chapter six

 CHAPTER SIX

intentions

Andrea's pov

I can't for the life of me figure out what possessed me to step in her path.

Her auburn tresses tumbled about her face like curtails, her attention solely on something in her hands, I'll recognize that luscious figure anywhere.

She was so distracted that she did not pay attention to where she was going. I purposely placed myself in her line of walk and stopped moving knowing fully well she would bump into me.  

She was dressed in a grey V-neck Bodycon dress that hugged all her full figure and my eyes had been glued to her hourglass shape; a small waist and her round ass that was sporting a really tight skirt from the moment I saw her.

The instant her body hit me, I almost smiled, it was crazy the reaction my body had to that proximity. I watched the look on her face change from shock to embarrassment to heat.

A mirror of my own feelings I might add. She always does this to me, mess up my thinking and control my train of thoughts. 

I was drowning in those green eyes with gold freckles. Dio! she was more beautiful than I remembered the years had been so good to her.

I throbbed with desire as her small fingers frayed my chest in an attempt to steady herself and remained there, I knew it was subconscious, I almost groaned when she moved her fingers on my chest.

With Her soft body against mine it took every ounce of self-control I had to stop myself from getting reacquainted with those curves. 

Every provocative curve of her body was imprinted against me,i cursed silently, furiously willing my body to cool down for fear of people seeing just how undone she made me feel.

"So, I am here for just three days" Natalie’s voice sounded like a distant echo. 

 I will my attention back to her

Before I met Natalie when it came to lovers i was never seen with the same stunning woman more than twice. 

They were all of the same ilk: tall, brunette, sleek and gorgeous. Discreet, and oozing effortless classy style. 

I like quiet affairs, and ended them quickly I wasn't in the market for a love relationship and I made it very clear with my mistresses. 

True, i skirted on the edges of being known as a playboy, but i was never photographed behaving badly. And there were no salacious kiss-and-tell stories. So the playboy moniker was pretty benign. 

Natalie Portman is just like me,she is model and is totally focused on her career. She made it clear she's not ready for anything serious. 

"I apologize again for keeping you waiting Natalie, I had a very long conference call I couldn't get away from"  I watched her school her features blank and shrug her delicate shoulders

"It's fine, I haven't been here for long anyways" 

This is what I appreciate about Natalie she understands exactly what this is, and expects no form of commitment, neither does she holds any nonsensical notions that we are in a relationship.

We have the perfect arrangement, but I can't stop think about a green eyed vixen.

"What job exactly did you come to Manhattan for an ad or-?" the waiter appears with our food

She waits as he carefully drops the dishes and politely excuses himself before responding.

"Well it’s an ad, it’s a photoshoot for a bridal company" I listen as Natalie goes over her schedule for the next two days and the details of the photoshoot.

I find myself reminiscing on my second date with Hazel back in college. 

After the first date I could not get over her wit and sweet smile, her dimple on her right cheek whenever she smiles its even becomes deeper when she laughs.

After my practice that evening with the track team, I took a quick shower at the gym and changed into my red fitted sweater and dark blue jeans, I was edging for the casual but not too casual look.

When I got to the hostel I found Hazel already at the end of her hostel block sitting on a steel patio bench waiting for me.

“I apologize for keeping you waiting Hazel” I came down to open the car door for her.

“This doesn’t portray you in a very good light Mr. Giovanni, I like my men punctual” she looks me with a small smile and climbs into the passenger seat of my blue Hyundai Elantra GT

I make my way to the driver seating and wear my seat belt

“Your men?” I ask arching my right brows for emphasis 

She blushes easily

“Well, I am sure you will forgive me for my lateness when you see what I have planned for our date tonight”

“We will see about that”

I drove down the street towards Jade, a restaurant I arranged out dinner reservations a week before.

I am surprised by the comfortable silence that settles in between us. I glance over at hazel, I am unable to stop a smile from spreading on my face.

As we step into Jade an upscale Asian fusion restaurant, I notice her eyes glimmer 

“I can’t believe you were able to get us a reservation here. This place is supposed to be booked out months in advance”

“I have my ways” I wiggle my brows at her

“Told you it was going to be worth it”

“I can’t lie, I am impressed” she says and sashays to the front desk

“good evening, we made a reservation under the name Giovanni, table for two” I address the maître d’ 

She checks her computer to confirm the reservation she looks up to us with a very bright smile

 “you are welcome, please follow me to your table”

The maître d’ leads us to our seats, I seat opposite Hazel, perusing the courses for the evening

“Welcome to Jade” a waitress walks up to us

“For dinner this evening we have a special, would you like to have that or you would rather order from the menu?”

