Page 24 of Stay With Me

“Since you’re all dressed up, why don’t we go for dinner?” He turns so suddenly I crash into him. His hands automatically grab my waist, holding me steady.

Staring up at him, all thoughts leave my head as he licks his lips.

“Elise?”

“Hmm?” My eyes linger on his lips until they start twitching. Lifting my eyes, I hold his gaze, his brown eyes intense on mine. He smells so good, I’m in a fog until he grins cocking his head slightly. I finally process his question. “Oh, dinner. Yeah. Sounds good.”

The drive to Cliff’s helps clear my head as Young Jae talks about the progress on the grain elevator development. His passion as he elaborates on the progress pushes thoughts about the kiss aside, but I still send Adeline and Rae a “what the fuck” message.

The parking lot at Cliff’s is packed. “If we want the town to stop meddling, we may want to go home.”

Young Jae just laughs, getting out of the vehicle. “We’ve eaten together before.”

There are people waiting to be seated when we get inside, but as soon as Cara, the hostess, sees us, she waves us over.

“We have a table ready for you.” She ushers us to the back corner where all the private booths are.

Confused, we follow her. “We didn’t book anything,” Young Jae mentions as we weave through the crowded bar.

Cara just smiles and takes us to the final booth. It’s intimate and quiet compared to the rest of the bar. I’ve never sat in this area, but it's a newer addition that Cliff added, wanting to give couples a quieter, more romantic space.

The table has a bouquet of dahlias and a lantern lit in the center. The rest of the lights dimmed.

She leaves with a promise to return with water and we sit in the intimate booth. It’s small, ensuring we need to sit next to each other.

“Did you?” I ask.

Young Jae shakes his head, looking as confused as I feel. “No. And I didn’t tell anyone we were coming here.”

“Oh my god. I did. I told Adeline and Rae.” Laughing, I look at Young Jae. The candlelight dances across his face and the words on my lips fall away. He looks so good and his lips still have a hint of my lipstick from earlier.

Young Jae’s lips twitch. “They must’ve called. Well, we were going to eat dinner anyway, and it is nice and quiet back here.”

He drapes his arm over the back of the cushion, the weight of it against my upper back.

Cara returns with water and two glasses of wine. “Wine’s on the house.” She winks again, leaving us to decide what to eat.

Chapter Ten

Young Jae

KissingElisewasevenbetter than I imagined it would be and her response told me everything I needed to know. The way she leaned into me, her body practically melting into mine. The feel of her lips responding eagerly, her arms around my neck. My feelings aren’t unreciprocated at all. The guise of rescuing her from Jake the perfect excuse and now nothing will hold me back.

We eat dinner, conversation flowing smoothly as always, and if it wasn’t for the lingering glances, the way she’s leaned into me a little as our evening progresses, I would think I’d misread her response. But I know what I felt and I know I’d be a fool to think there was no feeling in her response.

After dinner, Cara brings dessert. A slice of mocha cheesecake with two forks. Elise digs in, a soft moan escaping as she scoops a forkful and holds it up for me.

“This is the best cheesecake I’ve ever had.”

Leaning in, I hold her gaze as I take her fork into my mouth, an explosion of flavor hitting my tongue.

We alternate bites until it’s gone, Elise setting the fork down and leaning back into the booth, her head dropping onto my shoulder. She sighs, patting her flat stomach. “I’m so full, that was incredible.”

Her voice is full of contentment, soft and hitting me right in the gut.

She rolls her head to look at me. “I’m so glad we’re here together.”

Staring into her green eyes, I brush a strand of hair away before dropping my hand away. “Me too.”

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