Free Unbroken Pleasures by Alisa Easton

bottle and poured a glass for each of us. He
offered one to me and then raised his glass to make a toast. I giggled but
raised my glass to clink gently with his.
    “Here is to the
start of something beautiful,” he said.
    “To the start of
something beautiful,” I agreed.
    We sipped our
grape juice and sat watching Tiger as we enjoyed our lunch. After we finished
eating and cleaned up, he stood up offering me his hand to help pull me to my
feet. I blushed.
    “I thought we
could go for a little walk together,” he said as he helped me to my feet.
    “It is a nice
day for it,” I agreed.
    We made a stop
at his car to leave the picnic basket and blanket, he clipped the leash onto
Tiger’s collar, much to Tiger’s dismay, and we started walking with no
particular destination in mind. I enjoyed the feeling of sun warming my skin
and the sound of Adam’s footsteps matching the pace of my own. There was
something very comfortable about being next to him. I had to admit it to myself
that I was having a good time, even if I didn’t want to.
    “What made you
change your mind?” he asked me breaking the silence that had settled between us
as we walked and enjoyed the day. His hand brushed against my hand as our arms
hung by our side and for a moment I panicked.
    “Change my mind
about what?” I gave him a sideways glance to try to read the expression on his
face. I could see possibilities when I looked in those eyes and that scared me,
I had to admit to myself. I was trying to be brave but I was not succeeding. I
was pretty sure I knew exactly what he meant.
    “About seeing
me.”
    “This isn’t a
date.” I blurted the words out quickly and then immediately regretted them. I
hadn’t meant to be so harsh. I just wasn’t ready to accept that I might have
feelings for another person after the way things turned out with Ed. Less than
twenty-four hours ago I might have been certain that I was ready to move on and
embrace life with a new boyfriend but now that I was faced with the possibility
of making that a reality, I was getting cold feet.
    He looked away
and focused on something in the distance and I wasn’t sure if I had hurt his
feelings. I tried to come up with something to say, some way to take it back
but all I could do is stare at my feet as we continued to walk.
    “I would like to
take you out,” he said at last, “on a real date.”
    “Adam…”
    “I really like
you, Alex, and I just want to get to know more about you. I don’t mean to be
pushy. Just say you’ll go out with me once. Let me take you to dinner later
this week and give me a chance. Get to know me a little and who knows, you
might actually enjoy yourself. You might even like me a little.”
    “I already like
you,” I admitted. We stopped and he turned toward me so that I was forced to
look into those brilliant green eyes and for a moment, my heart nearly stopped.
He put his hand out to caress my cheek which ignited thoughts of the stranger
somewhere in the dark corners of my mind. I tried to suppress all the feelings
that tugged along with those thoughts but I sighed despite my efforts. Adam
took it as a sign that I liked him touching me and he stepped closer.
    “We might even
be good together.”
    “Yes, we might
be.”
    “Then tell me
that you’ll go to dinner with me.”
    “I don’t know
what to say.”
    “Don’t be afraid
of me, Alex, I don’t bite. Not unless you ask nicely,” he said with a laugh. I
smiled.
    “Okay, why not?”
    “You won’t
regret it. You might even wonder why you ever resisted me for so long.”
    I felt him lean
in slightly and thought he might try to kiss me so I turned away suddenly and
started walking again. I may have agreed to give him a real chance at dating
but I wasn’t ready to kiss him in the park. I had too many strange feelings
stirring around in my head and my body wasn’t ready to comply. We continued to
walk and to talk about nothing in particular. If he had meant to kiss me,