Her Heart's Desire

The feeling was similar to observing one of her favorite paintings. The longer she stared at it, the more she wanted to stare.

When she was wrapped in Ivan’s ironclad embrace, the only thing on her mind was that she wanted him to kiss her. Not the quick peck on the lips, but the most thorough, deep, erotic kiss she’d ever had in her life.

* * *

As Ivan drove home, he thought about his evening. He had enjoyed teaching the seniors’ class—and spending time with Tiffany.

Who are you kidding? It’s the most fun you’ve had in a while.

He thought about the gleam in Tiffany’s eyes when she took him down for the first time. There was such a sense of accomplishment and confidence in her expression that he had to chuckle. Before she got back to business, she took a victory lap around the class that reminded him of Sylvester Stallone jumping up and down in triumph in the movie Rocky. She was something else.

He also recounted their playful banter and how, seconds later, it took everything in him not to grab her and claim her sexy mouth for a searing kiss. His body reacted instantly to the memory of how good she looked. Suddenly uncomfortable at the tightness below his waist, Ivan shifted a few times in his seat.

His cell phone rang. Thankful for the distraction, Ivan answered. “Hey, Cole. What’s up?”

“You done with class?”

“Yeah, why?”

“How about dinner at Giordano’s?”

“Sure. I’ll get us a table.”

Ivan arrived and ordered a beer. As he sipped it, he thought about his social life. GiGi was right. It was pretty boring. It was all work and family obligations. Not that he would ever shirk one of his responsibilities. Ivan was overzealous when it came to doing what was expected of him. The army had amplified that mantra. Still, there was more out there, and it was passing him by.

His thoughts strayed to Debra. Pain and remorse wrapped themselves around his heart like a vise grip.

“You’re scaring potential dates off,” Cole greeted him, sitting down.

Ivan pushed away the melancholy. “I’ll do my best.”

Since they already knew the menu, they ordered a deep-dish pizza with everything on it.

“So how was class?” Cole asked after their server left.

“Good. Tiffany was a fantastic assistant,” he said proudly. “You should’ve seen her.”

“Tiffany helped teach your class? As in, ‘she’s my client,’ Tiffany?”

“Yes.”

“What happened to that whole rule thing?”

“Technically, she’s not my client anymore,” Ivan pointed out.

“Great. Does that mean you’re going to ask her out?”

Ivan was silent.

“Don’t even try to convince me that you don’t want to. You should’ve seen your face when you described your evening. I thought you were going to need a towel to wipe the drool.”

Ivan grinned and took another sip of beer. “Shut up.”

“Dude, tell me I’m wrong,” Cole countered. “I don’t know why you’re trying to act like you aren’t attracted to her.”

“That’s not what I’m doing. In fact—”

Cole sat back in his chair. “Then what are you doing, Ivan?” He interrupted. “I’ve seen her. The woman is seriously working the hotness factor. Plus, she’s warm, funny and for whatever reason likes you. You scowl all the time, have no sense of humor and no love life. Why all that drives women out of their panties, I’ll never know.”

Ivan glanced over at his brother. “Wait...how do you know she likes me?”

Cole shook his head. “You’re pathetic.”

“What?”

“How is it you can hear a grenade pin being pulled from twenty clicks away, you’re a weapon unto yourself, an expert strategist, and can speak not one, but several languages in addition to English, but something as rudimentary as a woman who can’t keep her eyes off you goes poof...right over your head?”

“Okay, it’s not twenty clicks, and you have two seconds to answer the question,” Ivan warned.

Cole took a pull on the beer he had been given. “In that whole list of stuff, that’s all you got out of it?”

Ivan stared at him.

Cole shook his head. “It’s how she looks at you when she thinks nobody is looking, Ivan. She hangs on your every word, and the most telling sign was when you arrived late the other night and she thought you weren’t coming. She looked like someone had kicked her puppy.”

Ivan took a breath, then said, “Earlier this afternoon, we almost kissed.”

Cole leaned back in his chair with a shocked but satisfied grin. “Tell me everything.”

Ivan filled his brother in on his day and the connection he felt with Tiffany. Cole listened intently. When Ivan was finished, Cole said, “So what’s with the long face?”

“It’s...complicated.”

“What is? Call her up, take her on a proper date and get this thing going. What am I missing?”

Ivan frowned. “Debra.”

Cole let out an expletive. “I told you to take care of that situation, but you didn’t listen. Now you have to clear the air with Tiffany, and you know how that’s going to go.”

“I know,” Ivan replied. “I’m not sure she’s going to understand.”

“To be honest, big brother, I don’t understand why she’s still in your life. Cut her loose, and be done with it.”

“Debra and I were over a long time ago. She made her choice, and I respected it. I didn’t like it, but I didn’t have much of a choice, did I? She picked Brian to spend her life with, and I’ve been dealing with that decision ever since.”

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