AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s surprising to me it was only earlier today when we were up a tree. It feels like days ago.”
And he’d kissed me. Would he again?
I want my arms back, so I wriggle them until they slide inside the jacket sleeves. My fingertips barely come out at the ends. Crisp winter leaves litter the path, and they crunch as we walk over them. I wonder if I should just get it all out. Confess that I still have a job. Tell him I’m trying to figure out if we have chemistry.
The words are forming in the back of my throat when our fingers brush against each other, and I’m silenced by the electric jolt I feel.
He takes my hand in his, warm and large enough to envelop mine whole. “So we’re on a date,” he says.
I squeeze his fingers, my confession set aside. “It’s nice.” I hesitate to bring up the next topic, but I get the words out. “So how do your one-night stands go? Do you somehow manipulate the evening so that it’s a sure thing at the end?”
He clears his throat. “This doesn’t seem like the right thing to talk about.”
“I’m curious. And I also want to watch for the signs. If you’re steering me into your bed, I kinda want to know in advance.”
“I am absolutely going to steer you into my bed.”
Is he? My belly warms over, sparks of interest darting through my body. “Oh?”
“You said all three dates were with benefits. Change your mind?”
I swallow around my dry throat. “No.”
“Good.” Despite the intimacy of the conversation, his eyes remain on the path ahead.
“How does it normally go?” I ask. “You know, to get there?”
His jaw works back and forth, as if he’s trying to explain it properly. “It starts pretty typically, like ours. I would probably lay it on heavier when I picked her up. Press her against the door when I kiss her.”
I can picture it. My heart hammers. “And that works?”
“Sometimes it works right then. We never even make it to dinner and end up ordering in.”
“You didn’t do that with me.”
“We hadn’t established that it was a date. It was a boss and employee situation until the main course, remember.”
“Right.” I feel disgruntled that I missed out. “And then?”
“If that doesn’t do the trick right away, often I will take her to a very suggestive place for dinner, such as the restaurant on top of one of the fanciest hotels.”
“Not like our Italian restaurant.”
“Nope. That was a platonic dinner, a place I go with my mother.”
My belly sinks. He associates me with his mother.
“I will establish a bold level of attentiveness, and somewhere during the dinner I will progress to touching, sliding my hand up her—”
“I get it. I’m good. I understand.”
“You asked.”
“And I’m done asking.”
We walk along for a few quiet minutes. The cold starts to get to me, even with his jacket, and my knees quiver. My nose runs and I sniffle. Yes, I’m totally worthy of his kissing-against-the-door act. Pathetic little thrift-store me with my runny nose and terrible timing.
“You’re cold,” he says. He lets go of my hand and draws me closer. “If you’re ready to head back, I could throw you over my shoulder like I did at the wedding.”