“What do you think? should we order or wing it?” I look at Hazel questioningly 

“I mean; I am down for whatever” she beams

Hazel turns her attention to the waitress “we will have the special please”

The waitress returns a few minutes later with an appetizer

“enjoy this while you wait for your food” she drops three plates of deliciously looking appetizers"

“Here we have steamed bao buns with duck confit, taro chips with steak tartare, and a sea urchin ad osetra caviar spoon.”

“whoa! that’s a mouthful” hazel chuckles as soon as the waitress leaves

I scope a spoonful of the appetizer; the creamy sea urchin and caviar to feed her

“Open up hazel”

She opens her mouth wide and blissfully closes her eyes with a moan

Soft candle light illuminates her alluring facial features

“To think this is just an appetizer’ she opened her eyes and spoons some more herself

The same waitress returned with our food

A dish of crispy noodles with steaming vegetables.

“So hazel you never told me about where you lived before moving to Philipsburg with Maia” 

“I stayed with my foster parents in a small quaint town called Ridgewood in new jersey totally nondescript with a population of two thousand people” She shrugs

“There is nothing interesting there, the only significant thing is that mini marts might even out number humans”

She looks at her cell phone and sighs, turning the face on the table  

“sorry about that, it is my roommate, Anna, the one you met the last time we hung out“ 

I noticed it has been pinging non stop

“It’s totally fine, let me guess she is either super curious and begging for details or skeptical and ready to rescue you from yet another horrible date”

“From where I am sitting, trust me there is no complaints here, and  last time I had to leave early, she really was ill, you saw how bad she looked when you dropped me off. It definitely wasn’t a stunt to escape our date”

“You have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that.” I reply with a hand on my chest

She gives me a warm smile and resumes eating the flavorful noodle dish

A waiter brings out pharaoh quail with chives and black truffle, as well as pork belly with r****h and miso

“ I still can believe you have the same favorite cereal and eighties movies as me” I tell her

She flashes her dimples

“Okay, where do you think is the best place for vacation on three” she says 

“You are on”

Hazel holds eye contact with me as she counts down

“One, two, three!”

“Palau!” We say at the same time

“what can I say? I love the beach” I reach for my fork

By the time we finish up the Thai green papaya salad course, our breaths are shorts from laughter

I turn to look around the restaurant and realize we are the last ones there.

The waitress returns to our table 

“We hope you had a wonderful experience dining with us, would you care for desert?”

I exchange glances with hazel, she shakes her head with a slight grimace 

“I am so full right now; I might bust open if I take one more bite of anything”

“The check please” I turn to the waitress

As we step it to the night breeze my hand find hazel’s and I am struck how natural it feels.

“So, how am I doing so far? I ask 

“the jury is still out on that” she replies

“Well, the night is not yet over I could still score some brownie points you know”

“please no mention of food especially anything green, I have had enough for a lifetime, Want to take a walk?” Hazel asks

“A woman after my own heart”

“I make a mean green smoothie. It’s all about milk to kale ratio, does that help my points? I know you would love it.”

She doubles over laughing 

I slowly take her other hand in mine and meet her twinkling eyes

“Don’t you two look cute together, I had that look in my eyes the moment I met my dear Emmett” an old lady walking her dog paused and stared at us with admiration.

“he is very easy on the eyes”The old lady  winks at hazel as she walks away.

Hazels cheeks turns slightly red

Suddenly I feel a light droplet on my nose, a light drizzle starts.

“Let’s find somewhere to hide, so we don’t get drenched” hazel tugs at my sleeve and tries to run 

I pull her back “it’s just a light drizzle”

The rain intensifies, splattering heavily against the side walk

“You were saying?” she looks at my exasperated

“Come on, we can stand under that awning”

We rush to the shelter; I try my best to shield her from the down pour. We huddled together as the rain falls downs almost peacefully around us.

“You know; I love the sound of rain” she says “it soothes me”

I can’t help but smile seeing the huge grin her face.

“Andrea! Your clothes! they are completely soaked.”

“What! Oh that’s fine!”

“You are shivering, you might catch a cold.” I was cold, but I am trying so hard not to show it. She noticed anyway

“There is a boutique nearby let’s go so you can get a change of clothes, maybe we can find something new in the store for you to wear or at least something drier.”

“There are easier ways to get me out of my clothes.”

