Lustful Hearts
Chapter 8: Chаngеѕ- P2

He returned a few minutes later with the hot chocolate in hand. I laughed hard at the sheer size of it. He must have squirted half a can of cream on it. It was loaded with mini marshmallows and chocolate sprinkles. My eyes widened as I licked my lips slowly in anticipation.

I was officially in chocolate heaven.

"Will this do for madam?" he asked, placing the hot chocolate down. He did an overly exaggerated bow making me giggle again. When he stood back up our eyes locked, and I felt the familiar pull between us. I laughed, attempting to drink it. "I think you've gone a little overboard here, Joel." I chuckled, licking the cream off my lips.

He smiled, leaned over, and slowly wiped a small blob of cream from my nose with his thumb. "Well, I had to prove a point." He winked as he slid his thumb into his mouth, sucking the cream off slowly. God, I wished I was that thumb.

My cheeks flushed and every dirty thought about Joel filtered through my mind. I felt the heat rise inside me.

I needed to calm down.

I couldn't let him notice the reaction his teasing had over me, that would be far too embarrassing. But I'd definitely replay that moment over and over again in private.

But not here. Not now.

To save myself any more embarrassment, I changed the subject fast. "So how were the Foos?" I asked. There was an air of annoyance in my voice. I was still slightly pissed I'd missed out on seeing them live. They were high up on my list of bands I was desperate to see.

"They were amazing, so good live. Have you ever seen them?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

He should already know I hadn't, but then he never really took an interest in my life. I was the young geek that kept herself locked away reading books, escaping to places I couldn't physically venture to in real life.

"No," I snapped back a little too quickly. I took a long sip of my hot chocolate hoping the creamy, sweet goodness would help keep my temper in check.

Joel of course had been to most of their London gigs, which annoyed me every single time. The green-eyed monster always made an appearance, listening to him and Mike regale their many tales. Most of which included hooking up with women as well, which was double the torture.

"You should go see them, I highly recommend them." He grinned, oblivious to the fact he was rubbing it in even more.

I scowled throwing down the spoon so it rattled against the saucer. It wasn't like I hadn't tried, tickets were like gold dust every time they went on sale.

Joel frowned at my display of annoyance. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked grabbing my hand, his thumb gently caressed against my skin.

Oh god.

He was touching me.

I had lost the ability to speak.

My attention was focused on the tiny circles he was drawing with his thumb on the back of my hand.

"Nothing, it doesn't matter," I muttered, shaking my head.

I never wanted his hand to leave mine. Ever.

"Aww come on, you know you can tell your friendly barman anything," he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. He always did have the power of persuasion. I laughed and snorted together.

NO!

My free hand flew up to my face, and I flushed with complete and utter embarrassment. I couldn't be cool if I tried.

Joel started to laugh, amusement shining in his eyes, and I cringed. I just wanted the ground to swallow me up. I closed my eyes, feeling totally mortified.

He pulled my hand away from my face, holding both together. His thumbs slowly grazed over my knuckles, waiting for me to speak.

"I really wanted to go, but well, all the tickets were sold out." I stared down at the bar, avoiding his look of pity. I didn't have his friends or connections to try other means of wrangling tickets.

Joel squeezed my hands to make me look at him again. "Hey, you could have come with me. Why didn't you say anything? I could have gotten you a ticket." His eyes stared deep into mine, looking genuine enough. But he was only saying it to make me feel better. No way in hell would he want me around while he hit on all the half naked girls there.

"Yeah right, you wouldn't want me tagging along, cramping your style." I pulled my hands away, but he held on tighter.

He drew me in farther so we were barely inches apart. "As if! I would be the one holding all the guys back from hitting on you."

Was he seriously taking the piss?

I looked at him in disbelief. "Joel, take a look around, it's not like I'm fighting them off." I laughed at the sheer thought.

How absurd!

Then snorted again.

Oh god.

I cringed with embarrassment and leaned my forehead down onto the cold wooden bar in a pathetic attempt to avoid his gaze.

I knew he was grinning wildly.

Snorting once I could excuse.

