*Ana POV*
Our food arrived and we dig in.
Throughout our dinner, we eat, laugh, talk and just enjoy ourselves.
There were a few moments I saw him gaze at me. Looking at me as I ate.
"How's the food?" He asks.
I take a second to swallow my food before answering him.
"Honestly, better than I thought.".
"I'm really glad about that then, " he replies.
I see him look into me, into my eyes.
"By the way, I forgot to ask, how is Andrea? I heard you two talking earlier...".
I give him a joyous smile.
"She is doing good. She misses me a lot though, and I miss her an awful lot too.".
He returns a sympathetic smile. By his smile I know he knows how I feel.
"And... I am sorry..." I say.
He raises his eyes to me.
"About what?".
"How I told Andrea about what happened first. I should have... talked to you about it first. But I got scared... So, I am sorry.".
He crosses his eyebrows giving me that 'don't be ridiculous' look.
"Am I that scary?".
I chuckle gently at his words.
"At times, yes.".
I see a devious grin grow on his lips.
"That's a good thing, right?" He replies, that devious smile is doing grace to my body.
"Maybe it is..." I reply, smiling back at him, causing his eyes to shift a few shades darker.
I look at him as he takes his tall wine glass before taking a long sip of his drink. A couple of seconds pass before he carefully puts it back in its place.
"That's understandable. I mean, she is like a sister to you. A friend whom you can tell anything and everything.".
I nod to his words.
"Yeah... Andrea is always there for me and of course, I am there for her. We have each other's backs." I say.
He replies with a content smile before, once again, lowering his eyes to the tall wine glass in front of him.
"I also had a friend like that. We were best buddies, we were really close to each other...". Unease spreads across his face.
"Are you still buddies?" I ask.
He looks at me before giving me a sheepish smile and a slight nod.
"He passes away a couple of years ago. A car accident.".
I feel a frown grow on my face, but I continue looking at him.
"He did die straight away, we - his friend and I, we were all in our own, little group - we were basically the last ones to say a 'goodbye' to him...".
"I'm sorry for your loss...".
"Well... life must go on, you know?". I nod.
I sit quietly, looking at him. He is looking down at his plate.
"Are you still friends with the rest of the group?".
"Well, I still think of them as my friends. But we stopped hanging out...".
"I guess it was just because... the group didn't feel the same without him..." he adds.
Silence takes over the conversation right before James clears his throat.
"Well, this is getting depressing, " he nervously chuckles causing me to chuckle along.
Another wave of silence talks over as both James and my gaze at each other
"I love you, " he whispers.
"I love you more, " I reply.
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We continue talking, our plates are almost empty.
"I didn't get to ask you. How do you find your new job? Are you liking it so far,?" He asks me.
"Yeah, " I nod. "I get to say alongside you for the whole day, what could honestly be better than that?".
I smile when I see a big smirk appear on his face.
"I like what I hear..." he replies.
I look down at my plate before taking a forkful of food into my mouth.
"Hold on a second..." he says, I stop chewing and look up at him. What happened?
"Don't worry, have something by you lip...". I see him take hold of an unused napkin before gently tapping the side of my lip.
"There we go..." he smiles at me.
"Thank you," I say, gently, feeling my cheeks myself slowly but surely heating up.
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Half an hour later, our night at the restaurant sadly comes to an end.
We both stand up before making our way to the doors where we entered the restaurant. His hand is gently placed on my back at we get closer to the exit.
Within a few seconds, we exit to the front of the restaurant. That is where I begin to kick myself. The cold wind outside is very quickly cooling my warm skin. Goosebumps take over the surface of my body as I begin rubbing my hands to try and keep them warm.
Suddenly, a warm, dark coat gets wrapped around me and my cold body. I can instantly smell his cologne.
"Better?..." His deep voice sends chills down my body. "You were shaking like mad," he chuckles into my ear.
"Well, thanks to you, I am better now," I reply.
He moves in front of me, before looking down at me.
"I don't think I have told you how fucking beautiful you look...". I blush at his words.
"Well, makeup can-" he cuts me off before I could finish. I am glad he did.
"No. You look even more beautiful without makeup, you know that?".
"Is this some sort of a cliche pick up line?" I ask.
A big smirk stretches across his lips.
"You know I don't give a shit whether my ways are cliche or just full-on stupid.". He surprises me when he pulls me into him, into his muscular body. "As long as I can show my affection, that is all I care about..." he whispers gently into my ear before eagerly claiming my lips. I instantly melt upon his touch, I give in into his kiss.
The intensity of our kiss causes my knees to tremble. Right before my knees fail and I end up on the ground, he scoops me up in his strong arms.
His lips stay on mine for a few more seconds before they gently part.
"Now how about I show you that surprise I have promised?".
The arousal he shows in his tone causes me to subconsciously bite my lip.
"Now, now. What did we say about lip biting?...".
I reply my pushing my lips back into his. I can feel excitement build up in my as I hear his growl against my lips. I swear, he can sometimes be so fucking intimidating and I would love it so much. Our kiss ends with him gently dragging his nose across my cheek. His lips reach my jaw.
"Mmmm... when we get home..." he whispers harshly into my ear as he begins walking towards his car, with me tightly in his arms. "Mmmm... When we fucking get home...".