Raincheck by Marlo Lanz

TY

“Find your key yet?” I asked in a hushed voice as Liv continued to fish through her oversized purse. We’d been standing outside of her Manhattan hotel room for several minutes already. Not that I minded. Right now, I would have stood in the sewer as long as I was with her. “So what exactly do you have in there?” I inquired, looking down into the abyss that held everything known to man.
“Just stuff. Crap, where did I put that key?” she muttered shifting
through random items. “I think I need to clean my purse out.”
“You think?” I teased, grinning at her.
Pulling the plastic rectangle from her purse, Liv returned my grin.
“Eureka!” she exclaimed.
“Shhh,” I warned, putting my forefinger against her soft lips. Wishing
that I could replace my finger with my lips. “You’re gonna wake everyone up,” I quietly reprimanded. “It’s late.”
Liv smiled up at me and I couldn’t help but inch closer.
“Thanks again for supper. I have to admit that was the best fettuccini carbonara I’ve ever had. It was fun tonight.”
She reached over taking her shopping bags from my hands, a warm sensation shooting through my body as our fingers brushed. It had been like this all night. The way Liv looked at me and the feeling I had every time we accidentally – or, maybe, not so accidentally – touched was electric.
And absolutely maddening.
“You sound surprised that we had fun?”
“Well, you can be kind of a jerk some times,” Liv teased and I wondered if the alcohol was fueling her words or if she was always this way. With guys who didn’t constantly act like idiots. Or maybe even with guys she liked. Who she was attracted to.
That’s right Ty, keep hoping. Real healthy.
I looked at Liv, my eyes slowly sweeping over her beautiful face. “Guess I owe you an apology.”
“For what exactly?” she pushed, making me fall a little bit more.
I never had a woman call me out for being a jerk before. And, fuck me, I liked it.
“For being such an ass the first day we met – and pretty much ever since,” I continued, my eyes devouring her. But I couldn’t help it.
She swallowed hard under the weight of my stare. And I thought about how amazing it would feel to run my lips up her smooth neck.
Easy man. I’d managed to keep my thoughts in check – mostly – so far. Just a few more minutes and we’d have had the perfect day together. And I need that. I needed Liv to see how great we were together.
“Oh,” Liv replied, her eyebrows raised in amazement. “No worries, water under the bridge. Does this mean that I’m not ordered to avoid you at all costs anymore?”
The corners of my mouth turned upwards. “Yeah,” I chuckled. “Sorry
about that too. It’s nice to have a girl to hang out with for a change. You’re pretty fun – for a girl,” I teased. I loved teasing her. Making her smile. Being with her.
Get out of your head man! Hold it together.
“Thanks – I think. You sure know how to make a GIRL feel special,” she returned, sarcasm laced through every word.
I shook my head, feeling my smile stretch even wider. “So now that I’ve lifted the restraining order, you seem pretty comfortable giving me a hard time.”
“Just who I am, better get used to it,” Liv returned, her voice becoming lower and breathier with each word.
And that was it. I started to come undone. Stretching my forearm up, I leaned against the wall, angling my body closer to hers. The smell of her floral perfume wafted into my nose, making me feel dangerously intoxicated.
God, I wanted to touch her.
And the feeling was getting more intense by the second. “Yeah, you’re definitely not like other girls. You know, the girls who are nice to me,” I flat out flirted.
“Nice is overrated,” she countered, her eyes fixed on mine, her tongue slipping out to wet her lips.
She wanted me to kiss her. I could feel it.
I bit the inside of my lip, warring inside, knowing this was wrong. Knowing that I should walk away before things went too far.
But how could I, when she was standing there. So close. Looking at me like that. Lips wet and ready. Waiting for me to touch her. Waiting for me to make her feel good. I took a step forward, closing the remaining distance between us.
A look of surprise crossed Liv’s face but she didn’t move away. We stood toe to toe, not quite touching, just staring at each other. And suddenly, it felt like this was the end of our first date with the infamous good night kiss looming between us. Should I just lean in? Will she meet me half way?
I thought Liv would. I hoped Liv would. Because I wanted to kiss her.
God, did I want to kiss her. And touch her. And hear her moan my name as I made her come.
But it would be wrong. So wrong.
Me. Liv. Gabe. Not good.
As if she somehow sensed my inner turmoil, or more likely thought that I’d completely lost it, Liv stepped back. Creating space between us again.
“See you tomorrow rock star,” she muttered, shoving the keycard into the slot then pushing the hotel room door open. Without looking back, she moved into the room letting the door close behind her.

07/20/2017
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