In the Beginning-

Lucy:

Lucy’s heart skipped a beat when she opened the door to Simeon. Though she wasn’t sure how he managed to pull it off, he’d gotten even sexier in the last five hours. Already, she pictured their naked bodies twisted in the throes of passion. As if he could read her thoughts, Simeon offered her a grin. Her cheeks reddened against her will.

Simeon held up a bouquet of roses. “I brought these for you, but I’m afraid I have to apologize.”

Lucy frowned at him. “What do you have to apologize for?”

“When I picked these out, I thought they were the right combination of beauty and grace fitting for an occasion such as this.”

“I’m totally lost. Why do you have to apologize for that?”

“I have to apologize because it turns out I was wrong. What I thought was the beauty of these flowers pales in comparison to your beauty.”

Danger, danger, Lucy Griffin! This guy’s a total player!

“Now, if you don’t mind tossing these retched things in the trash, we can be on our way.”

“I can’t throw these away.”

“I’m afraid I must insist.”

“And I’m afraid I must insist,” Lucy echoed as she rescued the roses from his grasp. “These must have cost you a ton of money. Throwing them away would be like throwing your money away, which you wouldn’t do, would you?”

“I guess it would depend on the reason.”

Lucy laughed. “Just give me a minute to put to these in some water, and then we can go.”

“Should I wait out here?”

“Yeah, I’ll just be a minute.”

But that’s not why, Lucy thought as she rushed into the kitchen.

If she let him come in, they’d never make it to dinner because she wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to take him to bed. Just the thought of them in her bed started an aching of desire between her legs. Lucy took a shaky breath as she filled a vase with cold water.

Maybe I should’ve masturbated before this date.

She’d heard of guys doing it before dates. Until this moment, she’d never understood it. With the world’s most desirable man standing at her doorstep, she wished she’d been smart enough to do something to keep her urges at bay. There was no way she’d be able to think about anything else but fucking him as she sat across from him eating some inconsequential meal.

And that’s what she wanted to do. Vulgar and slutty as it sounded, she wanted to fuck him. She wanted to see the ecstasy on his face as she ravaged what was no doubt his perfect body.

What’s wrong with me? Lucy thought as she jammed the flowers into the glass vase.

Over the last few years, she’d been on a lot of dates. Some of those were with some pretty good looking guys too, and she’d never once felt such painful longing to be intimate with any of them. In her defense, none of them looked as good as Simeon. That man changed her whole definition of good looking.

Lucy took a deep breath to pull herself together. Please don’t let my thoughts show on my face.

Simeon:

            When she returned to the doorstep, Simeon offered her a smile while pretending nothing was amiss. Even if he hadn’t been able to read her thoughts, her flushed face made it clear she was attracted to him.

            One kiss; one kiss was all it would’ve taken for her to surrender to him. He didn’t even have to speak. All he had to do was pull her into his arms and place his lips upon hers. That’s all it would’ve taken for her to give in to her carnal urges. Though he knew it, and though he wanted her as much as she wanted him, he held back.

            Simeon wanted much more from her than sex. He wanted more than one date. He wanted to spend time with her, listening to her and learning about her. It didn’t matter that everything he wanted to know could be gleaned with a glance. That only meant he knew things about her, but he wanted to know her. Never before had he wanted something like this and never before had he wanted it so badly.

            “Shall we go?”

            Lucy smiled. “You can’t do it, can you?”