Martini Kisses (epistolary) ✔️

n a r r a t i v e

"Seatbelts," Kai tells her seconds after she gets into his car. Didn't even bother with pleasantries.

A smile curves her lips. Typical Kai.

"Hello to you too, sir," she says in a toying inflection before snapping to the right to find the seatbelt

Kai reaches over before she can get it. His arm brushes against her as he pulls over the strap and locks it for her, his manly scent invading her senses at once. She instinctively breathes in to take in more.

She holds back a grin.

Damn, this is what gets her so obsessed in the first place. He always smell so good. So much that he's starting to become her favorite scent now.

Kai's face twitches in confusion when he notices that she's biting the grin threatening to spill onto her face. "What? Why are you smiling like that?"

"I'm just excited to see you again."

He looks at her weirdly at first until an amused smirk slides onto his face at her honesty. Her smile widens.

She likes that, likes it when she brightens his face like that.

It's not the first time she pulled that kind of reaction out of him. The first had been in Marcelina, when he watched her sing, and she threw a wink in his direction to tease him. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing she did, but his reaction had been priceless. Instead of being irritated, a half smirk tugged at his lips, and gods, did he look so good then that she also caught herself bursting into an exhilarated smile.

He looks intoxicating like that.

"I should add another rule," Kai says, lightly stepping on the gas, left hand expertly maneuvering the wheel to pull them onto the main road. "You need to stop talking like that."

"Like what?"

"Like that."

"Saying what's on my mind? Or aggressively pining for you?" she says, turning cheeky. "Are you the type to fall for sweet words?"

"Sweet nothings, you mean."

"Sweet nothings are for liars," she counters. "I'm only being honest. What's the point of hiding my feelings when it's true that you're the one I think about a lot most days. Specifically, how you pin me on the bed."

They join the heavy flow of traffic on the road and eventually reach a red light. Kai turns to her.

"You flirt as hard as you work. Don't you get tired playing with me?"

"No? We've only just started."

Kai only shakes his head, shifting into drive again.

"One of these days, I'll figure out a way to shut that mouth for good," he says. "I almost never know how to deal with you. You keep me on the edge most of the time."

Despite the frustration in his voice, his shoulders are loose, relaxed. Unlike how he'd been before everytime she was around. Like he was always ready to leave or snap at her.

Milly reaches for his right hand and locks his fingers with hers. She presses his knuckles to her nose, memorizing the dark spicy flavors of his perfume.

"You live rent-free in my head most of the time too," she whispers to his skin.

Kai skirts her a sidelong glance, and to her delight, he pulls their intertwined hands and places it on his lap. He slides his fingers further into hers and squeezes her hand.

Her heart skids.

"Where are we going?" she asks after a while.

"My other place."