“I ordered the most common things you might find in a tapas bar in Spain. It’ll give you a sampling. You’ll love it.” He grabbed her hand again. He couldn’t seem to keep himself from maintaining contact. “Try the wine.”
He watched in anticipation while she sniffed and then sampled the dark red wine. “Mmm, it could grow on me.” She smiled and took another drink.
“You’ll love it paired with some cheese and jamón serano, a Spanish ham. We’ll order that next.”
“I’ll be stuffed!”
“I don’t like my dates to end the evening hungry.” Not that he had any intention of ever having another date. Well, with anyone but her.
Diós mío, she is so gorgeous.
Her cheeks began to glow, probably from the influence of the wine she was sipping. It was a beautiful look on her, but he didn’t want her drunk either. “That wine is strong. Be careful not to drink too much before the meal. I’ll be … how do you say? Scraping you off the floor?”
Lindsey laughed and set her glass down. “That would be embarrassing. I’ll try to avoid it.” Her eyes nearly danced. She seems relaxed. Happy. Thank God. Now if he could just win her over completely with the food of his home country, he’d be a satisfied man.
*
Lindsey was in love. Well, perhaps that was a bit strong a word for a man she’d spent all of three hours total with, but she was certainly in lust. Surely, it was too good to be true. The proverbial shoe would most likely drop at any moment.
He was kind, considerate, handsome and sexy. And his eyes… A woman could get lost in those eyes and never come back. He looked at her so deeply; he seemed to see her soul.
Even when he’d mentioned her parents, he understood her need to drop the subject.
And his hands. He never stopped touching her. His fingers rubbed circles on her palms, then her wrists, then her fingers. She couldn’t stop thinking about what those hands could do to other parts of her body, a body that was aching to find out.
She’d been fidgeting around her damp panties since they’d arrived at the restaurant. When she looked down at their joined hands, she couldn’t prevent the image of those huge, work-roughened, tan fingers working her to orgasm. And she had no doubt he could do it. In fact, probably right now under the table, given the opportunity.
The idea sent a shiver down her body. She was so horny, she thought she’d combust before the evening was over. In the past few years she’d had a few boyfriends, even one that lasted several months, but no man had ever, ever, made her … want … so desperately. In fact, no man had ever brought her to orgasm, to be honest.
What made her think this one could? And why did she think she could relax enough to let him? Now that was a hurdle Dr. Barbara Mathius, her shrink, would have a field day with. Hell, the woman would probably declare her cured and tell her not to come back.
So she had no idea why she felt so confident about Alejandro. But she just knew. And man did she want to test her theory.
But she wouldn’t. Of course. Who comes on this strongly to a man she just met yesterday? He was marriage material, so far, until the bomb dropped and she found out he picked his nose while driving or chewed with his mouth opened or got blazing drunk and acted like an idiot. An infinite number of possibilities existed. She was just waiting to find out which one it would be.
Or maybe she’d get lucky and he would be marriage material. In that case, she had a moral standard not to sleep with him on the first date. Or the second. Probably.
Four years of counseling had gotten her to this place. A place where she felt almost normal, like a regular adult woman should. Dr. Mathius had helped her weed through the parts of her childhood that were reasonable to keep and toss out the parts that didn’t work.
She shook the meandering thoughts from her head. “So, are you planning to stay in the States? Or are you just sort of taking a sabbatical from grapes?” Damn, that thought just popped out of her mouth. What if she did really fall for the man and he decided to leave? Yikes.
“I have no definite plans. Just letting life lead me where it will right now. It was a blessing in disguise to come here and regroup. And now I’ve met such a fantastic woman, maybe I’ll just stay.” He raised an eyebrow and chuckled. Making it virtually impossible to know if he was joking or being somewhat serious. She wasn’t sure which she preferred.
It was way too soon to have such a discussion, and she positively should not feel regret burning a hole in her stomach that he might move to the other side of the earth.
She involuntarily squeezed his hands tighter as though that would prevent him from escaping. And what the hell was the matter with her? She just met him yesterday. She didn’t even know his middle name, and she was worried about the fictitious possibility that in the distant future he might leave?