Page 78 of Up All Night

“That’s okay. I don’t either. We can go rent bikes.” I stood, picking up the cooler.

“Rent bikes,” he said slowly.

“Yes, they have these bike rental shops where you give them money and they you give a bike to use,” I teased.

He stood, giving me a deadpan look. “I know what a bike rental shop is. It’s just, don’t we have to have a reservation to rent a bike, tell them what time we want to pick them up?”

I shrugged. “You can make a reservation, but you don’t need one.”

“But they might be all out of bikes if you don’t reserve them.”

“Then we’ll just go to another bike shop.” I patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. It will all work out. And if all the shops are out of bikes, we’ll figure out something else to do.”

The crease was still between his eyebrows. I stepped closer, reaching up to press my thumb against his skin to smooth it out. The worry and stress that had been in his eyes disappeared as his eyes focused on me. I stared up at him, not realizing how close I’d gotten to him. I’d only wanted to take away his apprehension, to help give him permission to live in the moment. But now we were breathing the same air, and I had to work to keep my breath from speeding up. He looked down at me like I was a puzzle he couldn’t quite solve. His eyes kept searching my face, and I wondered what he was looking for. When his eyes caught on my mouth, the feeling of anticipation spread through me like wildfire. I wanted to kiss West. I wanted West to kiss me. I’d been wanting to feel his lips on mine for weeks.

But you two will never work, a voice said in my head, breaking through my hormone-riddled thoughts. I wanted to slap that voice and tell it to mind its own business, but unfortunately it had a valid point. Not only were West and I opposite in nature, we were also opposite in family, social status, and wealth, or in my case, lack thereof. Add in how I didn’t want to get tied up in another relationship where I could easily get distracted by his good looks.

These thoughts landed in my stomach like rocks, and I quickly looked away, stepping back to put some distance between us. “We’d better get going.”

“Uh, yeah.” He looked around like he had woken up from a similar dazed state. He picked up the blanket and folded it. “Let’s go.”

23

West

The bike ride across the Golden Gate Bridge was a good idea. After I’d been close to kissing her again for thesecondtime, I needed the space.

I let her take the lead when we couldn’t ride side by side, but then I’d find myself admiring her figure and how good she looked. I couldn’t seem to keep my eyes off her body. I wanted to pull her close to me, to feel her soft feminine body against mine.

But she’d stepped away when lines started to blur between us today at Crissy Fields. She obviously wasn’t having a hard time keeping things platonic between us, seeing me securely in the friend zone. I mean, we’d talked about GoGurt for what seemed like half of our brunch. It was clear she wasn’t interested in anything more than friendship.

And although I wanted to make out with her for hours like someone who’d just discovered kissing, it was for the best that she had put on the brakes. Kissing would only confuse things between us, and I didn’t want to ruin our new friendship. I enjoyed spending time with her too much to mess it all up. We worked well as friends. But dating? Being a couple? It would never last. I’d eventually end up choosing work over spending time with her, and then I’d hate myself for hurting her.

That thought gave me the resolve I needed—a kick in the pants. I never wanted to hurt Halle. She was so full of life, as bright as a disco ball. I would never be able to forgive myself if I ever became someone who dimmed her light.

All these thoughts were easy to agree with when we were several feet apart, riding through the city on bikes. The real test would be if I could stick with my decision once we were in closer quarters and she was looking up at me with those beautiful blue eyes.

It had been a long time since I’d spent this much time with a woman. Maybe I was dealing with a lack of female companionship in my life. Maybe that was why I couldn’t stop staring at her, wishing I could hold her in my arms and feel her warm body breathe with mine. Would her head lay perfectly against my chest? How would it feel to kiss the top of her head, inhaling her sweet scent, knowing I was the one who got to be that close to her?

She braked at a traffic light on our way back to the bike shop, and I almost ran into her. I slammed on my brakes and swerved, barely missing her but bumping into one of the city trash cans.

She looked back at me in concern. “Are you okay?”

“Yep.” I gave her a reassuring smile.I was just daydreaming about lying on my couch with you in my arms.That wasn’t weird at all.

She gave me an amused smile and returned her attention to the light.

Once she wasn’t looking at me, I rolled my eyes at myself.Real cool, West.Now I was not only wanting to make out like a teenager, I was acting like one. What was it with this girl? She had me panting after her like some love-struck puppy and ditching my laptop on a Saturday to gallivant through the city with her.

As much as I wanted to stop this madness, I couldn’t.

Why? Because I wanted to hang out with her too much. I wanted to see what we were going to do for the rest of the day. This woman could get me throwing away my schedule like I hadn’t lived by it down to the minute for the past few years. The schedule that had given me structure to help me stay on the right path to reaching my goals. The schedule that seemed to quiet the hissing thoughts that I would never be good enough for my dad to give me more leadership roles at the company. The schedule that helped me focus on what time it was and what I was doing next instead of thinking about how I might be wasting the best years of my life.

We dropped off the bikes and got back in my car.

I had no idea what we were doing next, so I sat back, waiting to turn my car on.

I turned to her and asked, “Where to?”

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