Chapter seven

Alessandro had grunted ‘that’s it’ his voice deep, husky and had not given her the chance to ask what before he lowered his head to her lips. The first touch of his lips to hers had been more than she had anticipated, she had never been kissed like that in all her life. His lips were soft and they bruised her. She found herself paralysed for the second time in a space of thirty minutes. She did not recognize the little whimper that had come out of her. After another minute of his torturous kiss her hands moved of their own will and went to the back of his neck where there was soft hair at the base. She started to move her hands in his hair and he had groaned as if in pain. That was what made her break the kiss, had she hurt him?

“Did I hurt you? You sounded as if you are in pain when I touched your head” she was flushed, breathless and her chest was heaving. “No you did not hurt me sweet Tanaka.” His voice had gone deeper; it was torturing her. “Then what is it, why did you groan like that?” Alessandro had to catch his breath because he too was breathless “It felt good having your hands massage my head like that, it…” “What did it do Alex?” she whispered. What was she doing! She got the idea of what he was saying, but a part of her needed to hear him say it. “It turned me on more than seeing you in those shorts and t-shirt. She heard him swear, “you are doing it again.” “What am I doing Alex? What is it” “Biting your lower lip like that.” All the while her hands were still behind his head and his eyes held her riveted. She suddenly released her lower lip from her teeth. “It does things to me Tanaka.”

Then after a short pause during which he just looked at her, “I think I should leave now” He said this while looking at his clearly expensive Louis Monet Meteoris watch. “Forgive me for my behavior just now. I will see myself out.” She was still in shock from the fact that he had kissed her. Alessandro Romero, the hottest of them all had found her attractive enough to kiss, he had found her arousing in her clumsy turquoise shorts! What was happening, she had thought he was just being friendly to her but oh no he was attracted to her. She watched him collect his jacket from the stool, put it on and start to walk away.

“Alex wait.” He looked back at her, “Tanaka let’s don’t. You are my cousin’s best friend and I do not know what Nathaniel would say to this. So is that what he was worried about? What Nathan would say. They stood in the kitchen doorway looking at each other for what seemed like hours. It was so silent the only sound she could hear was her breathing.

As much as she would have loved to continue staring at him for the rest of the night, she let him go. “Okay Alessandro. Thank you for stopping by.” “Oh so we are back to Alessandro now?” She ignored that and walked past him to go open the door for him. She suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to cry and she did not need him to witness that. With the door open she whispered, “goodnight Alessandro.” He did not move but hovered in the doorway looking down at her. She really was short human being compared to his height, it made him seem larger than life especially coupled of with his body. “Tanaka I hope you understand where I am coming from, please try to understand.” His voice was low as he spoke. “Yep, I totally understand.” Okay she needed him to go now! The waterworks were very close now. “It was nice seeing you Alex, have a good night.”

She closed her door and leaned behind it. Her face was wet with tears already. She could only hope they hadn’t started falling before he had left. As she let the tears fall while leaning on her front door, Tanaka tried to search inside her for the reason she was crying because why was she actually crying? Surely she could not be crying over Alessandro Romero, a man she had warned herself from the beginning to stay away from. But she had stayed away from him, it was he who had showed up to her house unannounced and tipped over her equilibrium. She knew the reason she was crying she was choosing not to think about it but it was right at the tip of her mind. She thought he had come to his senses and realized who he was kissing, short fat Tanaka Huchi. The spell he had been under had finally worn off and he had come up with Nathaniel as the excuse for him to leave. Yes, Nathan was an obstacle because she did not know how he would react to Alex and her together. “Get yourself together Tanaka.” She wiped the tears off her face and got ready for bed. Tomorrow she would talk to Nathaniel over coffee and find out what his stance on this was.

As Alessandro got into his apartment he was trying to figure out if those were tears he had seen on Tanaka’s face before she closed her door in his face. This was the reason he should have stayed far away from her. His reason for not taking the kiss further had seemed valid at the point, he did not want to ruin his relationship and hers with Nathaniel. But then again his cousin had given him her number which meant he was probably fine with the two of them together. Now as he was lying in bed thinking about it he regretted not taking that kiss the whole way, Tanaka had been so open for him to take. Her eagerness had been very visible through the way she kissed him back. There was so much passion underneath her calm maintained demeanor begging to be let out. Well it was too late now because he had shot her down. He told himself it was for the best, maybe they could just be friends. Yeah right as if that was a possibility.