Leilani.
"Leilani," Jarek whispered softly, sounding as though he didn’t want to be heard... as though he feared I would collapse any mont from now.
I shrugged, half-expecting to appear unbothered but my shrug only ca out as a mini seizure. So I stopped.
My body still trembled from the aftershocks. Even my racing heart wouldn’t stop pounding against my chest. I swallowed a lungful of air and sighed, secretly wiping off my tears with the back of my sleeves as I raised my head to et Jarek’s scrutinising gaze. "I’m okay."
"You’re not..." he drawled in a soft voice whilst carefully draping his arm around my shoulder as he pried the small box off my deft fingers.
I leaned into his hug, dragging in a lungful of his rich masculine scent mixed with perfu. And gosh, he slled heavenly. I didn’t want to ever leave this place.
I didn’t want his sweet warmth to stop seeping into my blouse...
Wait, what the hell was that?
My eyes snapped open at the thought and I shook my head quickly, ignoring the burn in my cheeks as I shimmied out of his hold.
His deep dark slant eyes bore into mine as he regarded in silence.
"What do you want to do about them?" He asked quietly and this ti, when I looked up at him, I noticed him staring at the letter in my hand like it was a formidable piece. He didn’t even glance at the bouquet of roses.
His overall expression seed... uncomfortable.
Like he didn’t want to be here.
Like he didn’t want to see this...
I didn’t spare the objects another glance as well. I whispered; "trash them."
He stilled, and then slowly turned to look at , his eyes wide. "You’re not curious to know who these ca from?"
I shrugged dismissively. "No, I am not. If they wanted to be known, they’d have shown themselves to , and I’m not interested in so dramatic goose chase. So throw everything away please."
Just like typical Jarek would do, he didn’t argue. He simply nodded at and then picked up everything, including the roses, and dumped them into my trash can.
My heart felt heavy as I watched him do that carefully, not missing the way he seed to be deep in thoughts.
For a very minute second—a very fleeting mont— my eyes snagged on the way his muscles flexed sexily under his suit and the way his Adam’s apple bobbed whenever he swallowed.
Jarek was a pretty fine man—no wonder won flocked around him like herds of cattle, but dismissing this thought, I flashed him a grin and waved him over. "I asked you to throw those damn things away, not give a show!"
He frowned, his tiny eyes bulging. "What?"
"You’re throwing those out as if there’s a hidden paparazzi sowhere taking your pictures..." I drawled, and then acting as if I was glancing around to check for said ’paparazzi’, I stopped and shook my head. "I just double-checked. There isn’t. Now, co on!"
It wasn’t until then that the frown on Jarek’s face finally smoothened out. He flashed one of his infamous smiles and winked. "Sounds like soone loved the show!"
I made a face. "Eww."
He feigned a surprised gasp, managing to look genuinely disappointed. "Did you just say eww? To ? A whole ?"
"Yes, of course. Eww." I retorted with a smile as he finally walked over to .
He rolled his eyes. "You’re so unbelievably annoying."
And at that, I chuckled, montarily forgetting about the strange gifts from earlier as I brushed my shoulder against his arm in a bid to annoy him further (that’s a lie, I only wanted to touch him... but I’d never admit that.).
"I know."
—
Later that evening, after all the awkwardness had finally worn off, the scent of roasted vegetables filled the kitchen with a hint of olive oil and herbs.
On the table, dishes glead under the soft light. Jarek and I had made a feast of grilled salmon drizzled with lemon juice, scoops of fluffy quinoa beside it, and a colorful mix of broccoli, ball peppers, and zucchini still sizzling from the oven.
"Looks amazing," I said, pulling out a chair.
He smiled, setting down two glasses of sparkling water. "Of course, have you seen the person who made them?"
"Oh, please!" I rolled my eyes at his half assed complint and forked a piece of salmon into my mouth. The outside was perfectly crisp while the inside was tender and rich.
I instantly changed my mind.
"You might actually be right," I admitted, a grin spreading across my face as the citrus and herbs lted together on my tongue.
We ate the rest of the dinner in complete silence and by the ti we were done and had cleaned up the dishes used, it was already raining heavily outside. Jarek also was about to take his leave but I didn’t miss the worriso expression he had whenever he glanced out at the rain pelting down my porch.
His eyes occasionally darted between my window and the wall clock over and over again until I sighed.
"There are four bedrooms in this house. If the rain doesn’t end anyti soon, you have a place to sleep."
At my voice, he turned to , his eyes glazed for a mont before he finally refocused and smiled. "Ahh, and I was worried you’d send off for a mont there."
He bead a smile at as he looked up at the wall clock again, and then muttered; "Thank you really."
His voice sounded genuine. But Jarek couldn’t fool .
His gaze was unfocused.
He had retreated so much, the space between us now was as large as an amusent park— and I don’t think I am exaggerating.
When I asked us to watch a movie, he begrudgingly walked over to the living room with —and he loves movies!— and then, he plopped onto the sofa farthest away from .
I frowned. "Do I stink?"
That made him quickly turn to look at . "Excuse ?"
"You’ve been acting really off like there’s sothing on . Is it the salmon I touched?" I continued stubbornly, ignoring the way his eyes narrowed even more until he shook his head and swiftly rose to his feet.
I mirrored his actions.
"Is sothing the matter? You’ve also been really quiet. You’ve been glancing at the clock like you want to be as far away from here as possible."
He sighed exasperatedly. "No. You’re getting the wrong ideas."
"So tell what is wrong!" I argued, interrupting him quickly. "Is there a problem?"
For a mont, a deafening silence settled between us. Jarek dropped his head, avoiding my gaze, and then suddenly, as if possessed, he began to march over to .
But because I’d been so stunned by his sudden movent, I didn’t get enough ti to react. I hadn’t even managed to move an inch when his hands closed around my shoulders and his lips descended upon mine.
I froze.
The kiss was short but insanely charged. It made my toes curl. Made my body tingle so bad, I feared I was about to be electrocuted. Jarek kissed like his entire existence depended on it, his tongue thrusting into my mouth as if to savor my taste.
I slowly began to ease into it, but just as I was about to wrap my arms around his neck, he stopped, leaned away and pressed his forehead against mine.
"I’m sorry." He whispered.
I was stunned. "For?"
"For kissing you. For touching you without your consent. For this."
And with that, he slamd his lips against mine again for a deeper, more crushing kiss.
This one was a little different from the last. It was punishing. Raw. Like there were things he wanted to say to but couldn’t bring his mouth to form the words. Like there were emotions bottled up sowhere that we both tried so hard to suppress.
I moaned, tipping my head back as his mouth slathered kisses down my neck and shoulder.
And then—
His phone began to ring. Loudly.
He froze for a nanosecond and then stopped to fish it out of his pocket. It was an alarm. I frowned, my heart racing as I watched him turn it off, look up at the wall clock again and sighed.
"I’m sorry."
And with that, he rushed out of my house like the devil was hot on his tail, uncaring about the heavy downpour happening outside.
What the hell just happened?
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