- When They Go Out On A 'Non-Date' Date -

Nina

A week later...

"Oh sweet Nicolinaaa..."

I bury my face deeper into the pillow and grunt in pain as his dramatic singing voice reaches my ear.

Dear God! Why me?

What did I ever do to you!?

I peek at the alarm clock on my night stand and whine, "Why the hell are you waking me up at the arse-crack of dawn, you poopy doo-doo!?

Yeah! I get real creative with the name-calling in the morning...

Psshaw! I'm just that awesome!

I feel the bed dip beside me as he answers, "It's not ass-crack of dawn, cara. It's almost five thirty."

I open my eyes and scowl, "Correction: It's five thirty on a Saturday. The very Saturday where I don't have to work."

He huffs and pouts, "Come on, sweetheart. I'm hungry! I want some Nina Special Pancakes!"

I glare at him and mentally imagining his head blasting into million little pieces as I reply, "If you want some pancakes then make your own damn pancakes, you Hungry McHungerson!"

Like I said... real creative.

He sighs and plops down into bed beside me and wraps his arm around my waist, facing me as he buries his face in my neck while I lay on my back.

"Come on, sweetheart! Me hungry! Feed me!" He mumbles against my skin. 

I grin cheekily and mimic him, "Come on, Lu! Me sleepy! Go away!"

The transition of his nickname from "Sexy" to "Lu" happened last Tuesday.

Apparently I can be real idiot sometimes.

Exhibit A: Me and some of my co-workers were having lunch during our break at a diner near our office when Lucien walked in. And in my defence - I was really surprised to see him there since he wasn't supposed to be working that day.

So being the fool I am; I stood up and yelled out at the top of my lungs, "Hey Sexy!"

In. Front. Of. Everyone!

A 'Kill Me Now' moment, eh?

Yep! The award for being the dumbest person in the universe goes to me. Whoop di doo!

Finally as the little bulb in my mind switched on; I looked around the diner to see every one of my colleague staring back and forth between Lucien and I with their eyes bulged out of their sockets and their mouths dropped open.

Rylee went as far as dropping the fork he was supposedly licking (It was apple pie!) and then yelling out, totally flabbergasted, "Holy Fuckinator!"

Holy Fuckinator indeed!

Without missing another beat, I immediately picked up my cell from the table and placed it over my ear as if I was talking to someone over the phone and continued yelling, "Hey Sexy! What!? I can't hear you! What!? Never mind, I'll call you later!" I pretended to hang up the call.

Then I sat down and looked at everyone with a straight face and explained with a deadpanned expression, "It was my best friend. We sometimes pretend to be lesbians who are in a serious relationship with each other."

And to my surprise, everyone shrugged and continued their lunch without blinking an eye as if I was actually crazy enough to do so.

Hmph.

I'm seriously beginning to question my 'saneness'.

Anyhoo, when I finally looked up at Lucien, I saw his lips curved into an amused grin with the corners of his eyes crinkled as he stared back at me with 'Oh my Goshiee! Can she be any cuter!?' expression on his face.

I huffed and glared at him to which he typed something in his cell and looked back at me.

My phone beeped over the table and I quickly picked it up.

Luke: Stop being so cute! I can hardly stop myself from marching up to you and kissing the fuck outta you!

I instantly blushed hard as if someone slapped my cheeks with the entire bottle of ketchup and typed back.

Me: That's it, mister! You're getting a demotion. You're no longer 'Sexy'. From now on, I'm calling you Lu!

I looked up to see him reading my text while he frowned and replied.

Luke: Lu?

I quickly typed a response.

Me: Yes. Lu. It rhymes with blue. I like blue. Blue's blue. You're Lu.

I pressed send and then realized a person can not only sound idiotic over a text but that can also make a certain person (Me) wanna strangle myself.

Woo-hoo, baby! I'm on a roll today!

I slowly peeked up at Lucien who was reading the latest text and his expression got all amused and teasing again.

I huffed and typed again.

