Conceited (Crimson Elite 3)

She steps forward, her free hand landing on my shoulder as she reaches up on her tippy-toes and lands a kiss on my lips. “It’s kind of perfect. You did good.”

“I was hoping for you to be naked,” I tell her honestly.

She giggles and steps back. “Maybe… if you play your cards right.”

I pull her chair out, and it draws through the sand leaving two lines as she sits in it placing her shoes next to her. Leaning down, I breathe her in. She smells like cinnamon, so I kiss the side of her neck brushing her hair to the side.

“My cards will be dealt and played until I have a piece of you,” she says sitting still, then leans her head to the side giving me better access.

My teeth dig slightly into the top of her shoulder. “Don’t tempt me.” I pull away as I see the waiter coming with our meals. She watches me the whole time and doesn’t say a word until our waiter leaves. “I was going to make them dress up as Harry Potter characters but figured low-key was a better option for our first date.”

She giggles again. “So you do pay attention.” She looks at her food and smiles. “Thank you, it’s perfect.”

“Is it the best date you’ve been on?” I ask, hoping I did it right.

“Better than the best, but you know I would’ve been happy at your place with one of your cooked meals.” I smile knowing she likes my cooking. Tracey and Ariel used to eat everything I cooked when we were growing up.

“Date two then?”

“You think you’ll get a date two?” she asks, her head leaning to the side assessing me.

“I do, with confidence, too.”

“That’s something you never lack,” she murmurs back.

“Does my confidence insult you?” I ask her honestly.

She shakes her head. “No. Sometimes it knocks me down a notch or two. You’re the only person I’ve met who has so much confidence you could blow the president out of the water with a single glance.”

“I know what I want. I get what I want,” I say truthfully, and I work for what I want.

“What if I said no? What if I wasn’t attracted to you?” she asks biting into her pasta.

“I would have made you. One way or the other you would have loved me,” I say with certainty.

“Do you even know what love is, Falcon?” She pauses. “Have you ever been in love?”

“No, I haven’t been in love. But I know what it is. All my life I’ve loved three beautiful women, and each has served different purposes in my life.” Ariel knows all three—she knew my grandmother, she knows my mother and sister. I wonder what it would be like to be doing all this with someone else. Seeing someone who doesn’t know me, or my family. I could lie and tell them I’m an only child and they would believe me. But it’s different with Ariel, she knows me—my faults, my weaknesses, my ways. Not all of me, but she does know a reasonable amount.

“And they are all very special women,” she comments.

“Have you ever been in love?” I ask her.

She looks up, placing her fork down, and reaches for her wine sipping it. “I thought I loved you once.” I sit back, I didn’t expect that. “Other than that, no. I’ve dated. I’ve seen other men. But none have held my interest.”

I smile. “So you love me?”

She spits her wine and shakes her head. “I said I thought, past tense, there’s a big difference.”

“If you think you did once, I believe I can make you again.”

“Your sister described you as conceited to me the other day. I think I tend to believe her.”

I’m finished with my meal I’ve hardly touched because I want the woman who’s in front of me more. I lean forward. “Don’t believe everything you hear, maybe you should find out for yourself.”

“That’s what I’m doing, am I not?”

I stand, walking to her side. “Will you come and sit with me?”

Ariel looks at me confused.

“On the beach… I have something set up.”

She stands, and my eyes wonder up and down admiring how fucking beautiful she is.

“There’s more?” she asks.

I lace my hand in hers and we both look down at the same time. It’s weird when you grow up only holding your mother’s hand, having another hand in yours feels, well, weird. But somehow Ariel’s hand fits perfectly in mine. She fits perfectly like the way she does in bed.

“I needed to impress.”

Ariel laughs softly. “Oh, but you do, daily.” She rolls her eyes making fun of my confidence. I let go of her hand and wind mine around her, pinching her ass. She yelps and swats my hand away before I lace our fingers back together. The blanket is already set up, and two drinks sit beside it. I wait for her to sit down first before I follow.