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I nod and don't tell him I'll be switching cars anyway. I don't want to risk my residence being found out.
James steps closer. "Thank you for today, Valentina. It ended up being more perfect than anything I've had in a while."
"It was perfectly imperfect," I say, smiling. "And why are you thanking me?" I pat his chest. "I should be thanking you for today. I got to mouth off to an attorney, drink expensive alcohol in an underground swanky restaurant, and make out with a hot-as-fuck man who happens to be old enough to be my dad. What's better than that?"
James barks out a laugh. "You just had to go there, didn't you?" He's positively radiating, and it warms my body.
"I say it like it is," I respond through a toothy grin. James pulls me close so I'm flush against his chest, and his head dips on an angle. I react automatically and lift my lips to meet his.
There's no breaking any seams. Our tongues automatically seek each other's and we both hum in unison when they caress like lovers tangled between bed sheets. His body is strong, warm, and I grip the lapels of his jacket as he hugs me tighter, deepening the kiss with so much passion and intensity it leaves me breathless.
James doesn't seem to be the kind of man who does anything half-assed, and I briefly wonder if he fucks the same way he kisses.
My heart is pounding against my ribs and for a moment I forget we're standing by the curb with people walking past us in the middle of Manhattan as we carry on like two lovers who only care about each other.
Twenty-Five
I don't focus on when my next job might be, or when Christine will message me. If James was unhappy with me, then I would've heard about it by now, which I haven’t. Instead, I lose myself in schoolwork the next couple of days and start on the twenty-page paper due before winter break on the consequences of socioeconomic disadvantage across three generations.
There's a two-hour gap between my classes, so I go to my favorite little coffee shop again a couple of blocks away and order a hot coffee. The temperature has dropped considerably and I'm in need of something to warm me up. I'm sitting at a small, round table scribbling notes when a shadow is cast over me. I glance up and recognition dawns in my eyes.
"Hey, you," I say,
and smile, pleasantly surprised. I don't actually know his name. "I wondered if I'd ever see you again."
He gestures to the open seat across from me in silent question and I nod.
"I've been here a few times but just figured I missed you." He pauses. "I'm Daniel."
"Ah, a name to go with my coffee aficionado. I’m Aubrey," I say. "Thank you, again, for that cup. You really didn't have to, you know, but thank you."
He shrugs subtly and it's cute. "It's just coffee," he says. "But I did hope you would come back here more often."
I laugh and take in his scrubs under his coat. "I take it you work around here?"
"I'm a doctor over at Mount Sinai. I just got off a thirty-hour shift."
My brows rise. Impressive. "You're a doctor."
He nods. "A cardiologist."
"That's incredible. How admirable of you. How are you even standing right now?"
"Why do you think I'm here? I'm getting coffee then going home to crash until tomorrow. Someone called out, which would've been fine, but we had a trauma come in and a dozen patients were admitted and prepped for surgery."
My mouth turns downward. "Wow. That's a long day."
Daniel's name is called, and he stands to grab his drink off the counter, then comes back to me.
"Let me take you out some time." He doesn't even ask, just states it, and I like that.
Even still, I smile up at him regrettably. I really need to say no, given my new line of work. It's not something I’d imagine he'd be okay with.
He reads my indecision. "You can't say no. What are the chances that we ran into each other again?" he says.
But what if the right one comes along… Say you meet someone in a coffee shop… James’s words filter through my head. I'm not one to believe in fate, but it does seem serendipitous that out of the 1.7 million people in Manhattan, we’re able to run into each other again.
"Come on. Give me one date. Just one. Let's see where it goes."