Me: I swear to God, if you look at me like I'm cuter than a baby panda again, I'm gonna karate-chop your arse so bad that you're gonna call me Bruce Lee Version 2.0 Wa-chow!

And guess what happened?

He actually marched right up to our table, leaned down next to me and pinched my cheeks in front of everyone while gushing in a baby voice, "Who's the cutest cutie-pie in the whole world? Yes you are! Yes you are!"

Then he walked out of the diner without looking back.

Like a boss!

Apparently Lucien pinching my cheeks meant anyone can pinch my cheek because everyone thought I was much cuter than Ariana Grande in that Nickelodeon show Victorious.

I mean... is that even fricking possible!?

As a result, I didn't need to apply blush over my cheeks for two days.

Two. Frickin'. Days.

I shake off my thoughts when Lucien's hand over my waist tightens.

"Sweetheart?" He murmurs.

"Mmh..."

"Sweetheart?"

"Mmh..."

"Sweetheart?"

"Mmh..."

"Boy! You sure are a chatter box in the morning, aren't you?" He chuckles.

"Mmh..." I smile and lift my hand to give him a sleepy thumbs up.

He lifts me slightly and turns me around so that we are face to face with each other.

I slowly open an eye to see him staring at me warmly.

I lean my face upward and stick out my tongue and poke the top of his nose with the tip of my tongue making him scrunch up his nose playfully before he leans forward and gives me a small lick on my neck making me giggle out loud.

He smiles softly at me and kisses me on my forehead.

Insert dreamy sigh here.

"Gimme thirty more minutes to sleep and then I'll make you your NSP." I mumble softly.

"NSP?"

"Nina Special Pancakes."

"Oh." He nods before retorting, "Five minutes."

I narrow my eyes, "Thirty minutes."

"Five minutes."

"Twenty five minutes."

"Five minutes."

"Twenty minutes."

"Five minutes."

"Fifteen minutes."

He sighs before nodding, "Fine. Fifteen minutes."

I start to smile when it freezes when I see him grinning.

Damn! I really need to work on my negotiation skill.

I huff but cuddle closer to him and lay my head on his shoulder while my hand curls over his abs. He wraps his arm around my shoulder, pulling me into him while he kisses the top of my head as I drift off to sleep.

***

I stir awake when I feel earthquake-like vibrations centring from beneath me.

I open my eyes to see myself completely sprawled over Lucien who blushes when he looks at me and scratches the back of his neck.

"Lu? Everything okay?" I mumble sleepily as I place my chin over his chest to look at him.

"Um... yeah." He answers hesitantly.

What's up with him?

I open my mouth to ask him that when I feel the earth vibrating again.

But this time... I know exactly where it came from.

I look up at Lucien and grin teasingly, "Aw! Is Lucien's Tummy Bear growling?"

His cheeks flushes deeper as he huffs, "I told you I'm hungry."

"Too bad." I stick out my tongue, "I have five more minutes left!"

I give him a cheeky grin before I drop my head back over his chest.

"Oh come on! Give Hungry McHungerson a break!" He whines out loud.

I grin against his chest and mumble, "Mmh..."

I could almost feel him rolling his eyes as he lifts me up again and exchanges our position so that I'm beneath him.

Finally he takes me by surprise when he starts poking my cheek alternatively while singing in an off-beat rhythm.

"My Nicky!" Poke. "My Licky!" Poke. "My Chicky!" Poke. "My Micky!" Poke. "My Hicky!" Poke. "My Kicky!" Poke. "My Picky!" Poke. "My Ricky!" Poke. "My Ticky!" Poke. "My Vicky!" Poke. "My Zi-"

"All right! All right! I'm getting up, you big annoying tushy! Stop making fun of my name!" I yell as I sit up straight.

Name-calling... nailed it!

I rub my eyes and yawn out loud.

Lucien stands up and turns his back to me and says, "Come on. Hop on!"

A free piggy back ride?

Hells yeah!

I smile widely and jump on him as he carefully places his hand over my upper thighs while I wrap my legs around his waist and hands around his shoulder and place my head on his shoulder and close my eyes.

