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Getting to hold his hand made up for some of the pain in her feet, but by the time they got to the car, she was limping like Quasimodo. She sagged into the driver’s seat and groaned with relief as she kicked her shoes off.
“Ouch,” he said, wincing in sympathy at the sight of her blistered feet. “You want me to drive?”
“No, I’m fine now that I can take these wretched shoes off.” She chucked them over her shoulder into the back seat. More fodder for the Goodwill pile.
Traffic was clear on the drive home. Jonathan fidgeted in the seat beside her and stared out the passenger window. Neither of them spoke. By the time she pulled into her parking space, Esther was convinced the whole night had been a failure. This was her chance to win him back, and she’d blown it. Some date she turned out to be.
“Stay right there,” Jonathan said when she cut the engine. He jumped out of the car and came around her side to open the door. When he offered his hand to pull her to her feet, Esther assumed he was just being chivalrous. Then he turned his back on her and said, “Alley oop.”
She stared at the back of his neck. “What?”
“I’m giving you a lift upstairs. Hop on.”
“Are you serious?”
“We can’t have you walking barefoot through the parking area. It’s unsanitary.”
“I’m too heavy for you.”
He twisted his head around to roll his eyes at her. “Pu-leez.”
“All right, fine.” There was only so much protesting she was willing to do when an invitation to mount him like a show horse was on the table.
He crouched down, bracing his hands on his knees, and Esther grabbed his shoulders and clambered onto his back. Straightening easily, like she was light as a feather, he put his hands under her thighs to help support her. His bare hands. On the backs of her bare thighs under her skirt.
Warmth pooled in the pit of her stomach as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and squeezed her thighs against his waist. For better purchase, of course. Definitely not because she loved the feel of him between her thighs.
“You good?” he asked.
“Mmmmm.” She pressed her face into the back of his neck and breathed him in. His hair smelled like rosemary and mint, and it layered exquisitely with the cedar smell of his skin. So many smells, so much goodness. This was the best thing that had happened all night.
He closed the car door, and Esther held on tight as he conveyed her up the stairs, then past his apartment door all the way to hers. It was a genuine tragedy when she had to hop down and let go of him. The loss of contact with his warm body left her feeling chilled.
Once he’d deposited her safely on solid ground, he spun around to face her, stepping back a little. Putting more distance between them again.
The floor of the breezeway was cold under her bare feet, and she shifted from foot to foot like a grade-schooler in need of a bathroom pass. “Thanks for the lift.”
He nodded, plunging his hands into his pockets. His brows drew together as his expression darkened.
Esther’s stomach did a dive. Pinpoints of light reflected off his glasses, partially obscuring his eyes. The air between them suddenly felt heavy with impending catastrophe. She wasn’t ready for tonight to be over. She needed more time to make things right.
“I’m sorry,” she blurted before he could speak. “I wanted tonight to be special, but instead everything was awful.”
His frown deepened. You could stick a pencil in the furrows of his forehead. “It wasn’t awful.”
“We missed the beginning of the movie, dinner was a bust, and I spent the whole night limping on bloody stumps because I apparently can’t even dress myself like an adult.”
Dismay spread across his face. “I don’t care about any of that—I mean, I care that your feet hurt—but I don’t care about the rest of it.” He shifted closer, and the reflections on his glasses cleared, bringing his eyes into focus. The irises were tinged with silver. “I had a great time tonight.”
A bubble of hope expanded in her chest. “You did?”
“I was with you. It was perfect.”
The bubble in her chest exploded into joy. He moved closer and lifted a hand to cup her cheek. She leaned into his touch, letting his fingers warm her skin.
His eyelashes lowered as he tilted his head toward her. It took all her willpower not to surge upward. She was desperate to feel his lips again, but afraid to initiate the kiss after the way he had turned his head away last night.
When he was just out of reach, he paused. Their noses bumped. Their breath mingled. He held her gaze as his thumb scraped over her cheekbone. “Esther.”
