My Latest Mistake

Luka left the front door with a skip in his step. Had it been Burley that came over and asked him along on a bunch of errands, he would have done it but he wouldn’t have been excited about it. Arie, err, Aria, on the other hand, well now that was different, wasn’t it?

From the day Burley and Dove introduced them, he was instantly drawn to her. She was from the big city like Dove, and that made her different and kind of exotic compared to the small town girls he was used to. On top of that, she was downright gorgeous.

She had long, wavy black hair, and brown eyes the color of dark chocolate. Her skin tone was tan but not in that fake, spray on tan way. It was naturally bronzed, smooth and flawless. She had perfectly plump, kissable lips and a body to die for. She was easily the most attractive woman Luka had ever seen. No contest.

There was no way he was passing up a chance to spend one on one time with that hottie.

He stepped into the bedroom that once belonged to his best friend. It had been much cleaner when Burley lived there. Luka had always been a disorganized person. Clothes littered his floor and his bed sheets were a tangled mess. There were a couple of beer bottles on his nightstand. His trash can was full and in need of emptying.

He didn’t think much of his cluttered room, he just dug through his clothes to find something clean to wear. He ended up with a pair of ripped jeans that weren’t ripped in a fashionable way, and a plain light blue t-shirt. He went to the bathroom to try and tame his unkempt hair, but in the end, it was easier to put on his favorite ball cap. It was a demolition derby hat that read ‘wildest sport on wheels’ with a skull and two checkered flags.

Once dressed, he put on a dash of cologne. A girl that hott, he wanted to smell his best. Then he found his keys, wallet and phone. He let his dog, Mindy, in from the back door and gave her a fresh bowl of food, and finally he left the house.

He didn’t bother to walk the distance between the two houses. He hopped into his old Jeep Cherokee and drove over. Aria was seated on a newly installed porch swing. She wasn’t rocking the swing. She was sitting with her legs crossed, looking down at the screen of her phone. She lifted her head when he pulled into the driveway, and he stuck his hand out the window to wave her over.

As she left the porch, he couldn’t help but think those heeled boots she wore made her legs look great in that skirt.

When she pulled the passenger’s side door open, it let out a loud creak. It was nothing unusual to him. His SUV was old and it made all kinds of noises.

Aria pushed the door open in an exaggerated way, as if the old door was made of heavy stone, and made an overdramatic huff. She didn’t immediately get in. Her eyes fell on the junk in his passenger’s seat. Some bottles and an empty fast food bag.

“Oh, shit, my bad,” he said to her. He had been so focused on watching her strut her sexy self over to the car, that he’d forgotten about the mess in his seat.

He grabbed the bottles and threw them onto the back floorboard. The bag too. Then he dusted the seat off with his hand.

“Milady,” he said, gesturing with his hand for her to take a seat.

Aria looked at him a moment, then at the seat, debating.

“It’s not gonna bite ya,” he joked, with a grin.

“I just didn’t expect your car to be so… old and dirty,” she said. She had a disapproving look on her face. Luka could have taken offense to that but instead he just scoffed.

“She don’t look like much, but I promise, she’s perfectly safe.”

Aria was quiet another moment. She let out a heavy sigh and moved to get into the car. She pulled the creaky door shut, put her purse into her lap, and reached for the seat belt. Luka’s gaze drifted down her thighs as she was getting situated. Her skirt was short, showing off those smooth tan legs that were begging to be touched.

“So, uh… where to first?” he asked, pulling his eyes up to her face.

Looking at her phone, Aria said, “Let’s pick up the flowers first. Do you know where Miss Maisy’s is?”

“Sure do,” Luka replied, as he began backing the car out of the driveway.

Miss Maisy’s was a little flower shop located in the center of town. It had been there for as long as Luka could remember. The original Maisy was dead and gone, but the shop had been passed down the family for generations.

“It’s nice of ya to do all’a this for Dove. I’m guessin’ you two are close?” he asked, once they started down on the road.