"I swear to God, if you fall asleep on my shoulder, I'm gonna spank the hell outta you." He grumbles adorably.

A good reason to stay awake?

I got one.

"Fine. I'll try to control my sleepy urges." I mumble.

"Pooh!" I could hear his disappointment, "I really wanted to spank your ass!"

"Oh yeah? My arse wants to spank you too." I murmur cheekily.

He places me on the kitchen counter and pulls away.

I make a thinking face and mumble, "How about you take Prince out for a run for fifteen minutes and when you return you'll have some hot NSP served right in front of you. Deal?"

He thinks over it before he nods, "Deal."

He whistles out loud making Prince run up to him while I hand him a leash which he ties it to the hook on Prince's collar and they both take off.

I sigh and get to work.

***

Placing a plate of hot NSP on the counter, I look at the time. It's been twenty minutes since they left.

Where the hell is Mr. Bum and his Doggy sidekick?

I shrug and walk into my closet and take out a black bra and matching boy short knickers and my brother's old soft grey NYU sweatshirt with the letters written in black pairing it with black cut-off shorts.

I quickly head to the bathroom and hang the clothes on the hook behind the door and fill the bathtub with hot water and add various bath salts along with my green apple fragrance.

I pull my hair into a high bun and start stripping off my clothes and slowly immerse myself into the tub as I moan in delight.

Gotta love bubble baths!

I pick up the remote from the shelf beside me and turn on the Bluetooth speakers which start playing the music throughout the whole house.

I sigh and lean my head back against the headrest and close my eyes.

I smile when I hear Carly Rae Jepsen's voice coming through the speakers as she sings her latest hit I Really Like You.

Mmh... I really like her too.

I start humming to the beat and lip sync to the lyrics as she continues singing in her soft melodious voice.

Late night watching television

But how'd we end in this position?

It's way too soon; I know this isn't love...

But I need to tell you something

I really really really really really really like you

And I want you. Do you want me? Do you want me to-

"Aww shucks, sweetheart! I already knew you really really really really really," He stops and counts using his fingers and then continues, "really like me. But didn't have to sing me a song about it! Oh sweetheart, you're gonna make me cry!" He murmurs dramatically as he leans against the door jam of the bathroom.

I blink. Once. Twice.

And then I scream out loud.

Covering my chest with my hands, I yell at him, "What the hell are you doing here? Get out! Get out now!"

Ignoring me, he walks closer and bends down so we're face to face, "Aw baby! You're turning red. Either you're blushing really hard or you're gonna turn into Hulk real soon and punch me to death. Either way, I think I'll take my chances."

He eyes the bath tub and sigh happily, "Ooh, look! Bubbles!"

He starts poking the bubbles as he sits cross-legged next to the bathtub and makes himself comfortable.

"For God sake, Lu! I'm sitting naked here! Do you mind?" I yell out covering my body with the bubbles.

His green eyes turn mischievous as he replies, "Ah sweetheart! Don't worry, I don't mind."

"Lu!" I shriek out.

His eyes get heated as he leans closer and whispers huskily, "Do you know how fucking sexy you look right now? Your cheeks flushed into a rosy hue, you big bluish violet eyes wide with anticipation and uncertainty, strays of your silky hair softly brushing against your ivory skin, your shoulders bare just waiting to be devoured, your soft plump bottom lip between your teeth as you slowly let out a shaky breath because you seem to forget how to breath when I'm around, your chest rising and falling underwater and I just know you're rubbing your thighs together unconsciously to create some friction to sooth the ache that you feel in your lower regions; I can see your toes curl inwards because you just can't stop your body's reaction to me. And I don't doubt for a second that you being naked has anything to do with you being sexy. It's got everything to do with you being you when you're with me."

Holy.

Fucking.

Shit.

"Um..." I trail off because apparently Lucien talking dirty makes me forget my own name.

Just when you think he can't get any hotter! He turns around and does this.

I seriously hope I'm not drooling.

"I think I should start calling you Sexy again!" I blurt out, looking at him wide-eyed.

