mouth dried up. “So can I ask, Sweets, when exactly did you start taking away the sharp utensils?” Corey’s gaze flickered to the table I was busy setting.
“Huh?” My eyes followed and instantly my face flushed. Somehow in the mess of my mind I had been completely oblivious to the fact that every place setting had spoons. Not just a spoon. A soup spoon, a smaller spoon and the kicker—nothing else. There wasn’t a fork or knife to be found on the table, although each place setting had either multiple napkins or glasses.
“Shit.” I hissed under my breath. Corey’s soft chuckle brought my attention away from the disaster before me.
“Looks like you’re going to need a little help in here, Sweets.”
“This was completely intentional.” He leisurely continued his approach making me forget everything else. “What… uh…what are you doing here?” I stumbled out.
With a shrug of his shoulders he answered, “Just in the neighborhood and I was thinking about you.”
My mind raced with questions and unfortunately all the questions came out in a jumbled mess. “Because you were in the neighborhood? By the Inn? Because I work here?” Corey’s soft chuckle lightened my heart and I wished I could stop babbling like an idiot. There was only about a foot of space between us now. Corey’s hands emerged from the middle pocket of his sweatshirt as he grabbed my shirt to pull me closer to him.
“Just because.” My eyes focused on every inch of this stunning face. Outrageously, gorgeous blue eyes, soft tantalizing lips and the dimple that could bring me to my knees. The scent of soap and a hint of some intoxicating cologne swirled around my senses. It was easy to forget the crazy state of mind I’d been in when I had him so close.
“Oh.” At this point I was sure he could both see and hear my crazily-beating heart. This was ridiculous, why was I staring at him like some love-struck teenager meeting my celeb crush—it was just Corey!
“I have a question for you.” The words rolled off his tongue, hypnotizing my thoughts.
“For me?” He smiled and gave a single nod. “For you.”
“Well, shoot,” I mustered out.
“I’ve been wanting to get out lately—go see a movie or something—but I don’t want to go alone. And every time I bring Sanders he won’t stop yapping his jaw.”
“Oh.” Come on Danielle, throw in another syllable or something!
The amusement twinkled in eyes that held me captive. “Would you want to go see a movie with me tonight?”
“Sometimes I talk a lot during movies too.” Smooth Dani.
Corey chuckled. “It’s alright, you’re much cuter to look at.”
“Oh.” DANI! “I’m glad to hear that,” I added so I didn’t seem completely incapable of rational thought, let alone the ability to create a complete sentence.
“So what do you say—will you join me tonight?”
“Yeah, sure.” Absolutely! Without a doubt!
“Alright,” He nodded, as another smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “I’ll call you later then.”
“Sounds good.”
My eyes followed his lips as he leaned down and pressed a lingering kiss against my forehead. Then just as soon as the moment started; it stopped. Corey walked to the exit but halted and turned before leaving.
“Oh and Dani?”
“Hmm?”
“Stop scaring your staff, babe, you need them.”
“I do.”
He flashed me a wink, and was gone.
What the hell just happened?
While I was getting ready to go out after work, I tossed around the previous conversation in my mind trying to decide what kind of movie outing this would be. Should I dress up or dress down? Then again I suppose it didn’t matter since Corey had already seen me as naked as the day I was born. After much debate, two hours of cryptic texts to Gabby about what to wear under different possible circumstances, I was ready.
The outfit I selected looked cute but casual—even if it did take me about two-hours to pick out. I chose to wear my favorite light and very tight jeans with long layered white and black tank tops. On top of that I threw on my grey hooded sweatshirt with the New York skyline across it and my purple and black Puma shoes. I straightened my hair then pulled the top half into a small bun letting the rest hang down my back. The finishing touch; silver hoop earrings. After an added swipe of mascara—the extent of my make-up choice for the night—I was ready!
Corey had impeccable timing, showing up only 3 minutes later. I tried to hide my sigh of relief when