Air: Elementalist Book 1 by Rebecca Wolf (christmas read aloud .TXT) 📗

I laughed in his face. That is, until I saw that he wasn’t laughing.

“Aiden, I don’t date”  I said seriously, and then, trying to lighten the mood I added, “anyhow, if that’s what a date is we’ve been doing it for months. ”

“What do you mean you don’t date?” Aiden asked incredulously, “I know you’re attracted to me, I’m sure as hell attracted to you.”

“I don’t trust men,”  I said flippantly. “Besides, I don’t even know you. You could be a serial killer.”

“A serial killer who works at a soup kitchen feeding the hungry? Yeah, that sounds like it makes sense“ he said nodding sagely “it’s quite amazing how no one noticed all the regulars that have gone missing.” I rolled my eyes. Two months is not long enough to know someone. I don’t know you well enough to trust you, and I have a policy of only dating men I trust, ergo, no dating." “Zephyr” Aiden said, grasping my hand again in his. He peered into my eyes, “people date in ORDER to get to know and trust each other. Condemning yourself to a life alone because of fear would be a travesty."

“I am not afr-" I started to say indignantly before getting distracted as he rubbed gentle circles on my inner wrist with his thumb, suddenly all I could think was, “oooh so tingly.”

“won’t you even give me the chance to change your mind?” He asked softly. His eyes were so dark they were hypnotizing, and the circles he was drawing with his thumb were scrambling my brain cells. “I can’t think with you doing that,” I muttered dumbly.

“There’s nothing to think about, just say ok.”

“Ok?” I echoed back, feeling a little lost.

“Excellent,” he said, “are you free tomorrow night?”

“I work nights at a bar,”

“How about I make a stop at the bar tomorrow night, we can always go from there, ok?”

“Ok,” I said, I shook my head, trying to snap myself back into my usual caution and snark, “One date. And if I say we’re done that will be it.” He nodded, his expression serious but his eyes were laughing. “Also, just so you know, this doesn’t mean our prank war is at a truce.”

“Sweetheart, at this point, I would leave if we STOPPED playing those tricks on each other.”

I felt a little relieved that our relationship wasn’t changing completely.

“What’s the bar called” he asked as I turned to leave.

“The Bad Penny,” I said

“I’ll be there. ”

I opened the door and walked out. He could do the rest of the cleanup by himself.

Chapter 8

“So, you come here often?” Aiden asked the next night, as he slid onto a bar stool in front of me.

I rolled my eyes and smiled at him. “Actually, some might call me a regular here,” I replied.

“What’s your poison?”

“Surprise me,” he said with a flirty grin.

I mixed the ingredients together and plopped it down in front of him. “Virgin Shirley Temple,” I announced as I added a straw and umbrella for good measure. “You seem like that type of guy.”

He slowly slid the straw in his mouth and sipped, his throat muscles moving with each swallow. He licked the tip of the straw when he finished drinking, where a little of the grenadine remained, keeping his eyes on me the whole time. My mouth suddenly felt dry. My face felt hot. I just KNEW I was blushing tomato red.

“Mmmm,” he said, “red and bubbly is my type.”

I turned to help another customer, covering my ridiculous blush by busying myself with their order before returning.

“Ok, that was lame,” I said.

His smile was smug. “Your reaction says otherwise.”

“Shut up.”

“Oooh, kitten’s got claws.”

“SHUT UP.” I said louder, a gust of wind sweeping into the bar from somewhere, ruffling the patron’s hair and garments, and causing bar napkins to flutter about. “Real smooth, Zephyr,” I thought to myself, taking a deep breath and getting under control. I wasn’t really upset. Just super flustered and feeling out of sorts.

“What was that?” Aiden asked.

“Oh, just a draft in the bar. These buildings are OLD.” I explained dismissively “So, tell me something I don’t know about you,” I said trying to change the subject.

“I like to paint.”

“Really?” I said, intrigued. “What medium do you like to use?”

“Usually oil on canvas.”

Wow. I never would have guessed he was an artist. “I would love to see some of your work,” I said, somewhat surprised to actually mean it.

 He gave me a coy smile “That’s not really first date appropriate.”

 “Oh really, what number date do I have to be on to see your art?”

“My art is private. It’s a piece of my soul. Definitely something only revealed to a significant other,”

I laughed and gave him a playful shove “I’ll have you know I’m very significant. And how am I supposed to verify that you are ACTUALLY an artist if you never show me your work as proof?”

“I guess you’ll just have to cross your fingers and hope,” he responded laughingly. “Alright, my turn to ask. Name your guilty pleasure.”

“ Ice cream with gummy bears.”

“That’s disgusting” he responded wrinkling his nose and smiling at the same time.

“Fine,” I retorted, placing my hands on my hips “what’s your guilty pleasure?” “Oh, it’s definitely kissing you,” he said, leaning in towards me. He thinks he’s so smooth, I thought before choosing to give him my cheek at the last moment. He kissed it and then moved to kiss the corner of my mouth before nipping at my bottom lip.

This man just keeps pushing, I thought to myself, maybe it’s time I take a more aggressive approach, and see how far I can push him. “So, Aiden,” I said raising a brow quizzically, “would you rather screw me or get to know me?”

“Actually, I have plans to do both. Just not in any particular order,”

“Well, I have a particular order. “I said, knowing that I sounded bitchy and half hoping I would get