Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
The waiter is hovering just outside the curtain, I can see his feet. He wants us to leave and pay our bill. But I don’t want to go. I want to stay here for as long as possible, to touch her, to hold her, to talk with her until dawn.
If we’d met when I was a younger man, maybe we would have – but I have responsibilities, both to the social order and to my work, and we can’t stay here.
But it doesn’t mean the date has to be quite over just yet.
Chapter Eleven
Candy
I know we’ve finished eating, and there’s nothing more to do. We’ve even finished our drinks. But I really don’t want to leave.
I could stay here all night, just talking to Finn. Everything I learn about him warms my heart even more. The fact that he’s spent his life caring for his daughter doesn’t put me off him at all, not even when I get the jolt of realization that she must be around the same age as me.
“Well,” Finn says, leaning back in his chair and putting his napkin on the table, in preparation to stand. “I should drive you back to campus.”
“Yes, I guess so,” I say, despite the sinking disappointment in my stomach. I knew this would happen. It had to. There was no way around it. It doesn’t stop the bitter feeling of having to leave him. “Thank you for dinner. It was wonderful.”
“It was my pleasure,” Finn says, coming around to my side of the table and offering me a hand to get to my feet. I don’t need his help, but I take it anyway because I love the fact that he offered.
And then I’m standing, and because I’m still clinging to his hand we’re suddenly very close together, and Finn doesn’t move back. And I can’t breathe enough to do anything, let alone think.
Especially not when he bends his head and puts his other hand around the back of my neck, and presses his lips to mine.
I disappear into the kiss as if nothing exists anymore except that point of contact between our mouths. His lips are firm and hot, and when he pulls back I can still feel their imprint on mine. I can still feel them when he smiles down at me and steps back and lets go of my hand. I can still feel them when he tells me to follow him and draws the curtain aside, and I can still feel them when he offers me his arm again and I half-stumble out of the restaurant with him, feeling more than a little dazed.
It’s not until we’re back in the car that I feel a little bit more grounded again, coming back down to earth after the unexpected kiss. I feel the heat in my cheeks, and I bite my lip just slightly, trying to recapture his taste as we drive back towards the campus.
Easy silence settles between us, but I want more than anything to break it. I glance at him from the corner of my eye, trying not to be too obvious about it. What can I do? I don’t want to seem like I’m being too forward, but I want to get to know him better. I don’t want tonight to end. What should I suggest?
When really, what I want is for him to take me to his own home, or a hotel somewhere, where we can enjoy some privacy and he can take me to bed?
He pulls into the campus parking lot instead of dropping me outside, and I’m surprised when he parks neatly, pulling into an open spot and lining up the car perfectly.
“You didn’t have to park,” I say, a little alarmed at the idea of him making the extra effort for no reason. I don’t want to come across as trouble or high-maintenance, especially not this early on.
“Of course, I did,” he says. “I couldn’t just leave the car abandoned on the street. I’m not a philistine. I’m going to walk you to your door.”
“Oh,” I say, feeling my cheeks go pink. “You are?”
“This is a date,” he says. “I’m a gentleman. I’m not going to send you back on your own, I’m going to make sure you get back safely. What kind of thoughtless boys have you been going on dates with so far?”
“Oh,” I say, and then make a short laugh to disguise the fact that the answer would have to be none.
“Come on,” he says, getting out of the car. “Unless you don’t want me to see where you live?”
“Not at all,” I say, getting out quickly so that he can see I’m not bluffing. I do want him to come back with me – I want this date to go on for as long as it possibly can, even if I can extend it by seconds only.