He keeps my hand for many seconds, much longer than any stranger would. When we finally let go, a crooked smile that should be properly named a sexy smirk appears on his face. “Nice to meet you, Cate.” He playfully waggles his eyebrows. “Can I have your number?”
The cliché line should be cheesy, but the way he says it would make any woman’s panties melt.
I glance away, not wanting him to see how affected I am. More than that, he subtly lets me know that he realizes I’ve changed my number. That means he’s tried to call me despite it all. The fact that he doesn’t give me crap about it adds value to his declaration of a fresh start.
He uses his black leather-gloved hand to touch my cheek and draw me from my inner turmoil. I’m forced to face him and the truth of my actions.
“I see your pretty little head working. We’re here in DC away from everything. No one has to know,” he says before letting me go.
The idea that our family or friends might catch the slightest clue we’re considering dating freaks me out. After everything, I still haven’t forgiven myself. I shake that thought away. In a moment of free will, I pull my phone from my pocket. God only knows if I’m making the right decision, but I’m tired of running. Let me rephrase that. I’m tired of running from him.
“What’s yours?”
His smile thaws me from my face all the way to my toes. He doesn’t answer. The pads of his gloved thumb glide over my cheeks.
“You’re still as beautiful as the first day I saw you.”
His eyes laser onto mine in a way that sends a shockwave to my core. Just like then, I’m embarrassed by my reaction to him. The idea of his touch makes my center clench with expectation.
I watch his lips move as he recites his number. It’s a wonder how I manage to hear him, as I’m transfixed thinking about all the things he can do with his capable mouth. The text I send is simple. Three words, the order of which come from my inner vixen.
Lunch Dinner or Breakfast.
Wanting to be sexy for the first time in ages, I begin to stroll away after a quick farewell with an extra bounce in my step only to slip again.
When he catches me for a second time, he whispers, “If you keep falling, I’ll think you want my hands on you. And that will mean our first meal together will be breakfast.”
His steamy words blow across my cheek and the heat causes a shudder to run through me. Since he’s at my back, I can’t see his expression. But I know well enough that his face sports a cocky grin. Only when I turn to say something, he’s already walking away in the opposite direction. I roll my lower lip in and gently bite. I try not to be giddy about having lunch with Drew… no. Andy. I force myself to push thoughts of the past out of my head. Least of which is how I can ever forgive myself. After all we’ve lost and how I left, I could have never expected that he would ever want to see me or forgive me, either.
Yet somehow in the last ten minutes, my life has taken a decided turn. Worse, I can’t get my mind off of him. In all the time since I saw him last, I’ve worked hard at forgetting and trying to move on. I step carefully forward with nervous anticipation. The fact that I haven’t been with anyone of consequence since him scares me. To allow myself the vulnerability of placing my heart on the line freaks me out. But the possibility of breakfast with him stirs a hunger within me that food can never fulfill.
When I get a text back, Dinner with the possibly of breakfast, with a winking emoji, I wonder if I have any right to the grin that broadens across my face.
MY ROOMMATE, JENNA, LEANS AGAINST the doorframe. I catch her out the corner of my eye. She knows my rule—no interruptions while I’m writing. My nose zeroes in on my computer screen and fingers fly across the keyboard. What feels like a thousand plus papers I have due the first month of this semester is the reason behind the rule. Jenna doesn’t speak; she just occupies space. Unfortunately, she’s enough of a distraction that I lose my train of thought and start typing inane crap.
“Okay. I give up. What do you want?” The question is half born from frustration, the other in jest.
She crosses her arms over her chest, determined to tell me something. “I have news.” An indecent grin grows on her face like a weed.
“News?” My face pinches into a frown.
“Remember my brother’s friend that was at the party last weekend?”
“I guess.” Truthfully, I don’t have a clue who she’s talking about, but I need to get back to the paper that’s due tomorrow. Besides, Ben mingled with a ton of people at that party. I almost glance away but she’s quick to respond to keep my attention.
“You have to remember. He’s adorable. Tall, sandy blond, blue eyes. His name’s Drew?”
Her face lights up as if she’s an entertainment news reporter with a breaking headline story.
“And?” Because honestly, as much as I’d love to chat, all the work I need to do trumps guy talk.
“He wants you. Bad.”
I pause for a second at the way she added that last part. Then I shake it off.
“Is that what you interrupted my train of thought for, crazy girl?” Smiling, I throw the pencil that’s tucked in my ear at her.
“Hey!” She laughs because she thinks I’ll give in. “Drew is hot. Smokin’ hot. As sin on a graham cracker.”
“Okay, one, I don’t have time for Smokin’ Hot Drew. And two, what the hell is sin on a graham cracker?”
“A s’more. That’s what. And he’s better than that. And you know how much I love s’mores.”
I shake my head because Jenna has always been boy crazy. Lucky for her, she’s been successful at meeting the right guys.
“As tasty as he sounds, I’m far too busy these days. I have to maintain my grades to keep my scholarship.” I turn my attention back to the computer and try to remember what I was about to type.
“Jeez, Cate, all you do is study and write. I practically had to drag you to that party on Saturday. I swear if it hadn’t been for Ben being in town, you never would’ve gone.”
I roll my head around, trying to ease the stiffness in my neck. “You know why I can’t take a break. If I lose my scholarship, there goes my tuition money. As it is, I can barely afford what the scholarship doesn’t cover. My parents warned me about my financial situation when I decided to go to school here.” She stares at me like she’s forgotten. I sigh. “It’s all on me.” Finally, I spell it out, hoping she remembers. “My family doesn’t have money like yours does. That means I have to keep my grades up. I almost screwed all that up with dickwad.”
Jenna frowns. “Jeez Cate. One little break won’t kill you.”
“Yeah, I went to the party, didn’t I, and got wasted. I don’t remember half the things I did. Besides, last time I gave my attention to some guy it almost cost me. I learned a huge lesson that time. Remember?”
“Yeah, but I thought you were talking about the way …”
I have to stop her. That is one memory that needs to stay buried. My palm flies up in the air as I groan. “That was a fucking catastrophe all around. I mean, I tried to sleep with the jerk and you know how that went.”
She runs over to me and hugs me. “I’m sorry. I know he hurt you.”
“Yeah, even worse, it was humiliating,” I mumble into her shoulder. “Not only that, my grades crashed. I can’t go through that again. I’m taking extra classes and working double time to make up for that semester. So no. Graham cracker sin can’t be an option right now. I wish it could be different.”
Jenna pulls her hair out of an elastic band and twists it up in a messy bun, wrapping the band around it again. “After all the time you spent ogling him and chatting it up with him on Saturday, I thought that maybe you were interested.”
Scrunching up my face, I say, “Um, yeah, those details are totally sketchy to me.”
“You’re positive then?”
“I wish I could, but studying comes first. Now scram so I can get something done.”