He blinks and the corners of his eyes crinkle before he bursts out laughing.

And then being the love-sick fool that I am, I continue blurting out, "You don't even have to talk dirty to make me blush; your laugh turns me all mushy and gooey inside."

And just like that his expression turns smouldering again.

He places a hand over my cheek and softly caresses the apple of my cheek with his thumb, "I'm gonna go before you turn all sweet and cute, making me harder than I already am."

Oo-kay.

He walks away just to stop at the door and look back and order, "Wear something casual. We're going out."

Um... Was there a question in there somewhere?

Before I could react he walks out and closes the door.

Oh blimey!

How did I get into such a mess!?

***

I look at my reflection in the mirror and smile. Soft pink tank top that looked amazing against my skin; paired with dark jeans and matching ankle length boots and couple of matching black bangles over my wrists.

I tie my hair into a high ponytail and apply natural make-up with pink lip gloss and spray some deodorant and voilà... I'm done.

I take out a small black purse which had a long strap so it rests against my hip when I strap it over my shoulder and fill it with all the necessary stuff.

I walk out of the closet into the living room to see Lucien sitting on the couch with his legs resting over the coffee table in front of him with his ankles crossed over each other as he taps something on his cell phone; dressed in dark green snug fitted T-shirt which matched his eyes, and rested over his body like a second skin. Dark jeans, black leather jacket, boots and his black watch.

His hair was messy like he had spent centuries running his fingers through it.

Can he ever not look so, so freaking sexy!?

The minute his eyes fall on me, it darkens immediately as puts his cell back into his pocket and walks up to me with breaking our eye contact.

Stopping a mere five feet away from me, he orders, "Turn around."

Um... what?

I look into his eyes which had turned into deeper shade of forest green, heated and smouldering as he stares at me with an expression filled with hunger like a predator looks at his prey.

I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear self consciously and slowly turn around, turning my back to him and stay still.

I hear him walk closer as my breathing accelerates.

He places his large hands over my hips and pulls me snug against him, as I let out a soft gasp when I feel his excitement poking my backside.

Oh my.

He nuzzles my neck as his lips brushes against my skin moving upwards towards my ear while he murmurs huskily, "What the hell am I gonna do with you?"

He easily turns me around and murmurs a pained, "Why'd you have to be so fucking sexy!?

He thinks I'm the sexy one?

Talk about an ego boost.

I feel like doing my happy dance while singing out loud, 'Ka-chow baby! I'm sexy! Uh huh! Uh huh! Oh yeah! Oh yeah!'

I give him a shy grin as he slowly exhales and places his forehead against mine and repeats in a hushed tone, "What the hell am I gonna do with you?"

If I was the kind of girl who could actually flirt, I could've given him a sultry look and purred, 'Anything you want, baby!'

Instead being the tongue-tied girl that I am, I make a squeaking sound at the back of my throat as my cheeks turn red and I look at him wide-eyed.

He slowly closes his eyes and takes a deep breath and opens them; his intense eyes transformed back into warm, soft ones.

Hmph.

"Come on! Let's get going." He smiles and entwines his hand with mine.

I furrow my eyebrow and ask hesitantly, "Where are we going?"

"Movies."

Okey-doke!

***

We walk inside the theatre, hand in hand (Yowza!) and stand in the small queue to buy the tickets.

"Two tickets please." He murmurs, barely glancing at her.

Before I could argue about him buying me ticket Ms. Ticket Chick starts squeaking out, "Holy Shit! You're the one who had his photo on this month's Forbes issue, aren't you?"

She pulls out the Forbes copy out of nowhere and flips through it. Her eyes widens when she notices the word 'Billionaire' on the top of the page where his photo lied.

Looking up, she gives Lucien a flirty look and purrs, "Do you mind giving me an autograph?" Pushing her ample cleavage out, she continues, "Over here?"

... the frickity frick?

Lucien blinks twice before repeating, "Two tickets please."

My lips curve into a smile as I see Ms. Ticket Chick glaring at me but smiling sweetly at Lucien.

