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“Sorry I’m late.” She stopped, hitching a purse over her shoulder. “I had a few things to finish up.”
Jake swallowed. “You’re not late.”
She glanced at her watch. “Three minutes. I’m usually on-the-dot punctual. Unless, of course, I’m hindered by a broken elevator.”
He sent up another silent thank-you to the elevator gods for that most excellent timing.
“You look…” He indicated her hair. “Uh, great.”
Christ. He wasn’t a teenager anymore, but he was sure as hell acting like one.
“I haven’t seen your hair down,” he added.
“Oh.” She touched her hair self-consciously as a pleased light appeared in her eyes. “Thank you. You look nice too.”
“Thanks.”
She swept her gaze over him and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Actually, I just came to tell you I can’t…I mean, I really shouldn’t…”
He held up a hand, his insides twisting. “You promised me two hours. If you don’t follow through, I’ll just show up at your office again tomorrow. Maybe with another Latin insult for your esteemed colleague.”
Callie’s mouth twitched. Fidgeting with her purse strap, she glanced at the marquee, which displayed the titles of the two movies showing on the Vitaphone’s screen.
“Okay.” She blew a long breath upward, stirring the hair at her temples. “Which movie is playing first?”
“Sudden Impact.Love and Warstarts at ten, but we could get something to eat and come back, if you’d rather see that.”
“Is either movie good?”
“Love and Warhas great acting and an interesting story about complicated family dynamics, but it’s uneven narratively. The director tried to connect the storytelling to French New Wave cinema and the—”
He broke off and cleared his throat. As if a Classics professor needed to hear his take on film criticism.
She was watching him with a faintly quizzical gleam in her eyes. He indicated the second movie on the marquee.
“Sudden Impactis a rewrite of an eighties film, but it misses the point of the original,” he continued. “They added a bunch of explosions and car chases. Nothing moviegoers haven’t seen a thousand times before.”
“Well, considering I haven’t been to the movies in the past decade, it’ll be brand new for me.” She flashed him a smile that was like a firefly—quick and brilliant.
A slight tightness spread through his chest. Still studying the marquee, she lifted a hand to her necklace, absently running one finger back and forth across the silver chain. The gesture was so hypnotic Jake couldn’t pull his gaze away.
“So which one should we see?” She glanced at him, her pursed mouth drawing his attention to her perfect bow-shaped lips. “Or do you want to do something else?”
He could think of a lot of things he wanted to do with her, not the least of which was kiss her pretty mouth.
Suppressing the urge, he indicated the crosswalk. He also wanted to talk more with her, see her smile, and discover what else she’d been up to in the past fifteen years, but that kind of intimacy would push him farther into the danger zone that was lit with flashing neon signs.
This evening was the result of the deal he’d made with Eleanor Prescott. Nothing else. Okay, he was attracted to Callie, and he liked her, and he was glad they’d connected again after so long, but that wasit.
There would be no dating and sure as hell no kissing. No matter how much he wanted it. She was off-limits, both because he was only here for a short time, and his instincts told him Callie wasn’t a “short time” kind of woman, and also because Eleanor had made it clear he and Callie could never be a good match.
“You pick the movie,” he said.
“Let’s try the action flick.” She started toward the crosswalk. “I could use a break from complicated family dynamics. Greek mythology ispackedwith them. Not to mention, I have a few of my own.”
Curious about that statement, Jake glanced in both directions down the street and extended a hand toward her. Her fingers barely grazed his before he realized his mistake. An electric jolt shot clear up his arm at her brief touch. He jerked his hand away and shoved it in his pocket.
Callie blinked, faint confusion darkening her eyes. Keeping a good distance, Jake gestured that it was safe to cross the street and fell into step beside her.
