"So, am I ever going to see your place?" I ask him after taking a big drink of water.
Zane hesitates, glancing out the window. "I was thinking we'd go by there on Monday before I take you home."
"Really?" I bounce excitedly. "That'd be awesome."
"Yeah." His smile is stiff, but I pretend not to notice. Could he be less enthusiastic?
I decide to change the subject. " So," I say, pointing a fry at him. "What do you want for Christmas?"
"You."
I make a face and throw my fry at him. "I'm serious."
"So am I." He tosses my fry back at me. "You've got Christmas break coming up, right? Spend it with me."
I start laughing, but when I see the utterly serious look on his face, my laughter fades. "You must be joking. My mom would never..."
"I'll talk to her," Zane says, sitting up from his sprawled position. "She'll say yes."
My eyes widen. "You're going to tell her about us?"
He smirks slightly. "You don't think she already knows?"
"That we're together like this?" I wave my hand at our casual state of dress. "She'll freak out! I'll be grounded for the first time in my life!"
"What, you think she expects you to be her good little girl forever?" Zane takes a swig from his water bottle. "Look, I'll take care of it, okay? If you want to stay with me, I'll make it work."
My heart stumbles when I look at him. “Of course I want to. That would be so…incredible.”
I love the way Zane’s face lights up. He leans toward me, his eyes darkening. “You’re incredible. Come here.”
I immediately crawl over to him. The food forgotten, we start kissing. He tugs on the sash of my robe, pulling it open. When he glances down, he bursts out laughing.
"Wait—turn around. Is that...?"
I have no idea what he's talking about, but I turn so that my back is to him. He slides my robe off my shoulders, then I feel his hand on my butt.
"There's that rabbit." He chuckles, sounding way too amused.
I whirl around with a gasp. "You remember?!"
"How could I forget? Hell, I had dreams about those panties."
"What kind of dreams?"
Zane grins wickedly, patting my bunny's face. "I'll show you later."
My mind goes back to that embarrassing incident. That was the day Matt broke up with me. I remember being totally devastated, crying like a fool. Ugh, then bumping into Zane—or Hot Guy at the time—and how mortified I was at a gorgeous stranger seeing me at my blubbering worst.
Who could have ever predicted that I would end up like this, with said gorgeous stranger, and that Matt's betrayal would be nothing more than a distant memory?
Shaking my head, I smile at Zane. "I thought I'd never see you again."
"If I didn't know I'd see you again, I'd have gotten your number."
"Aww, that's so...wait, what?" I stare at him, puzzled. "How'd you know you'd see me again?"
He leans back against on his elbows, regarding me with a teasing look. "I recognized you from the fifty pictures your mom showed me of her beautiful daughter, Violet."
"Really? Ugh! Why didn't you say something?"
"And miss that look on your face when I showed up?" Zane smirks.
"That's just great," I mutter. I slip my robe back on and tie the sash up uncomfortably tight.
"Come on, Violet, don't be mad." He grabs my arm and pulls me against his bare chest, so I'm half lying on him.
I snuggled up against him, resting my head on his shoulder. "I'm not. Just horribly embarrassed. Again."
Zane chuckles, moving his hand over my hair. "You know," he begins after a short silence. "I told myself to stay away from you."
I tilt my head back to look at him. "Why?"
"When I first saw your picture, I wanted you," he admits. "Then that day I found you crying and stuck in a door...you were so sweet and vulnerable. And then you showed up on my doorstep. I didn't want to hurt you, so I tried to keep my distance."
He's smiling wryly down at me. I poke him in the chest. "And that night in the pool? Was that keeping your distance?"
His smile gets bigger. "Oh, that."
"Yeah, that."
"That was...an experiment."
"An experiment?" I repeat incredulously. "Are you kidding me?"
“Hey, it’s all good now, right?” I can feel the vibrations of his quiet laughter, and it tickles.
“More than okay,” I admit. A yawn escapes me, and I stretch languidly against him. “What time is it?”
Zane reaches for his phone on the table a few inches from our heads. He snags it and squints at the screen. “Three-fifteen.”