But twice?

Yep, just kill me now.

He slowly released my hands and tickled the back of my neck. I twitched slightly with the contact. Oh his fingers felt amazing gliding over my skin. I wondered what it would feel like tickling other parts of my body?

I really wanted to replace out.

I knew he was waiting for me to sit back up, but I needed a moment to clear my head. Especially after that last thought.

My cheeks were burning only imagining how good it would be. The blush slowly subsided, and I slowly lifted my head back up so my eyes met his, and he smiled. His hands grabbed mine once again, holding them tight.

"Iz, do you not realise in the short space of time you've been here, two guys have been checking you out?"

He was so wrong, what a complete wind up merchant. He was just saying it to try to make me feel better. I didn't need his pity. He certainly didn't have to go to the extreme of lying to make me feel good about myself. But I was still enjoying the handholding. Maybe a little too much.

"I'm not making it up. Look over there to your right." He nodded his head in the direction for me to look. I scowled a little at him, no longer enjoying his joke. His lips pulled up into a grin, motioning with his eyes again.

I did my best discreet over the shoulder glance, and sure enough two guys were smiling back. I snapped my head back around so fast I almost got whiplash.

Oh god, he was right.

I instantly frowned. "Joel, don't you dare leave me. I'm not interested in them," I pleaded with him. My eyes relaying my desperation as I clung onto his hands even tighter.

"Hey," he soothed. "I'm not going anywhere, and if they cause any trouble I'll pull out the gun behind the bar." His smile almost split his face in two. Which was probably more to do with the look of horror spreading across mine.

Did he really have a gun?

Wow, my very own action hero.

Well, he did have the looks and body for it, and he'd look amazing in a dirty white vest.

I leaned forward in my stool, checking either side of me before I spoke. "Joel, you don't really have a gun behind there, do you?" I whispered, scared in case anyone else heard.

A quick scan of the room told me everyone was too wrapped up in their own little conversations to worry about Joel having an illegal weapon behind the bar.

He laughed, stroking my hand as a huge grin spread across his face. "Izzy, your face is a picture. No, I don't, but it sounded good." He shook his head bemusedly, shooting me a cheeky wink. "Hey Iz, next time the Foos are in town, we're going to see them. It's officially a date."

Date?

Wow, my heart stuttered at the very word. But what if he backed out? I needed to make it official, legally binding, in case anything else cropped up before then.

"Pinky swear?" I smiled, holding out my little finger.

He chuckled, looking at it bemusedly before wrapping his around mine. "Pinky swear." He grinned, his eyes shining with delight.

"There's no backing out now, you are tied to take me. You can't go back on a pinky swear. Those are the rules." I laughed at his expression, he had never done a pinky swear before in his life. "Wouldn't dream of it, my word is my honour." He bowed down and kissed my hand as if to seal the deal.

He did not just do that!

I was never washing my hand again.

One kiss and I was suddenly transported back to a Jane Austen film. The gesture was so sweet and innocent, I was almost about to swoon. My hands gripped the bar in case my body decided to lose all control.

For the next hour we sat chatting. To my delight Joel made me another hot chocolate, fuelling my sugar cravings further. This one had less cream, so the risk of sporting a cream moustache had been reduced to almost minimal chance of embarrassment. I talked about college, and I regaled all my many hilarious Elijah stories, which prompted the biggest smile on his face.

To my relief, I managed not to snort again for the rest of the afternoon. A third one would have been beyond embarrassing, actual social suicidal.

It was strange how everything felt so natural, like we'd talked countless times like this before. He was such a different person to the Joel I had always known, the Joel I'd spent a lot of time loving and loathing. The one thing that remained the same was he still drove me wild with his intense, lingering looks. His eyes sparking something deep inside as his touch sent a shiver throughout my body. The way he lovingly held my hand and his sweet words; I'd never get tired of hearing his voice.

I felt the addiction running through my veins. I was completely hooked, and Joel was my only choice of drug. I knew I was falling hard, caught up in his spell. I just hoped that it was a good thing as I no longer had the strength to fight it.00000