He wore a suit, black, that molded to all his hard muscles.
“Good evening,” he said, gazing up and down her body. “You look absolutely beautiful.”
Her cheeks heated at the compliment. “Erm, thank you. You look very handsome.”
She smiled at him. This felt wrong. Amber belonged to Elijah.
“These are for you.”
Accepting the roses, she invited him into her apartment while she set about putting them into a measuring jug. She’d smashed the vases, aiming them at Elijah’s head and missing.
“This is a nice place,” he said.
He’s trying. This is my first date. Try!
“I love this place. I’m hoping to get more pictures up someday of my friends and stuff. So far, I’ve been working.”
She put the roses away and met him in the sitting room. He kept staring at her. “Are you ready to go?” he asked.
“I’d love to.”
He’d not told her where they were going. The less she knew the better. She found herself getting anxious, and knowing would give her more reason to cancel on him.
They walked silently down to his car.
Dale stopped as they hit the fresh air. “You’re nervous, and I don’t want you to be nervous.”
“You’re my boss. It sort of goes hand in hand with nervous.”
“Will you think of me as your boss when I do this?”
His lips were on hers in the next second. She tensed up at the feel. His kiss was strange. Elijah’s lips were commanding whereas Dale’s kiss was passionate yet different. There was no underlying control or domination.
Breaking from the kiss, she looked at him. “It helped a little,” she said, smiling.
“Good. Come on.”
She didn’t ask any questions, and when they got into the car the conversation started toward work, their only neutral ground.
He pulled up outside of Wade’s place, and Amber’s heart leapt in her chest. “You’re taking me to Wade’s?”
“You know this place?” he asked, parking up.
“I know Wade, and I come here with my girlfriends regularly. It’s a great place.”
“I love this place as well.”
They headed inside, and she held onto his arm. Wade was serving up at the bar, and she saw her girlfriends in their booth. She gave them a wave, following Dale toward the bar.
Dale was served by one of the part-time barmen.
“Hey, Amber, I didn’t see you come in with the others,” Wade said, flagging her down.
She stopped with her drink in hand. “I’m on a date, Wade.”
He looked at Dale then at her. “It’s nice to meet you, man.” Wade shook his hand.
Rolling her eyes, she tugged Dale away from the bar.
“What was that all about?” he asked.
“I knew Wade in high school. He’s being protective, and he has the biggest crush on one of my friends.”
They found a seat away from the dancing. So far she hadn’t seen Elijah, which she was thankful for.
Once they were seated, Dale reached across the table to grip her hand. “I’ve wanted to ask you out on a date for some time.”
“I’m here now.”
“We are.” He raised his glass, and she joined in.
“Can I be honest with you?” she asked, feeling the awkwardness of the moment.
“Sure.”
“This is my first date. I’ve not really been on a date before.”
His eyes widened as he looked at her.
“No, I’m not a virgin, but the guy I was with, he’s not really into dating or anything apart from the obvious.” She groaned, mortified by what she was revealing. “Why don’t you tell me to shut up?” she said.
Dale laughed. “It’s refreshing being with a girl who speaks her mind. I’m relieved you’re not a virgin.”
“Good, that’s good.”
Looking down at her glass, she waited for the conversation to pick up.
“You’ve never been on a date at all, have you?”
“I just said I hadn’t.”
Again, he laughed. “Okay, I’ll start everything off. Do you have any family?”
“I have family. I’ve not been in contact with them in a long time. We’re not close.” She stared at her glass.
“Any siblings?”
“No, just me.” She was silent again. “Erm, what about you? Do you have any family or siblings?”
Sipping from her drink she waited for him to speak.
“I’ve got a Mom and Dad and a step-dad. Also, I’ve got two older brothers and three sisters. It was mad growing up.”
“Did you always want to be a lawyer?” she asked, focusing all the attention on him.
“No, I wanted to be a doctor, but then I couldn’t stand the sight of blood.”
Amber listened to him talk. She drowned out the rest of the room, but when Elijah entered the club, she felt it. It was the strangest feeling in the world. Tingles went up and down her arms. Glancing past Dale’s shoulder, she saw him stood, watching her. His gaze reminded her of a hawk stalking its prey.
She excused herself to go to the bathroom. Her date was not going great. They had nothing in common, and the few bits they were talking about didn’t give her a thrill.
Elijah followed her into the toilet. It was empty, which was a surprise. Was fate or destiny trying to tell them something?
“You’re bored, and you’ve got nothing to talk with him about.”
“My date is none of your business.”
He took a step toward her. “Does he make your pu**y wet? Do you ache for him to touch you?”
She bit on her lip, stopping herself from attacking him. The instant she’d sensed Elijah, she’d grown warm from the inside out.
“I bet if I was to feel your pu**y you’d be soaking wet for me and me alone.”
Amber backed up against the wall. Elijah followed her path until she was trapped against the wall and his hard body. There was nowhere else for her to go and staring up into his large brown eyes, she didn’t want to.
****
Seeing her date had set him on edge. He needed to stake his claim before he lost control. She shouldn’t be out with anyone but him. For the last couple of days he’d kept his distance, giving her time to get over the pain he’d caused her.
“Why are you doing this to me?” she asked.
“I told you I wasn’t backing away.” He pressed his palms to either side of her head, surrounding her. “If you tell me to back off and you want the dude in the suit, then tell me, Amber.”