Temptation's Kiss Ch. 03

Hey guys! So I want to apologize for the mustang mishap in the previous chapter. I swear I looked it up first, but I guess my brain just wasn't working properly... Forgive me?

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Rand took his time admiring the way Cassidy looked in the red dress that she wore. She looked good enough to eat. She was almost eye level to him in the heels she had on.

He loved her hair. He loved the way it fell down her back and over her shoulders in a waterfall of silky midnight curls. His hands itched to bury themselves in its mass.

"Hello beautiful." He greeted her with a smile. The smile she returned sent electric shocks down to the pit of his stomach. God, but she was beautiful. He'd been out with his share of beautiful women but Cassidy was just breathtakingly stunning.

"Hey there." She replied.

Rand held the flowers out to her and watched as her face lit up.

"Oh Rand they are beautiful! I love Violets." She said and buried her nose in the light purple flowers. "They smell heavenly. Why don't you come in while I put these in some water." she said and turned to walk back into the apartment.

It was a small apartment, but it suited her. It was utterly feminine. It was all ivory lace and sage green. It was simple and elegant.

He followed her into the kitchen where she was filling a crystal vase with water. She set the flowers in the vase and carried it over to and oak coffee table that was bare, save for a few books that had seen better days.

"So how was your day?" he asked when they left her apartment.

"Slow." she answered with a sigh. "I only had eight customers all day."

"Well eight is better than none."

She laughed and the sound made his stomach muscles tighten. Her laugh was incredible. He hadn't found a single thing about her that wasn't incredible.

"So where are we going?" she asked him as she climbed into his car.

"I was thinking that new Italian restaurant, Paola's I believe it is." Rand answered.

"Oh I love Italian. I've never heard of Paola's though." she said.

"You'll love it. I ate there last week. The food is amazing. It's not a real fancy place but the food is top notch. Their breadsticks will rock your world!" he told her.

"I can hardly wait." Cassidy laughed and ran a hand through her hair.

Less than ten minutes later they pulled up at a small building that had certainly seen better days. It was old and it seemed as if the roof would cave in at any minute. The owners thought it was charming. Rand thought it was dangerous, but the food, as far as he was concerned was well worth the danger.

"Umm, that has got to be a safety hazard." Cassidy said as she got out of the car.

"Oh, it's perfectly safe." Rand told her and grabbed her elbow. "I think."

Cassidy stared at the building that Rand was leading her into. It seemed as if it were falling apart. It definitely wasn't the fancy restaurant that she was expecting from Mr. Randon Alexander Mitchell the third, but she was almost relieved by that fact. It meant her face would more than likely not be in the tabloids the following day. That would be bad.

They were seated at a table in a corner by a pudgy little man wearing a suit that fit just a little too tight. He had a mustache that looked as if he were channeling Zorro. Cassidy thought he was charming.

"What can I get you to drink?" he asked and winked at her causing her to laugh.

"I'll have sweet tea please." She answered.

"I want a beer. Just whatever you have on hand is fine with me." Rand answered and gave her a quizzical look as the man walked away.

"I pegged you for a red wine girl." He told her.

"Oh I reserve on glass of red wine a night for my bath and that's all. I don't handle a drink very well." Cass admitted and wrinkled her nose as a rather unwanted memory of her dancing almost naked on a table at a collage party popped into her head. She'd been in a rebellion period.

Rand laughed. "Am I sensing a story behind that?" he asked and she quickly shook her head.

"Not one I will tell you!" she told him.

Cassidy looked over the menu and felt Rand's eyes on her. She looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"Have I told you how absolutely gorgeous you look?" he asked.

Cassidy felt her cheeks heat and shook her head. "Why don't you tell me?" she asked.

"You look like an angel or maybe a gypsy. I can't decide. It may be a bit of both with all that wild and gorgeous hair and creamy pale skin." He told her and ran his finger over her hand. "You could quite possibly be the most gorgeous woman I've ever met."

Cassidy snorted. "Yeah right. Didn't you go out with Amy Mendoza? She's a supermodel for goodness sakes. And like number one on the list of hottest women in America." She told him.

"Nope. She's got nothing on you." Randon said and shook his head.

Their drinks arrived and they put in an order for their food.

"So why books?"

Cassidy looked at him and smiled. "I love books. They are an escape from reality. I love the face that I can provide people with an escape. Everyone needs one every once in a while. What better way that to loose yourself in a good book?"

