"I didn't expect that you would really prepare dinner for us, or that I'd be invited," he poured more wine into her empty glass.
"Noah, are you trying to get me drunk?"."
Noah hasn't even finished his first glass of wine yet. He barely drank any of it.
"Little Miss Jessie, I don't plan on taking advantage of you tonight," he scoffed, shaking his head in amusement. His eyes were dancing in mischief and a lecherous smile framed his lips.
"Why, Mr. Tiefenbacher, I didn't believe that at all." she softly chuckled, sipping her wine.
She observed Noah from the rim of her glass. He looked so at home at her dining table. He showered her cooking skills with compliments. From her Tzatziki shrimp chips bite and to the steak that she prepared.
Now they are just enjoying the store-bought tiramisu that they are sharing while they are having their wine.
Noah was more focused on flirting than drinking, she couldn't contain her amusement. Yet she won't deny the fuzzy warm feeling she was getting. She loves this interaction of them just chilling and not talking about commitment and such.
"Miss Zimmerman, you must have some naughty thoughts in that brilliant mind of yours. Care to share them with me?" he leaned toward the table. A grin spread across his face.
Noah watched as Jess giggled across the table. A lit candle that was part of her table setting, was softly illuminating her beautiful face. He recognized the flower she had on the table as the ones he sent to her a few days back.
The flowers he had brought tonight were put on a crystal vase and were left on the island counter.
His heart swelled in appreciation as he surveyed the table with everything she had prepared. This dinner that Jess prepared for them would undoubtedly go down as the best dinner of his life.
Not pushing Jess with the serious talk was actually good for them. He still wanted a clear line with their relationship but Jess doesn't react well whenever he tries to go in that direction. Hence, he is taking the long road.
She can take all the time she wants, he has no plan of letting her go anyway. He just reeled her in until she realized that she had nowhere to be than his arms.
"I don't have naughty thoughts in my head, Noah. Maybe you have, but I don't," she giggled.
Laughter was so easy with him, she thought. She was like a balloon floating over a summer afternoon. And his eyes would be the blue skies watching over her.
She looked at the wine glass in Noah's hand that he was just swirling. He would take a sip every now and then, and that's it.
She remembered that on their first night together, Noah also barely drank that night. It was her who had more alcohol in her system at that time. And speaking of alcohol, she glanced at the wine bottle and it was half-past half empty.
She should go easy on the alcohol tonight. She already had some while she was taking a bath.
"Would you like some coffee?"
"Little Miss Jessie, don't think that caffeine can save you." he wiggled his eyebrows at her.
Furrowing her eyebrows, she scoffed, "Noah, I'm just asking you to have coffee, since you don't seem to be enjoying your wine. You don't have to force yourself to join me drinking."
She stood up from her chair to start making coffee.
Noah grins. He was caught. However, she got it wrong. He likes alcohol — too much actually that it became a problem. Because of this, he no longer tries to touch them.
He sometimes wishes he still did, like tonight. He likes having some drinks with Jess and just talking about random stuff. However, coffee would also be fine.
After turning on the coffee maker, she gathered the dishes on the table and brought them to the sink to be washed later.
But Noah beat her to it. He walked to her kitchen sink and washed the dishes while she was making their coffee.
She grinned, "I didn't know that you can wash the dishes."
"Little Miss Jessie, there are tons of things I can do that you don't know about. Let me know if you are interested to know, I'll open my schedule," he said, washing off the suds from the plate he was washing under the faucet.
She walked next to him in the sink and leaned her hips on the counter, she still had her wine in her hand. She tilted her head to her left, watching Noah scrubbing the pots and pans she used for cooking.
"You look quite handsome. Domesticated life looks good on you Tiefenbacher," she grinned, teasing.
"Why, Little Miss Jessie, do you have a plan to domesticate me?" He touched the tip of her nose with his hands full of suds.
He laughed seeing the bubbles on the tip of her nose. And he laughed harder when Jess leaned on to his shoulder and wiped her nose on his shirt.
"Stop with this Little Miss Jessie thing. I couldn't believe that you would pick up that name from Luke." she wrinkled her nose. She put down her empty wine glass on the sink for him to wash.
She stepped away from him and got two coffee mugs and poured coffee on them. "How much sugar do you need on your coffee, Noah."
"I don't need sugar in my coffee. Just smile at me while I sip my black coffee and it would be sweet enough."
She twisted her body to see his face to know if he meant what he just said. When she saw the seriousness in his face, she chortled.
"You are hopeless, Tiefenbacher," she said, shaking her head.
"Yes, Miss Zimmerman," he said, drying his hands on the kitchen towel, "I am hopeless." he slid his arms to her waist, and dropped a kiss on her nose, "I am hopeless...ly in love with you," he whispered before pushing her against the island counter and claiming her lips for a kiss.