50 Shades of Drake 3 and 4

Chapter Two

    She's being extra careful around me. Brian tried not to be too aware of the fact that Destiny was going out of her way to make sure not to bump into him or brush against him as they worked around each other in the kitchen. It served to be the most awkward breakfast-making experience in his adult life.

    Dressed in a simple black button-down shirt, knee-length pinstripe skirt, and heels, she made sure to keep about five feet of space between them at all times. She avoided eye contact with him.

    He didn't know how to ease her discomfort. He had lied to her and told her that they could just forget about the kiss that had transpired that morning, knowing full well there was no way he could forget it. It had been the most tantalizing, sensual kiss he'd ever shared with someone. It had taken all of his will power not to pull her on top of him. Or maybe it had taken the suspicion that she was under the impression I was Aubrey, he thought now as he spread cream cheese onto his bagel. As much as I want her, I want her to want me. I don't want to just be some Aubrey-substitute.

    So although he knew that she was doing everything in her power to distance herself from him, he didn't say anything about it. At first. He moved around her, the same way she moved around him, and went about his business. He tried to tell himself that it didn't bother him that she was uncomfortable around him...but it did bother him.

    As she was passing him, he reached out and grabbed her by the wrist.

    She jerked her head in his direction.

    "I thought that we could just...forget the kiss and move on without talking about it," he said, looking her in the eyes. "But you're still shaken up. I think we should talk about it."

    "Now?" she asked him, her brows furrowing. "That would make us late for work."

    "Who the hell cares?"

    She lowered her eyes to his hand, firmly secured around her wrist. "There isn't really anything to say, Brian."

    "The entire time we've been in this kitchen, you could fit nearly an entire football field between me and you."

    "You're exaggerating," she said softly.

    He shrugged. "Maybe a little." He sighed. "Look. We're two adults. We kissed. All right? You thought I was someone else. I understand that now, and we can move on. We can go back to just being..."

    "What? Friends?" she asked him.

    "Yeah, I mean...whatever it was that we were before this morning."

    She ran a hand through her hair, which she'd worn curly today. "I don't...I don't know if I can just forget that the kiss happened," she said slowly.

    He narrowed his eyes at her, trying to search for the meaning behind her words. "So...what are you saying?"

    She rolled her eyes and looked away from him. "I don't know, okay? I don't know what I'm saying. Or doing."

    "Okay, okay...look." He glanced over his shoulder at the bagel he'd prepared, sitting on the counter getting colder by the minute. Then he turned back to look at her. "There is no pressure. If you want to forget the kiss, we can forget it. If you feel like you can't...or if you don't want to forget it..."

    Her eyes slid back to him.

    He stared at her for a long moment. "I'd be cool with that too," he finished, his voice growing quieter. "Whatever you want to do, is fine by me."

    She looked like she wanted to say something, or ask him something. She even opened her mouth, but closed it a few seconds later.

    As he stood there with his eyes locked on her, he wished that he could read her mind. He wanted to know what she was thinking, how she'd felt about the kiss once she realized that it was him she was kissing. If she's this bothered, she must have felt something. Maybe that's why she felt the need to put extra distance between me and her all morning.

    "We're going to be late," she reminded him.

    He shook his head, still squinting his eyes at her. "I don't care."

    She stared back at him openly.

    "Did you...did you feel something? While kissing me?"

    She yanked her hand out of his grasp.

    Reacting quickly, he shot both hands out and grabbed the edge of the counter on both sides of her, pinning her between his arms. His move served to effectively trap her, preventing her from moving out of his reach.

    Fear shone in her eyes when she looked up at him. "What are you doing?"

    "I'm making sure that you don't run away from this," he said calmly. "Because something is bothering you. All I can think is...that maybe you felt something when you kissed me."

    "But you already know that when I was kissing you, I thought I was kissing Aubrey," she told him. "So if I felt anything, it would have been because I thought I was kissing him."

    He nodded his head, contemplating her words. "Yes, and that almost flies. No matter what you thought, though, I'm the man you were kissing. So if you felt something..." If you felt something, there's a chance that it was because of me and not him. He leaned in close to her, close enough to feel her breath on his face...close enough to smell the perfume she'd sprayed on her neck. "I know how we can solve this."

    She looked doubtful. "How?"

    "We kiss again."

    Her eyes widened. "How does that solve anything?" she demanded. She pushed at him. "Move."

    He didn't budge.

    "Move, Brian."

    His eyes lowered to her lips.

    She shrank away from him, pressing herself into the counter. "No. Don't."

    "Don't you want to know?" he questioned. "Don't you want to know if what you felt is because you thought I was Aubrey, or because you were kissing me?"

    To say that she looked helpless was an understatement. Eyes wide and frantic, cheeks flushed, her entire body trembling. "Kissing you once was a mistake that I can't make again." Even her voice was shaking.

    He raised a hand and lightly touched her hair. "If kissing me was a mistake and you know that you wouldn't feel anything, then what's the problem?"

    "This isn't right," she whispered.

    "Neither is you distancing yourself from me, acting like I have some contagious disease," he pointed out. "We live together for the time being. So if there is anything unresolved as a result of the kiss from this morning, I'd like to get it resolved. I'd prefer for us to not have to avoid each other all the time. The house is big, but it's not that big, Destiny. If we kiss and you feel nothing, then I think it will be easier for us to just...go back to the way it was."

    Her lips didn't dare form the words, but her eyes asked the question that her mouth wouldn't. "But what if I do feel something?"

    "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," he responded to her unasked question, raising a hand to lightly touch her hair.

    This time, she didn't move away from him. She peered at him, still looking vulnerable, but her eyes were now filled with something other than fear: curiosity. Her gaze shifted several inches down from his eyes and landed on his lips.

    The shift was so small and yet still so significant. When he saw that her gaze was locked on his lips, he didn't hesitate. He seized the moment by leaning down, kissing her lips while circling an arm around her waist.