“Oh, yeah, totally. We’re practically sisters.” Aria smiled.

“That’s awesome. Dove’s a great girl. I didn’t think anything was gonna bring Burley out of that funk, but then she showed up and now he’s like a different man.”

“Yeah? Burley seems so perfect for her. I’m so happy for them. They’re really in love.”

Luka glanced at Aria and her words about love got the gears in his head turning. Was she single? He didn’t see a ring on her finger, and he had heard no mentions of her bringing a date to the wedding.

“Yeah, they are. Must be nice, huh?” he said, his eyes going back to the road.

“I wouldn’t know.”

“What? Whattya mean?”

“I mean I’ve been in love, obviously. But it never lasts. I’ve got such a terrible track record with men,” Aria explained. She brushed a strand of hair over her shoulder and looked away to the window. It was spring, and all the trees and plants that surrounded the road were bright shades of green. Everything was being reborn with the seeds of life.

“Yeah, I hear ya. Been kinda on a bad luck streak myself. But you know, maybe you just haven’t met the right one,” he said in a flirtatious tone. He glanced over at her and grinned when he met her eyes.

“Are you insinuating that maybe you’re the right one?” she said with a defiant look.

That brought a laugh out of him. She wasn’t shy, was she?

“Could be. I mean, it’d be kinda cool, wouldn’t it? The maid of honor and the best man hitting it off?”

Aria let out a scoff and shook her head. She looked out the window again, choosing not to answer that question.

“Com’on, you can’t deny I’m one handsome devil,” he said with a self-assured smile.

“Oh my gosh! And you’re totally full of yourself too!” Aria suddenly exclaimed with a laugh. He took her laughter as a good sign.

“You didn’t deny it…” he said, in a teasing, sing-song tone of voice.

“Shut up and drive, okay?” she snapped back, not giving into him.

“Anything you say, milady,” he said, then added with a smirk, “But you still didn’t deny it.”

Aria shoved a hand at his shoulder, which caused him to laugh. He didn’t say anything more, though he was feeling pretty confident as he drove them to Miss Maisy’s.

He had to park in an open lot, and the two of them walked the short distance down the sidewalk to the flower shop. He let her take care of business inside the shop. He was just there to help out with the carrying, and boy, did she make use of him for that.

He ended up pulling his car up to the front of the shop, so that it would be easier to load all of the flowers. He thought they would just pick up a few bouquets but it was actually a big haul. His entire cargo area in the back of his SUV was full of various flowers. Hey, at least it was going to make his SUV smell nice.

“That’s a check for the flowers. Where to next?” he asked, once they were both inside the vehicle.

“It’s a place called Just Cakes.”

Luka pondered for a moment. “I think that’s the new place out near 50.”

“Is it far from here?”

“Nah, man, just about ten minutes or so.”

Just Cakes was indeed the new place out near 50, and Luka had never been inside it. There was a smaller bakery in town but Just Cakes put that place to shame. When they stepped inside, his nose was assaulted by the smell of bread and cookies and sweets. There were several glass displays full of various desserts. Cookies, cupcakes, fudge, cinnamon rolls, pastries. Anything you want, they had it.

“Damn, this place is makin’ my mouth water,” he said, looking over all the deliciousness. They had some kind of thing called a coconut bomb, and he did love coconut.

“It’s supposed to be the best bakery in town,” Aria said.

“Well if all’a this tastes as good as it looks, then I can believe it.”

Aria laughed, and he thought she had a pretty laugh. Hell, everything about the girl was pretty. The more he looked at her, the more attractive she was. Her laugh lit up her eyes and pulled her lips into such an enticing smile. He was kind of dying to know what those lips felt like… He had to look away, before he let his thoughts get carried away. The last thing he needed was a hard on. Dessert was a great distraction.

“Hey, if I get one of these, will you try it with me?” he asked her, pointing to the coconut bombs.

A look of uncertainty crossed Aria’s face. “I don’t know. That’s a lot of sugar.”

