cheese throwing incident, a bad tempered one
,
too.
Now seeing her in a different light made him feel a
complete jerk. He was glad they’d
run into one another in the elevator, him finding the Perfect Pairing business card, and him taking the bold step of asking to be matched with her. Yeah, he liked Evie a lot.

T
he wa
iter stepped into the room as they finished the last of their pasta
.

“Are we thinking about dessert?” he asked.

“Oh, I’m
alwa
ys thinking about it
,
but I know
my dress has gotten tighter while I ate that
delicious linguine,” said Evie, sitting back and rubbing her stomach.

“How about you
,
sir?”

“My dress doesn’t feel tight at all, so I think I’ll have some
. How about your famous tiramisu
trifle?”

“Excellent choice.”

“Oh, and bring two spoons because I know Evie’s go
ing to want
some
,
to
o,
once
she sees it.”

“I’ll be right back with that.”

Kyle leaned back and stretched out anticipating the mouthwatering des
s
ert
,
and the rest of the evening in Evie’s company.

“Do you ever have to watch what you eat?” she asked.

“Not really. I work out a lot
,
so it burns up all the calories. And I worry a lot
,
too.”

“About what?”

Boy, he’d set him
self
up for that one
.
He wasn’t about to tell her about the problems with his mother. That was off limits. At least until
he knew Evie better.

“Odd stuff
…
the usual.”

The waiter returned
,
put the des
s
ert in the center of t
he table and set down t
w
o spoons
,
one in front of him and one beside Evie.

“Anything else I can get you?”
he asked.

“I thought of something,” said Kyle. In fact, the idea had popped into his head the minute he’d seen Evie walk through the door that evening.  However, he wanted it to be a surprise for her
,
so he beckoned for the waiter to bend over so he could whisper his request in
to his ear
,
without her hearing a single word.

The waiter nodded, smiled at Evie
,
and then left in a hurry.
Kyle handed Evie one of the spoons.

“So what are you up to?”
asked Evie.

“Nothing bad, really. And at
least try one spoonful of this trifle,” he said.

“If I split my dress I’m holding you responsible.”

Evie
dug into the custard and cream and put it into her mouth.
Just watching her do that was both pure agony and delight
because she even made eating seem sexier than hell.

“Good
,
isn’t it?” he asked.

“You’re right
.
I
t’s
divine.”

“Go on, have another bite.”

She did so without
hesitation
,
and Kyle dug in as well. It really was refreshing to see a woman who wasn’t afraid to eat. And
Evie had nothing to worry about in the weight department.
She had curves
,
which he liked a lot. She
’d
felt s
exy and warm in the elevator. He
knew it was
wrong because they were only in the getting
to know
you phase
,
but he
couldn’t help wonder
ing
what she looked like completely naked.

The
door opened
,
and
three
musicians strolled in carrying guitars and a keyboard.
Kyle had requested
they
play a few tunes for him and Evie in the privacy of the room.

“I didn’t want you missing out on the music because you were stuck in here,’ said Kyle.

They beg
an
playing
,
and Evie smiled
,
which
gave him another idea.
He didn’t know whether she wanted to or even liked dancing
,
but he was about to find out. He stood and offered her his hand.

“You want to dance?”

She stood. “One of my favorite things to do.”

“Me
,
too.”

Soon they were cheek to cheek
,
her hand in his, her arm around his neck, his around her waist.
Perfect.
Once again he
couldn’t help himself. He
was rock hard
,
and he guessed she knew
that as he pulled her in close to his body.
The familiar smell of her perfume rose up to greet him
,
and he snuggled with her some more. Kyle took in the scent of her hair. It smelled like a summer’s day after a rainfall. Fresh, light
,
intoxicating.
He closed his eyes
for a few seconds before opening them
as they moved around in the small space they had in this private room. He wished they could stay like this forever. She ran her fingers along the back of his ne
ck
,
and it made his body tingle. In fact
,
he
thought he’d gone to heaven.

Right now he wanted to make love to her more than anything. Make love. I didn’t call it sex.
It’s been a few days
of firsts for me.

Kyle was tempted to kiss her
,
but the three guys were looking straight at them. Could they be trusted not to t
ell everyone that Kyle Daley
and Evie Winters had been dining at
Ghiderelli
’
s
and
had
kissed as they’d serenaded
them?

For once
in his life
, he’d take a chance. He put his mouth on Evie
’s
and pulled her in as close as she could get.
She tasted of a mixture of tiramisu and strawberries
,
which
he
had guessed was the flavor of her lip gloss. Intoxicating combo
,
but then Evie was spellbinding herself.

He pulled away
,
and they looked at one another without saying a thing. He
maneuvered
her around, making sure they didn’t bump
into
a
nearby
chair. He ran his hand down her back
,
and yes, over her butt.

A man only has so much restraint.