A major bee-otch alert! I repeat, a major bee-otch alert!

She passes the ticket stub to Lucien before smiling flirtly, "Is there anything else you wan-"

Before she could complete her sentence, Lucien takes my hand and walks away.

"That hussy!" I mumble under my breath.

Lucien stops and turns to me as his expression turns amused, "Aw... is my sweetheart jealous?"

"No I'm not!" I lie through my teeth.

"Are too!" He argues.

"I'm not jealous! I'm offended!" I say defensively and cross my arms over my chest, "She didn't know that I wasn't your girlfriend. What if I was your girlfriend? I'm just offended that she had the audacity to flirt while I was standing right next to you!"

Lucien thinks over it before he smirks and teases, "So jealous!"

I roll my eyes and don't even bother a response.

I already know Lucien only hears what he wants to hear.

He looks up at the movie timings on the television screen and asks, "Do you have a movie preference?"

I do the same and think my thoughts out loud, "How about San Andreas? It sounds good."

I look up at him to see him staring at me with a funny expression on his face as I hear him mutter, "So fucking perfect!" under his breath.

Apparently everyone doesn't need to pinch my cheeks to make me blush all day.

Lucien can do that single-handedly.

"I'm getting popcorn!" I announce and quickly walk away before he can protest.

I so need to calm my heart down!

***

I get a huge tub of popcorn with extra butter and two cans of coke and make my way back to Lucien who was standing beside the theatre door.

As soon as his eyes fall on me, he smiles brightly and whoosh - those butterflies in my stomach starts fluttering again.

Before I could reach him, he walks towards me and takes the popcorn and the coke from my hand as he places the tub under his arm to his side while he wraps his other coke bearing arm around my shoulder and leads me inside.

And... I feel the butterflies, racoons, cockroaches, lions, dogs, cats, birds inside my belly again.

I let out a dreamy sigh and shift closer to him.

We enter the hall and he leads me to towards the backward seats where there were two person couches instead of regular seats.

He plops down and instead of placing the popcorn between us he places it over my lap; wraps his arms around my shoulder, pulling me closer to him as he kisses the side of my head and makes himself comfortable.

I'm getting some major boyfriend - girlfriend feels around here!

Trying to distract myself, I concentrate on eating the popcorn as I watch the movie.

"Um... Luke?" I mumble as a thought pops into my mind.

"Mmh?"

I turn towards him and ask, "Say... how do get inside my apartment every morning to wake me up?"

I see the corners of his lips twitch as he replies, "I told you before... your dog lets me in."

I narrow my eyes at him and stare at him suspiciously.

He chuckles and says, "Sweetheart?"

"Yeah?"

"Watch the movie." He grins.

I roll my eyes and comply, "Aye aye."

Throughout the movie, I feel him making moves on me without making it obvious that it was actually a move.

You know... a move which was not a move which was a move which was not a move which was a move?

Hmph! I just had a brain fart!

Like putting his hand inside the popcorn tub at the same time I did and discreetly brushing his fingers against mine; rubbing his thighs against mine as he shifts closer than he already is.

His other hand over my shoulder slowly playing with my hair, twirling the strands around his large fingers.

And last but not the least, when we finished munching down the popcorn, I brought my fingers up to my lips to lick the excess butter residue over my fingertips when he got ahold of my wrist and brought my fingers to his lips as he licked, sucked and nibbled on my fingers with his talented tongue without breaking our eye contact.

I mean, there's a limit as to how much hotness a girl can withhold!

I swear I'm going cuh-ray-zee!

Later, he placed my hand over his abs as he shifted me closer and I automatically snuggled into him.

Best move ever!

As the movie finally ended, I stretch my body in my seat and stand up.

I entwine my fingers with Lucien's as we walk towards the exit.

He stares at our intertwined fingers with a wide smile and sighs happily.

"What?" I ask him.

He smiles softly and states, "You're holding my hand."

Um... duh!

I frown and mumble, "I've held your hand before."

He shakes his head, "I hold your hand. You just hold it back." He shrugs.

Huh.

