Secret Designs(28)

Why, oh why, did she have to be so affected by his presence?

"Ari, I don't know what you're thinking right now but it's obvious you're moving away from me. I'm sorry for not calling you back when you rang. I'm sorry you saw me with Rosalie the other night. I'm sorry I stuffed up with you."

Her eyebrows lifted at his last sentence.

"But," he continued with a sigh, "for what it's worth, I want you to know I did want to call you back; Rosalie doesn't mean anything to me; and I still want to be with you again."

She stared at him, his words creating more questions than answers.

"So why didn't you call me back?"

He rubbed his face with his hand. "You want the truth?"

She snickered. "Why would I not want the truth, Dylan?"

"Okay. I didn't call you back because I didn't want you to think there was something special going on between us beyond the sex."

She gasped as his candidness hit her solar plexus like a punch.

"Thanks for letting me know," she squeaked as she hurried to open her car door.

"Wait!" Dylan stepped closer, not allowing her space to move. "Like I said, Ari, I stuffed up."

"What do you mean, Dylan?"

He looked at her imploringly. "I feel something, Ari. It's too new, too complex to put a name to. All I know is that I want to see where it could lead."

She gazed at him. If he had said something sweet and flirty, she would have pushed him away and drove off. But the raw sincerity in his disclosure, his uncertainty, his vulnerability, struck an answering chord in her.

"What exactly are you saying?" she asked softly.

"I want to be with you, Ari. I miss you."

"I discovered I'm not built for casual relationships, Dylan."

"If it's monogamous, would you still call it casual?"

She frowned, trying to get what he meant.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm not ready for a full-on, serious relationship but I definitely want more than a casual, friends-with-benefits thing with you. Way more. Does that make sense?" he asked, looking slightly frustrated.

She couldn't help the smile that bloomed in her face. "You mean you want us to start dating?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. I guess that's what I mean."

Laughter bubbled out of her. She didn't know why, but she just found him too funny. "You guess?"

"Hey," Dylan said with an affronted look. "I haven't 'dated' this way for years. I just forgot what it's called."

She sobered. "So you've just been having one-night stands and casual sex for years? For how long?"

He threaded his fingers through his hair. "Uh, yeah, for about five years. But I've always worn a condom and have regular tests. The last one was three weeks ago. They always come back clean. And it's not as if I trawled at bars every week," he said a tad defensively.

"You're funny, Dylan," she said with a genuine smile.

He cocked his head to the side. "So, does that help me in this case?"

"I guess."

His smile was brilliant as he tilted her chin up and fitted his lips with hers.

Within seconds, their kiss turned hotter. She slid her arms around his neck and pressed closer to him. God, she missed him. She didn't know what she'd just gotten herself into, or where they would end up, but as long as they could cultivate respect in their fledgling relationship, she was in.





CHAPTER ELEVEN





Dylan groaned as Ari's soft body pressed against his hardness. Fuck. The way he was feeling, he didn't think he'd make it home.

"Do you want to go to my place? It's closer," he whispered in her ear before kissing her neck.

She leaned back to look at him. "I thought we'd be dating."

"We are, starting from now," he confirmed.

"Well, I think we should go on dates first, before we end up in bed again," she said warily.

Great. I even forgot how to date a girl, he thought guiltily. She was right, of course. If this were to work out, he had to learn when to keep his hands off her. Besides, she deserved to be treated well.

"You're right. Sorry. So, do you want to go out with me tonight?" he asked, lightly running his hand on her arm.

"Sure," she replied with a smile.

"I'll pick you up at seven?"

"Sounds good."

He gave her a swift kiss and let her go. "I'll see you in a couple of hours."

*

Dylan drove back to his place with a silly grin on his face. After feeling shattered that Ari might have chosen Henry over him, this turn of events was better than he'd anticipated.

He had to book a restaurant for dinner. Geez, he hadn't taken a girl out on a proper date for so long that he didn't have any idea where he could take her. Sure, he knew all the bars and clubs in Sydney—the good ones, at least—but that wasn't what he had in mind for Ari tonight.