"I know you'll get irritated, but I would have never expected that from you."
"Why is that?"
"Mr. Marine. Always do things by the book."
He smiled and leaned closer, brushing his mouth over hers. "Just so you know, I don't do everything by the book. I have a few rules of my own that are really interesting."
She shivered in response, then sighed. "Okay, we better go in or I am going to convince you to go back to the Santinis house and show me those interesting things."
He groaned and gave her another kiss. This one was hard, quick, and just enough to make them both lose breath.
"You would tempt a saint. Let's go in."
* * * *
They never made it to the movies. They spent too much time talking and laughing at dinner. In fact, she couldn't remember being this relaxed with a guy on the first date. Well, the first official date, that is. Maybe it was that, or maybe it was just that he was really putting her at ease. He flirted, but not too much, and he never pushed her on her rules.
It was hard to ignore the attraction to him, though. Something seemed to simmer beneath her flesh every time she saw him. More and more she found herself wondering what it would feel like laying next to him with nothing on. He would be an amazing lover, there was no doubt about it. He was in good shape, but more importantly, Jesse Johnson paid attention to details.
He pulled up in front of the Santinis' house again and looked across the car to the porch. "Looks like they are waiting for ya."
She turned and noticed the light was still on and laughed. "It's been a long time since someone kept the porch light on for me."
"How does it feel?" he asked as she turned to him.
"Kind of nice. Joey is overbearing but in a really great kind of way. And Papa, he's so sweet."
Jesse snorted.
"What?" she asked.
"The sweet man threatened me the other day."
"He did not."
"He did. He said he and the other four would make me disappear if I was mean to you. Of course, this was before we said we were dating."
"We've been out on one date."
"We've been out on three."
It was her turn to snort. "You're counting the trip into DC?"
"You're lucky I'm not counting the dinner here."
She laughed, really enjoying him.
"That's a sweet sound."
His voice had deepened and it danced over her nerve endings. She wanted to just grab him and do all kinds of bad things to him. She knew they weren't ready, well she wasn't ready, but she needed to do something, take some kind of action.
So, she took his face in her hands and leaned forward to brush her mouth over his. It was a sweet kiss that soon turned into more. Heat exploded, her body seemed to burn up. Needing more, she slipped her tongue into his mouth. God, the man was killing her. His skimmed his hands down her body, brushing his thumbs against the sides of her breasts. She moaned his name against his mouth.
When she realized she was trying to justify slipping over the center console and onto his lap, she forced herself to pull back.
"Okay, so we just made out in a car."
He laughed. "That wasn't much of a make out session."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah. If it had been, you'd be beneath me moaning my name."
She closed her eyes. "You're trying to kill me here."
"I think I have a bigger chance of passing out due to lack of blood in the brain, so I don't want to hear about your discomfort."
She couldn't help but chuckle. "Okay, Marine, I'll give you a little leeway."
"Thank you. It's the least you can do."
He turned to open the door. "You don't have to walk me up to the front door."
"Yes, I do."
She sighed as she watched him round the hood of his car. Of course he did and dammit to hell, she got a special little thrill that he was doing it. He opened her door and helped her out of the car. They said nothing as they walked side by side, his hand on the small of her back. He guided her up on the porch. She turned to face him.
"Thank you for tonight. I had a lot of fun."
He smiled and the genuine pleasure in his gaze made her heart skip that little beat. It was getting more common now.
"I did too. How about I cook for you next time."
"You can cook, Marine?"
"Our grandmother made sure of it and she was Italian."
"Does that mean I'd get some kind of pasta out of the deal?"
"Anything your heart desires."
Again, that little strange skip to her heartbeat. "Well, I think I can do that."
"How about next Thursday? I have a TDY out of town for a few days, have to leave on Sunday morning, but I'm set to return Wednesday night. I took the rest of the week off."
She thought about the idea of going to his house. It definitely put them in a different arena. Part of her worried about moving too fast, but another part of her, ruled completely by her hormones cheered the idea. The hormones won.
"That sounds great."
"And now that I have your number, I can get a hold of you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"MJ gave me shit for not getting it after going into DC together."
"Ah," she said.
She turned to go in for the night, but he stopped her. Leaning down, he brushed his mouth over hers. She knew he meant it to be a light kiss goodnight, but she slid her tongue inside of his mouth. He groaned then sucked on it. The heat that had dimmed just moments earlier exploded.
Zoe would be left wondering just how far that moment would have gone because the light flickered above her head. Jesse chuckled and pulled back from her. "Well, it's been a long time since someone did that to me."
He reached up and rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip.
"You're a hard woman to resist Zoe Jones. Now, go in before I convince you to sneak me into your room."
She sighed and did as he asked because she probably would have snuck him in. Her hormones were definitely winning the battle over her good sense. When she slipped through the front door and locked it, she heard his footsteps recede then disappear. Minutes later, she heard his car start up.
"Good thing that boy has some smarts," Papa said from the shadows. She jumped at the sound of his voice and turned to face him.
"Lord, Papa, you scared me."
He stepped out. "Sorry about that."
"You don't have to worry about Jesse and you don't have to worry about me. Retta insisted we all take self-defense courses."
"Good," he said.
"Was there something else?"
He shook his head. "Goodnight, Zoe."
She smiled and stepped past him toward the stairs but stopped. Zoe gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for looking out for me."
Then she walked up the stairs thinking it was a good thing that Jesse would be gone for a few days. She needed time and distance to make sure she really wanted to get tangled up with the Marine. Sure, she said it would be simple but she knew that no matter what, feelings would be involved. Zoe had to be sure she was willing to take that chance.
* * * *
Joey listened as Zoe's footsteps came up the stairs then off to her bedroom and waited. When Stewart didn't follow, she decided to go in search of her husband.
She found him with a whiskey in his hand as he looked out over their backyard.
"Playing the chaperone isn't easy," she said.
He didn't look behind him, didn't even jump at the sound of her voice. It was hard to sneak up on someone who had been in Special Forces.
"It's different with girls."
"She's a grown woman."
He sipped at his whiskey, then said, "Doesn't matter."
"Jesse Johnson is a good man. You know that."
He nodded as he took another sip. "Doesn't mean I want him mauling her on our front porch."
She bit her lip trying not to smile. Joey had always said that he would have been a pain in the ass father for any girl.
"Oh, Stewart, it was only a kiss goodnight."
He grunted.
"And she can make her own decisions."
He looked over his shoulder at her. "Are you telling me to butt out?"
She shook her head. "It's kind of sweet. I'm looking forward to seeing how Leo acts when the first boy comes calling."
He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"What is it?"
He sighed and turned around to look out at the yard again. "I wasn't there for you."
She knew exactly what he talked about. Before meeting Stewart, she had been a victim of a date rape. The fact that it still bothered him all these years later was a testament to the stubbornness of the man.
Tears burned the backs of her eyes, but she said nothing. Instead, she stepped forward, slipped her arms around him, and rested her head against his back. And there in the silence of the kitchen, she fell a little more in love with Stewart Santini.