He's just as crazy as I am!

Me likey!

Because truth to be told, I thought I was the only one in the world.

I shrug and huff, "Whatever!"

He chuckles as he leads us forward.

As soon as we enter the entrance hall again, my eyes stray towards Ms. Ticket Chick who was once again staring at Lucien - who just wraps an arm around my shoulder and glares at a random guy who was supposedly checking me out.

I look behind me at Ms. Ticket Chick and stick out my tongue and mentally yell out, "Nanny nanny foo foo! He's mine, you bee-otch!"

I turn back around to see Lucien already staring at me with an amused expression as if wondering whether to laugh out loud or to kiss the hell out of me.

Frankly? I prefer the latter option.

He just shakes his head and plants a kiss under my ear while he softly whispers, "So jealous."

Well, a kiss is a kiss is a kiss.

Eh!

I just huff and cross my arms over my chest making him laugh harder.

That bum!

We walk back into our apartment building and enter the elevator.

He looks down at me, "My apartment?"

"Sure." I shrug.

The elevator dings as I walk to my apartment door and murmur, "I'll be there in a sec. I just need to change."

I open my door and turn to look at him as he smiles at me mischievously, "Do you need my help, cara? I'll happily help you strip off your clothes if you let me!" He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

"Perv!" I yell out and slam the door hearing his husky chuckle following me.

I walk into my closet and take out the clothes I was supposed to be wearing before I had any plans to go out.

Pulling the sweatshirt over my head, I bunch it around my left hip and tie a knot a few inches above my waist; showing off my belly button and pair it with shorts, leaving my feet bare as I take Prince with me and lock the door and untie my ponytail and pull the black rubber over my wrist and fluff my hair making it messy as I enter his apartment.

"Hey." I smile as I see him sitting on his couch in just a pair of navy blue pyjamas and a black muscle tank.

He runs his eyes over my body paying special attention to my bare stomach and equally bare legs before landing his eyes back on mine, "Hey."

Prince walks away and makes himself comfortable on the love seat as I plop down on the couch facing Lucien with my back against the armrest.

"Ooh pizza!" I sigh happily and take a slice in my hands from the pizza box on the coffee table.

"Make yourself at home, will ya?" I hear him murmur sarcastically.

I look at him and stick out my tongue making him grin, "So mature!"

That's me!

"Lu?"

"Mmh?"

"It wasn't a date, right?" I murmur softly.

He turns to look at me and replies, "Ah sweetheart! If it was a date," his eyes darken as he continues, "you'd have no doubt in your mind about it being a date."

I stare back at him and breathe out, "I'll hold onto you for that!"

He smiles and takes another bite of his pizza.

I mentally think it over and blurt out, "So... It was kinda like a non-date date?"

"Pardon?" He asks in confusion.

I wave my hand dismissively and shake it off, "Nothing!" And then add, "Do you have some OJ?"

He nods, "In the fridge. Get me a beer while you're at it, will ya?"

"Sure." I mumble and get up.

"Sweetheart?" He calls out making me turn around.

"Mmh?"

He smiles cheekily, "I really really really really really," he stops and mentally counts and adds, "really like you too."

I let out a soft giggle and shake my head as I walk towards the kitchen.

Taking out a beer bottle and pouring some orange juice into a glass, my ears peak up when my cell rings playing Heroes by Tove Lo.

Mum's calling.

"Lu? Could you put it on speaker?" I say as I look at him through the kitchen counter.

He shrugs and taps my cell.

"Hey Momma Bear!" I greet happily.

That's when I realize my mistake of putting the calling on speaker.

Before I could help it, Mum yells out loud:

"How's my little Fuzzy Boom-Boom!?"

I immediately stiffen and slowly glance at Lucien who mouths, "Fuzzy Boom-Boom" and pulls a cushion over his face to muffle the sounds as he bursts out laughing.

Laughing - so hard that he actually falls from the couch and rolls on the floor as he clutches his stomach.

I slap my hand over my forehead and shake my head, sadly.

Man! I can't catch a break today!

***