Chapter 11.

**Tessa’s POV.**

“Girlfriend?”, I asked him, that was the only word that could slip out my mouth,

“Hmmm”, he hummed then placed a smirk on his lips, “That title suits you, don’t you think?”, at that point, I could not tell whether he was joking or not, the smirk on his face was playful but the look in his forest green orbs begged to differ.

“Is that a trick question?”, I immediately got annoyed how could he be playing and joking around with my feeling like that? It was cruel and unfair.

“No, it was a statement”, he shrugged, “Anyways, you are my girlfriend from now on and I am not taking no as an answer”, he placed a muscled arm around my waist and my stomach exploded as a million butterflies fluttered within me,

“What if I had no plans on saying no?”, as predicted, a stupid blush had formed on my cheeks,

“Well, that is good for the both of us then”, he bent down and placed a small kiss on my temple, making it the fifth time that night- not that I was counting or anything. He then led us towards the upscale bar at the center of the large space, he pulled out a highchair for me like the true gentleman he was and after I was comfortable, he took the seat near me.

The bartender had rushed over to us in a hassle, “Mr. O’Connell”, the bartender greeted politely,

“Laurence”, he smiled at the man, “I would have my usual, what would you like to have?”, he asked me,

I pressed my lips together, why was I craving soda so bad when I was one hundred percent sure that it was a soda free zone? “Sparkling water”, to be absolutely honest, I had never tasted sparkling water before, I only ever heard it in movies and read about it in books, but I was curious, did it taste like normal water? Or, did it waste like water that sparkled?

The bartender, Laurence looked at me skeptically because of my odd request, who actually came to a bar and ordered sparkling water? Maybe not people that were essentially old enough to come to a bar. I gave the man a shy smile and he went to work, showing off his exquisite bartending skills.

“So, where would you like to go next week?”, I nearly choked on my spit at his question,

“Excuse me?”,

“Where would you like to go? For our next date, next week”, he chocked an eyebrow up and leaned lazily on the counter, his big arms holding his weight, I wondered how it would feel to be under that weight. The thought alone made heat rush to my untouched lady parts, the sensation there made my stomach churn in a way that it had never done before.

“Surprise me”, I said, trying to erase the inappropriate thought out of my damaged brain,

“Well, I think it is your turn to do that”, he smiled down at me while I shrugged,

“I will think about it”, the bartender came around with our drinks and placed them in front of us.

“One cup sparkling water and one bottle of Manhattan and a cup of screaming orgasm”, my eyebrows immediately quirked up, what the fuck was he drinking?

“Screaming orgasm?”, I whispered at him once the bartender had gone to tend to other people, “Seriously?”,

“What? Do not judge me okay? I like the drink and I did not judge the fact that you’re taking sparkling water at a bar, like really, what happened to root beer?”, he seemed very defensive, acting like it was the first time I had teased him over something as small as this,

“It was a joke, okay?”, why wasn’t he taking it as one? It was just a stupid drink.

He let out a sigh, “Yeah, I know. I should not have lashed out like that”, he placed a mischievous smirk on his lips, “Besides, I would love to give you what the name of this drink is”, I melted- a thousand times over. He should not be saying things like that to me, I just could not take it, somehow, being sexually inactive made me hornier- especially when it came to Alex O’Connell.

I was a fucking tomato, red and mushy, I was pissed off at myself- no doubt. I wondered how a person could blush that many times in one night! Did my cheeks not want a break from all the blood gushing to it every five second? Was it not tired of being blood washed?


***

It was after eleven when we left the club and honestly, I was not really that impressed with my choice of drink. Sparkling water was just water with a tingling sensation to it, nothing else- all in all, I was incredibly disappointed with my own choice.

The night though, was a blast. I had the time of my life with a perfect man that somehow ended up being my boyfriend- Alex O’Connell was my boyfriend, it seemed so foreign to me but it seemed so right at the same time- rushed by right. I really liked him and loved the fact that he liked me enough to want to date me even though we practically lived in two separate worlds, two totally different planets.

“Why?”, we were in the limo, his arms wrapped around me tightly as if afraid of letting me go, “Why did you choose me?”,

He paused for a while; his lips pressed into a thin line. Without any warning, he lifted me off the seat and placed me on his laps, “Because”, he began, “You are the only girl that I’ve ever met that stands a chance with me, the only girl I think I could love and I don’t want to lose you to someone else”,

“Oh”, that was the only thing I could say but he surprised me for the tenth time that night, capturing my lips with his unexpectedly.