“Oh, I know” she smirks

We quickly make our way down to the boutique and browse the hangers to find something close to what I can wear.

“Spur of the moment shopping spree I love it.” I tell her

She shakes her head with a chuckle and continues leafing through the jeans rack

“Oh, I found something, let me try this on. Be right back” I hold up a pair of blue jeans and a button down short sleeve shirt and walk into the dressing room.

When I emerge from the dressing room I do a little twirl for her “what do you think?”

She takes in the whole look with a thoughtful expression “I think you look really great in what you had on before, but at least you are dry.”

“What a charmer” I chuckle

On our way out I notice a piano. “Whoa! is that a 1909 Tamlin grand?”

“You play?” hazel queries 

“Not really, I took a few lessons when I was young” I reveal

“Well, now that you’ve admitted it, you have to play me something.”  She teasingly pushes me towards the piano. I sit in front of it and she takes a seat beside me our arms touching slightly.

Resting my hand over the keys for a moment I begin to play.

I play a short tune of an old musical and watched as her eyes follow the movement of my fingers.

“That’s beautiful” she claps slightly as soon as I stop playing “a few lessons huh?”

“Maybe more than a few. I would sit at the piano for hours, just tinkering around with it.”

Closing the lid of the piano I pull her up

“I did not mean to get distracted, we have got a special stop to make after all, and it looks like the rain is dying down”

“Alright I am here for all the fun” She squeezes my hand happily

We walk down to the park hand in hand and walk across a bridge.

“Even though its after hours, we can take a boat out on the water. We will have all the lake to ourselves”

“Is this the special stop?” she asks

“Yeah, you don’t want to? You Sound disappointed, we could do something else if you want”  

“I would love to, I am just surprised that’s all, I thought boat rentals closed earlier though how did you pull that off?”

“Let’s just say I know a guy”

The boat is actually mine, I bought it last year, I have a friend that works at the boat rentals he is the one in charge of taking care of it for me in exchange, he gets to rent it out sometimes.

Soon we are out on the lake, a lantern glowing at the boat’s bow as the city lights reflect upon the water surface

“Its beautiful out here.” She looks up at the stars above us

“Yes, very beautiful” I reply looking at her, she is so stunning her hair is tied in a ponytail, she strokes away a wisp of hair dancing in front of her face in the wind.

“I like coming out here when I need to relax” I tell her

“When I need to unwind or clear my head, this is the perfect place, I feel quite at home in nature and the silence helps me think.”

“hazel, tonight has been nothing short of magical, I owe it all to you”

She closes the distance between us and softly presses her lips on mine. The barest brush of our lips. I want to draw her closer and deepen the kiss, but I let her take control.

A few moments later, we dock the boat and make our way back to her hostel in my car. I park a few blocks from the hostel and we walk down together, along the way her hand finds mine in the dark.

 We stop just outside the entrance to the hostel

“well, this is me,” she says

“I guess it is.” I reluctantly let go of her hands” 

“This is the part where you kiss me, Andrea”

“Oh! is it?”

“Yup”

“Well, I guess if it’s a second date convention, I have no choice”

“I am a stickler for protocol,” she says, biting her lips softly

“Propriety has its bonuses like this”

I gently place a hand on the side of her face and pull her in, her breath catches in her throat as she meets my lips and I wrap my arms around her waist pulling her closer. We both sink into it, her tongue moved against mine making me want more, so much more, I trembled with pure naked desire. My blood was singing in my ears and my whole being buzzing with longing.

I wanted to carry her to my car and drive off to my apartment where I can love her properly. All evening all I could think about was kissing those full pink lips, I bury my fingers in her thick mass of hair and knead her scalp. she moans and she melds against me, I forget we are in front of her hostel visible to anyone that cares to look, all I can think about is her soft she feels pressed against my hard body, I am right where I want to be losing myself in this kiss, in us.

The headlights of a vehicle flood the entrance. We jump apart, breathless, laughing and sharing guilty smiles, our eyes sparkling dewy like the grass as if we were both dazed by shock.  Maybe we are.

"Do I come over to your place tonight?" Natalie asks me, that is enough to jolt me out of my trance, I needed to get laid, it has been a while for me. Cause that explains my reaction to hazel. I am already semi-hard from my raunchy memories. 

"Yeah, give me a call on your way over, I might have to work a little bit late"

I will sate my thirst with Natalie and move on from this distraction.

"I need to leave now" she. Looks pointedly at her watch and stands up to leave. "I'll give you a call when I am done, Andrea"