She wanted to ask him what he meant by a girl like her—wondered if she should be insulted. But the way he was feasting those sultry eyes on her she was having a hard time keeping her thoughts straight. Instead, she shrugged, biting her lower lip and feeling her face go even hotter.
“Jesus, you’re adorable.” He smiled even bigger. “I hope you don’t mind. You have no idea the restraint I’ve had to practice all day today, but I have to kiss you now.”
With her heart thudding loudly in anticipation, Valerie glanced down at his lips just as he leaned in and kissed her. Softly, gently, he brought his hand around her waist, pulling her even closer to him so their bodies were pressed together. No matter how many times she’d imagined being in his arms, none of those fantasies even came close to the reality of it.
He stopped after kissing her a few times and stared in her eyes. The look in his eyes was intense but at the same time a bit startled. He brought his hand up to her face, cupping one side of her face and searching her eyes for a moment before kissing her again just as softly as the first time but a bit longer—deeper. She knew he’d be a good kisser. Somehow she’d always known. But the way their tongues moved together felt so overwhelmingly perfect it was unreal. That second kiss also went on much longer than she had expected it. The longer it went on, the more she felt the intensity mount but not in a the usual way a kiss intensifies—as though you want to start ripping each other’s clothes off. It was different. She’d never even tried to explain it to anyone else. If she tried to, she was afraid she’d sound crazy or full of herself.
It was perfection.
Not just the kissing but everything she felt the entire time his lips were on hers, kissing her deeply—so profoundly. He only stopped every now and again to stare in her eyes with unspoken confirmation that he too was feeling the same unexplainable craziness she was. And he didn’t understand it either, but one thing was for sure. Neither wanted it to stop.
Valerie knew now she should’ve known right then what an addiction Alex would become to her. She sighed, thinking of all the times she’d compared herself to a hopeless crack addict. Despite knowing how dangerous to her heart it was to continue to hope things would change, she just couldn’t bring herself to walk away from him. Not for good. Like this whole week. Except for the few irksome calls he’d stepped outside to take, everything else had been perfect. She dared not ruin things by questioning something as petty as his needing more privacy to take his calls.
Though he was quick to ask who she was talking to or even texting when she was on her phone, she refused to ask him about his calls. Most of the time he offered an explanation without her having to ask. It was usually one of his brothers or his dad with stuff about the restaurant, a responsibility that was increasingly being left in Alex’s hands lately.
It was where he was tonight. His parents were home monitoring calls from Mexico because his grandpa was ill. The restaurant, which used to be run primarily by his parents, was slowly being handed down to the brothers. But because his older brother Sal was attending a school hours away, the bulk of the responsibility was left to Alex, who was the second oldest.
Valerie had never been much of a cook, and Alex had already told her he was bringing food home from the restaurant. But she still wanted to have something for him when he got home.
Feeling a little giddy, Valerie pulled the tray of oatmeal cookies she’d baked for him out of the oven—not from scratch of course—but they were his favorite, so she’d stopped at the market on her way home from work today and bought the frozen kind. It was silly, but playing house at his place was a taste of what it would be like to actually live with him. So far, except for his long hours, she was loving it.
She glanced up at the clock on the stove. It was almost nine. He did mention he’d be late, but he hadn’t mentioned closing. Only having to close would have him there that late. But she remembered in the past he’d been asked to stay and close plenty of times. Tonight might be the same thing, and if that were the case, it’d be close to ten before he was home, so she squashed the unease that he might be somewhere else while she waited for him at his place like an idiot.
Hoping she might have gotten a text from him, she checked her phone and frowned when she had none. But she did have one from Sarah. She clicked on it and read it.
Hey what’ve you been up to? I haven’t seen you in too long. All we do is text or call each other lately. I’ll see you Saturday, right?
Having no idea what her cousin was talking about, Valerie plopped down on the sofa and texted Sarah back with a few question marks. Valerie had just clicked the television on with the remote when her phone pinged. Even though she knew it was likely Sarah, a part of her held out hope it was Alex.
It wasn’t.
The Taste of La Jolla! I thought for sure you’d be there! Angel and I are working the first shift at the Moreno’s booth, but after that we’re free to enjoy the festival.
That was this weekend already? It felt like just a few months ago she’d just been at the annual food, beer, and wine festival. She immediately texted Sarah back, commenting on how fast that felt and that she hadn’t even realized it was this weekend. Valerie had been so busy studying for her state exam, and then playing house with Alex was all the distraction she needed to really lose track of everything else. But she left that part out.
Her phone ringing startled her, and again her heart did a little skip, hoping it was Alex, but again, it was Sarah.