He moves closer, taking his hand from his pocket and pushing an unruly lock of hair back from my own face.
“And she told me about that guy, how he tried to…” He sighs, letting his hand drop to his side. “I shouldn’t have just left like that. I’m sorry.”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“I should’ve let you explain.”
“You said I didn’t owe you anything.”
He nods slowly. “I didn’t really think that.”
I smile.
“It’s just, that was exactly how I found out about the two of them,” he says, his voice catching. “I showed up at his office and… The two of them were so close, intimate.” He shakes his head slowly. “He told me I was imagining things. Two weeks later he packed his bags.”
“I’m so sorry.”
He smiles, sadly.
“Why didn’t you tell me about tonight?”
“I’d completely forgotten about it, and by the time I remembered, today… I didn’t want to just call you up after what happened and beg you to come. I didn’t want to seem pathetic.”
“You’re not, Mr. Quinn. Not even a little.”
I smile at him. Eric steps towards me, and his cold hands cup my face.
“I want to kiss you.”
“Oh… Well…”
“I’m not asking your permission. I’m just telling you. You know, so you can be prepared.”
“Thanks for thinking of—”
His mouth presses against mine, stripping me of my words. His hands slide down my face; one moves behind my neck, holding me to him, the other in my hair. My hands grab onto the lapels of his coat. The heat of his mouth melds with the frosty December air, and my thoughts get lost in the sound of Christmas music around us. Eric pulls away slightly, his lips sweetly caressing mine. The streetlights are reflected in his eyes, the taste of his kiss lingering still on my tongue.
“Will we go?”
“Upstairs?”
Eric laughs and lets me go.
“Sorry, that just slipped out.”
“I want to be your date tonight.” He holds his arm out, and I accept. “But when we come back, if you wanted to invite me up…”
“Nice try.”
He walks me over to his car and opens the door for me.
“Thank you.”
I settle inside and Eric walks around to the other side, climbing into the driver’s seat and switching on the ignition.
“Ready?” he asks.
To give all of this up?
