A Taste of Spring

Chapter 4

SPRING

Spring stared back into Dezmond Ray's gray eyes. The picture she'd seen of him in the email did him no justice. Dezmond was the prototype for tall, dark, and handsome. His hair was dark brown with highlights and it was short on the sides but longer on top. It was a mop of a mess that may have been styled purposely or he could have just rolled out of bed. Either way, it was a good look on him.

"Thank you for stepping in there," Spring said as she looked over at the persistent pest who was looking over at them. Talk about perfect timing. Spring was just about to give up on the charade when Dezmond happened to walk over and rescue her. She couldn't have planned things out better and now she was sitting with him, thanks to the creep at the bar. Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

"He'll stop looking," Dezmond said as he slid around the booth seating and settled beside her, "once he gets the picture. Do you mind if..."

Before Spring was able to reply, he placed his arm around her and kissed her face gently, just below her lips.

Obscenely close to her lips.

His lips felt warm and so good on her skin that the kiss sent a tingle throughout her body that reached her toes then shot up to her core. If she moved just a smidge, she could taste his lips but she didn't move. She allowed him to kiss her and move away without her moving an inch.

"I don't mind," she whispered.

"Good. But if his attention is bothering you, we could always move to the restaurant next door. That way you won't have to put up with me...touching you any further. I could wait with you there until your friends arrive or we can leave through the restaurant entrance and I can walk you to your car."

Spring thought about leaving. She was so nervous and this was so not her. Summer said that she would handle her boss. Which meant that Spring could walk away and never see this man again. Except, Dezmond intrigued her. He was sinfully handsome and he must be a good guy for his friend to care so much as to go and hire an escort to cheer him up. Plus, she owed her sister and he seemed nice, so...

"Honestly, I don't have any friends coming to meet me. I was supposed to meet a person here but I was undecided if I wanted to go through with it." When Dezmond glanced over to the creep at the bar Spring shook her head. "No, not him." She quickly added, "It's not him."

Dezmond chuckled and it was so light and unexpected that Spring found herself relaxing a little. He sat back, breaking their close contact, and extended his hand low enough that no one could see it if they were watching.

"I'm Dezmond Ray by the way but you can call me, Dez."

When Dezmond said his name Spring almost sighed with satisfaction. She knew it had to be him, he resembled the picture but her nerves still had her second guessing. When she realized that he was waiting for her name, Spring thought quickly.

"Uh, I'm Anna." She cringed inside because of the partial lie

artial truth but pushed past it and placed her hand in his, thankful that his hand wasn't clammy.

"Now that that's out of the way, are you hungry because I could eat?"

Spring smiled again. He didn't seem all that down and depressed to her but she decided to hold off judgment on that. He could be dying inside, and who was she to take first impressions so seriously? This gorgeous man could be in dire need of an intervention and it was her duty, her current

responsibility, to help. Not to mention that she was doing this for her sister. Sisters sacrificed for one another.

"I am a bit hungry," she admitted. Spring was so nervous about taking her sister's place tonight that she totally forgot to eat something earlier.

Dez slid out of the booth with his hand extended for her to take. Spring took a second to think it over, but she ended up sliding out and grabbing his hand. She avoided looking at anyone, especially her "friend" at the bar, as Dez led her through the bar and out of the doors that led to the breezeway. He didn't speak or look back at her as his long legs easily ate up the paved walkway.

A whiff of food enveloped her as Dez opened the door to the restaurant. Like the bar, the restaurant had a contemporary, clean look. It was Spring's first time inside the establishment and she couldn't remember why she passed by the place so many times without stopping in.