"I like a good book every now and again. My escape happens to be video games though. I love video games. I have just about every gaming system and every game known to man at my house. That's a secret though. I'm trusting you to keep it on the down low." He said in a whispered tone causing Cassidy to laugh.

"Oh I am horrible at video games, specially those military games! I always die within the first ten seconds. I'm not very good at all." She said.

"Well, I could teach you. I don't like to toot my on horn but I'm pretty awesome." He told her.

"I'm probably unteachable." Cassidy warned him.

"Nobody is unteachable!" Rand said. "With the right teacher, that would be me, you will exceed in the art of gaming!"

"Maybe I'll let you teach me then." She laughed.

"As you should."

Cassidy looked into his eyes. God, those eyes were amazing. They were so incredibly green.

"You have the most incredible eyes." She said.

"Why, thank you." He told her, taken aback by the sudden compliment.

"You're welcome." She told him.

When their food arrived the conversation quickly changed to food.

"Pepperoni pizza is the best." Cassidy told him and took a bite of the delicious spaghetti on her plate.

"Nope, meat lovers deserve that honor. I mean what's better than a pizza piled high with a lot of meat? It's God's food!"

"You are wrong!" Cassidy laughed.

"I am never wrong!" Rand told her and smiled his signature heart stopping smile.

"Everyone is wrong sometimes." Cassidy told him.

"Not me!"

Cassidy rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say."

"Yes! Whatever I say!"

When they left the restaurant their conversation topic had switched to baseball.

"I can't believe you're a Yankees fan! You have to marry me! I'd simply die without you!" Rand said and raised a hand to his heart.

"Oh, hush." Cassidy laughed. "There are lots of Yankee fans in the world."

"But you're here. They are not!"

Cassidy shrugged and felt a tinge of disappointment when he pulled up to her apartment.

"Well, thanks for the meal. I had a good time." She said and turned to look at him.

"Hold on, I'll walk you up." he told her.

"Oh, you don't..."

"If I don't walk you up, I don't get a chance to kiss you like I want to." He told her and got out of the car.

Cassidy's heart beat accelerated as she followed him to into the apartment building and up to her door.

She turned to him and bit her bottom lip. She would have sworn she heard his breath catch.

His hand went around her waist and pulled her close to him.

"I had a wonderful time." he told her and kissed both corners of her mouth.

"Me too." she told him and rested her hand on his shoulders.

When his mouth connected with hers she felt her knees begin to buckle. She knew that if he hadn't been holding her she would have collapsed into a puddle on the floor. His tongue separated her lips and searched for hers. She moaned and he pulled her closer. She could feel the hard lines of his body against her. She moved to tangle her fingers in his hair, pulling his head closer.

"You have no idea how much I would love to go into that apartment with you." He told her when he broke away and rested his forehead against hers.

"You could, you know."

"I know, but I'm not going to. I don't want to rush this. I like you. I don't want it to be all about sex. And when I make love to you, it'll be in my bed and it'll be slow and by the time I'm done I'll know every secret of your body, inside and out." He told her then kissed her once more before walking away.

Cassidy walked into her apartment, a little wobbly on weak knees, and collapsed on the couch.

Her mind was a bit foggy and she knew it was because of Rand's kiss. He knew how to kiss, that was for sure.

The phone rang and she got up to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hey friend."

"Hey Mari." Cassidy greeted her best friend.

"I called you about seven times. You didn't answer. I was about to call the police to go check on you!" she accused.

"Sorry I was on a date."

"With who? Oh, please tell me it was the hunk from the club! God, wasn't he Randon Alexander Mitchell? He looks even better in person." Maria sighed.

"Yes with Randon." Cassidy laughed.

"Oh yay! Where did he take you?" she asked.

"Some small Italian restaurant."

"Did he kiss you?"

"Oh yeah." Cassidy sighed.

"Bitch." Maria growled causing Cass to laugh. "Look, I've talked to Cora and Anna. We've decided that next Saturday is spa weekend. We are all going to get pampered!"

"Mari, I've got to work next weekend."

"You've got Marissa." Marie said.

"Marissa only works two days a week and that on Mondays and Thursdays."

"So? Ask if she can take an extra weekend. She could probably use the extra cash, what with two twins and all."

"I'll talk to her. Now I've got to go Mari. It's past my bedtime."

"It's barely ten o'clock!"

"Bye Mari." Cassidy said and hung up the phone with a smile.

She went to sleep with a smile still on her face and thoughts of Randon floating around in her head.