Page 274 of New York Love Stories: Vol. 1

Catching her hand just before it disappears under the sheet, I bring it between us and then kiss each fingertip and then her palm. “You have me right here wanting to learn everything about you, and you’re still not going to let me in, are you?”

“You’re not tired?” she asks. Closing her eyes, she blocks me out of delving deeper. I guess I got my answer. It doesn’t take long for her breathing to steady and sleep to take her from me.

I stay up, hoping the sunrise comes before our goodbyes. Maybe the new day can shed some light on what I can’t see lying here. We don’t have that kind of time.

My dad was right. Nothing worth my time was built on hopes and dreams. It takes action to make things happen. I don’t have a minute to spare to get the answers I need from her. With less than an hour before she needs to leave, I wake her up with kisses along her cheekbone and running my fingers through her long hair. “Tatum?” I whisper.

Her eyes slowly open and then close, her breath uneven as she tries again, stirring awake. “What time is it?”

“Four thirty.”

She groans, her eyes still closed. “I have to get up, but I don’t want to. I like it here much better.”

“I like you here much better too. What about a later flight?”

She gasps as she bolts up. “Natalie.” Jumping out of bed, she grabs a shirt,mine to be exact, and slips it on before rushing into the main part of the two-bedroom suite.

“What are you doing?” I call from bed.

I hear what sounds like her and Natalie talking in hushed voices and the door closing. “I’m sorry,” Tatum says.

Indiscernible whispering follows, and then her friend asks, “He’s still here?”

“Shh,” Tatum says. “Yes.”

After more whispering, I hear her friend say, “Don’t be late.”

“I won’t.”

Tatum returns to the room, closing the door quietly behind her. “I just remembered that I had the hotel keys. She’s been locked out all night.”

“Shit. She couldn’t get one from the front desk?”

Moving into the bathroom, she flips the light switch on. Peeking back out, she says, “She said she tried, but I was carrying her wallet yesterday, so she didn’t have ID.” A mischievous grin sneaks onto her face. “Guess where she’s been all night?”

“Where?” I hold the covers open for her, and she slips right in next to me as if she doesn’t have a flight to catch. We lie next to each other with her tucked against my side.

“In your room with Nick.”

Score one for my best friend. If anyone needed to get laid, it was him. Maybe he can learn to relax again. “That’s interesting,” I reply, trying not to sound like an asshole full of pride for my friend.

“I hope Natalie got laid.”

“Really?”

She nods. “She’s been on what she calls a love embargo for quite a while. This trip has been good for her to break back out of her shell. And Nick seemed like just the guy to help her.”

“Not to brag, but he’s a good guy, too. Stressed, but who isn’t these days?”

“I’m not.”

The response throws me a second. It’s too late to get into how she’s living a life so carefree when I have other motives in mind to get more time with her. “Nick is gold. She’s lucky if?—”

“I don’t want to talk about them. We have so little time left. Do you mind?”

Holding her closer, I ask, “Why would I mind?”

The tips of her fingers graze over the skin on the outside of my eyes before her hand lowers to my chest. “One day, you’re going to have smile lines. It’s not fair.”

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