Wrong for Me

10|don't call me that

NAOMI COLE—JUNE

FULL AS TICKS, DANTE and I walked side by side down the street towards my car after our successful dinner date came to its demise. Not surprisingly, it was just as glorious as our other dates—and not just for the food. Besides being a complete gentleman, he held excellent conversation and seemed to be genuinely interested in what I had to say.

Still, the age gap had shown itself a few times through the night. Some of the things he talked about experiencing while in high school or college was entirely different from my experience. We were even on two different understandings of popular culture currently, but that really wasn't something that I could see bothering me much farther down the line.

"I should not have eaten all that food," I groaned, grabbing my belly as I let my head fall to the side. I felt like I could pop at any given moment.

"I did tell you to get a to-go box," he retorted from beside me with a sideways smirk. I rolled my eyes, but a small smile crept onto my face nonetheless as he looked at me in an indecipherable—but so seductive—way with those brown orbs.

"What time should I be there for the interview?"

"Nine. We can conduct the interview, show you how everything is done...and you and I can maybe even get lunch during my break."

"That sounds great," I remarked, stopping beside my car, but definitely not wanting the night to end yet.

Had this been anyone else who looked as good as Dante, I'd probably be dragging them back home with me for a long night. But with him, I wanted to take things slow and actually get to know each other before diving into anything serious. I had made the mistake of not doing so too many times.

"And...how should I dress? Business casual or formal?"

A weird looks flashed over his face before he replied with, "Doesn't matter to me as long as you look as ravishing as you do right now."

His words made each and every part of my body heat up as my stomach seemed to be doing so sort of contortionist act. Those feelings only intensified when he stepped even closer to me—just inches away—and hesitantly reached out to place his hands on my waist.

When I didn't move or pull away, he placed them there firmly as we peered into each other's eyes. The next thing I knew, one of us was leaning in and the short distance between us was closing in slow motion. I watched as his eyes shut softly and I followed suit, feeling a sense of relief when our lips finally collided.

It wasn't my first kiss by any means, but it might as well have been with how staggering of a kiss it was. Our lips moved synchronously as if they were congruent in some way as the world seemed to slow to a halt for the this very moment.

Before I could even fully settle into the kiss, he pulled away and I would have laughed at how swollen his lips were if I wasn't at a complete loss for words—and thought.

"I'm sorry...I should have asked," he spoke first, rubbing his hand along the nape of his neck as his other stayed rested on my waist.

"No...no it's fine."

The awkwardness that ensued between us was unwarranted. Especially because of the fact that it was just a kiss—a lovely kiss that is.

"You can kiss me again," I told him suddenly, not sure what sort of demon had possessed me. Why had I said that?

Without hesitation, he leaned in once again, this time deepening the kiss more—so much so that my back ended up pressed against my car. Our tongues tangled this time, leaving us breathless when he pulled away yet again.