“Why are you here, Keiran? Seriously.” She pulled away from me to hug herself around her waist and fuck if I didn’t feel jealous of her arms.

“It’s Valentine’s day.”

“And? You don’t care about that stuff. You have no reason to.”

“But something tells me you do and every reason I have is standing right in front of me.”

“So what? This is supposed to be your grand gesture?”

“If dinner and a fucking movie are what you call a grand gesture, then I guess so,” I snapped. The more time she spent staring at me with a hard, distant look in her eyes, the more my confidence began to fade. The thought of her rejecting me irritated me—not that I could blame her if she did. This tug of war game between her and I had gone on for far too long.

“If this is your way of getting me into bed again, let me just warn you that you aren’t heading in the right direction.”

“Fuck.” I ran my hands through my hair in frustration. “I’m not used to this. I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.”

She walked up to me, wrapped her arms around my neck, and whispered, “You can start my asking me to dinner properly.”

“Properly, huh? How would I do that?”

“You could say… ‘Lake will you go out with me?’”

“But I already know you will.”

Her arms left my neck before she turned around and headed for the stairs. “I’ll see you around. You can let yourself out.”

I felt the move before I could rethink and swept her up in my arms. “Don’t test my fucking patience.”

I bound up the stairs and headed straight for her bedroom where I dumped her on her bed.

I dropped my bag and quickly pulled out a long box. Her expression was fierce but still so damn cute as she shot daggers at me. I actually felt nervous when I extended it to her. She looked from it to me, but still didn’t move to take it.

“Don’t be a pain in my ass. Take the box. There is nothing in there that can hurt you.” 

“Are you asking me to trust you?”

I realized I had no right to ask it of her, but I didn’t realize until recently just how much I needed it. “Yes.”

Her eyes watched mine for signs of insincerity while I held her gaze openly. I saw the decision in her eyes a split second before she slowly took the box from my grasp. Her fingers peeled back the box while I watched on silently. The paper was discarded, and when she saw what was inside, she stilled.

“Shoes? You got me shoes?” I hid the smile that tugged at my lips from the sound of disbelief and the look of disappointment. I had no clue what she would have hoped was inside, but I did know one thing now… she wanted more.         

“Do you like them?”

“Yes. They are beautiful, but why all the fussing and threatening for shoes?”  The suede heels were nude in color with a white heel that was just the right height. The top of the shoes fastened into perfect bows.

“I want you to wear them for me on our date tonight.”

“Back to that, are we?”

I took a deep breath and released it. “One way or another you are going on this date with me, so tell me what I need to do to make it okay with you?”

Her annoyed expression transformed into interest as she seemed to mull it over. When a sly grin appeared, I felt the stirrings of dread. I always seemed to forget this wasn’t the same girl I tortured mercilessly in the hallways of our school.

“Is this my glass slipper?”

“If I say yes, will you go out with me?”

“You could ask me—”

“I did—”

“On your knees.”

The gleam in her eye told me she found it funny, but I knew she was serious. She wanted me to beg.

Like hell I would beg.

But I knew another way to make her agree.

I sunk to my knees without argument while holding her gaze. She wore a satisfied smirk that quickly disappeared when I gripped her around her hips and yanked her forward.

For once, she didn’t talk. Her teeth sunk into her bottom lip as she stared down at me. Desire mingled with nervousness in her eyes, and I could tell she wanted what was about to happen. It’s been way too fucking long.

“Keiran, wait—”

“No, baby. You wanted me to beg, right?” I pulled down her shorts. My hands were already ripping away her panties by the time they fell to her ankles. “Then let me beg.”

I nearly salivated at the sight of her bare pussy. I couldn’t wait another second and wasn’t about to. I gripped her left leg behind her knee and settled it on my shoulder while holding her gaze. She gripped my shoulders with her small hands, and I relaxed when I realized she wasn’t going to push me away.

My mouth descended early, and at the first swipe of my tongue, I felt her shiver and had to grip her tighter to keep her from falling. Her breathing was already heavy and deep, and as I continued to taste her, it became uneven. Her nails dug into my shoulders painfully, but it only spurred me to take more from her.

By the time she came, I was ready to skip the dinner reservations and eat her all night.

* * *

The drive was silent, and I had a hard time containing my drool. I managed to convince Lake to go to dinner after I made her come twice.

After I was done, she so very sweetly whispered over her labored breathing, “Happy Birthday” and then silently started to dress.