“Yeah, and that’s what’s gonna make it taste good. Com’on, man. If you’re worried about your figure, don’t be. A little coconut bomb isn’t gonna ruin that flawless body.”

“I never said I was worried about my figure,” said Aria, a bit defensively.

“Then what’s the problem?” He gave her a lighthearted grin, not fazed, and that was enough to crack away at her defenses.

“Okay. Fine. Get one,” she relented.

“Awesome,” he said happily. When the baker approached the counter with the cake and the rest of their order, Luka asked him to add in one coconut bomb. Before they carried everything out to the car, he pulled Aria over to one of the small tables for indoor seating.

“Okay, so you wanna try it first or me?” he asked.

“You were the one that wanted it, so you go first,” she said.

“Alright, you don’t gotta pull my leg or anything,” he said with a laugh. He carefully unwrapped the coconut bomb and took a bite. As the sugary goodness came to life on his tongue, he couldn’t help the moan that escaped his lips. He closed his eyes and just enjoyed it. It was like an orgasm in his mouth. Holy shit, it was that good!

“Are you okay?” Aria’s voice pulled him back to reality. She was looking at him with a gleam of amusement. Let her be amused. She didn’t know how amazing the coconut bomb was!

“Just gimme a minute,” he replied, letting out another moan.

“It can’t be that good!” She laughed that pretty laugh.

“Oh, yes it can!” he insisted. He broke off another piece and popped it into his mouth. Ugh, it should be against the law for a dessert to taste that way. Aria was laughing at him again. He grinned at her and said, “You know, I’m kinda regretting asking you to try it with me now.”

“What? You’re not gonna let me try it? After all that build up?”

“There’s more over there. You can get your own.”

Aria let out a gasp of shock, putting her hand to her chest as if he had said something very offensive. He couldn’t help but chuckle. He could tell she was playing, but he wondered if she was used to everyone kissing her ass. Probably. She looked like that kind of girl. But hell if he could blame them. He felt like he’d do whatever she wanted, just to keep that pretty smile on her face.

“Alright, alright. You can try it,” he said. “But you gotta let me feed it to you.”

“I can feed myself just fine, thank you,” she said, holding out her hand to receive the coconut bomb. Luka didn’t hand it over. He especially didn’t when, as he licked sugar off his lips, he noticed the way her eyes followed his tongue.

“Com’on, don’t ya want the full experience?” he said. “Besides, it’s gonna get your fingers all messy. Look at those nails. You don’t wanna mess ‘em up.”

Aria narrowed her eyes at him. “Oh my gosh, you are so annoying, do you know that?”

“Hey, I’m just lookin’ out for you. You wanna try it or not?” He wiggled his hand that was holding the bomb as he asked that question. His lips were still curved into that teasing grin.

“Fine.”

Score! He slowly leaned over the table to offer the coconut bomb to her. She locked eyes with him a second, still looking slightly irritated, before she leaned in to take a small, gentle bite.

He watched her face as the delicious sweetness washed over her taste buds. Her brown eyes closed, and her tongue grazed across her upper lip, looking more arousing than she probably intended. She didn’t let out a moan herself, but he could tell by the look of satisfaction on her face that she thought it was just as good as he did.

“Okay… That’s amazing,” she said, after a long moment of just savoring the flavor.

“What did I tell ya?” He was still leaning over the table. Close enough to smell the sensual allure of her perfume.

“You weren’t wrong,” she agreed.

Luka grinned at her, and in that moment, he felt a strong urge to kiss her. Those perfect lips were calling his name.

“You know, you got something on your face…” he said, as he lowered the coconut bomb down to the table.

“What?” Aria asked with sudden surprise. She lifted her hand towards her face.

“Yeah, it’s by your lips. I can get it for you if you want,” he suggested.

“No, I can get–” she started, but before she could finish the sentence, he interrupted her. He closed the gap between them, boldly pressing his lips to hers. He couldn’t help himself. He couldn’t fight it any longer. He had to know what it felt like to kiss her, and damn, did it feel good.