Page 64 of Swiped
“What?” Nat took in his thick gray beard and sunken eyes.
He gestured toward her with a gloved hand. “The lady goes on the inside!”
Thom switched their places, so he was walking along the curb instead of Nat. “Fair point, mate.” He handed the man the box of leftovers. “Here, take care.”
The man took the food and grumbled back into his squat on the sidewalk.
Nat waited until they were out of earshot. “That was nice,” she said.
Thom shrugged. “I try to do whatever I can. You know, if you give those people money, who knows what they might do with it.” His voice rose as another couple passed them. “But it doesn’t cost anything to just give them something that was probably going to go bad in your fridge, anyway.” He nodded to the couple with a pronounced, “Good evening”.
They shot him weary nods.
Nat squeezed his hand with a tight smile. “Uh huh!” Something dark pinged in her mind, but she brushed it away. She checked her phone. Still no response from Rami. Her day had been perfect, and now she really wanted to rub it in his face over a martini. “That’s really nice of you.”
They reached the iron gate to her apartment building.
“This is you, then?” Thom rocked back on his heels like meeting an old friend. “Seems charming.”
The reality of being at her home poked into Nat’s wine-soaked fantasy. She felt the patterns of her old life, and her old self, tugging at her like hands shooting out of a grave. “I’d invite you in, but . . .” She trailed off.
“No, no, we need to save something to look forward to.” He drew close to her and tugged her coat closed underneath her chin.
Nat blushed. “I had a really nice time today.”
He nodded with a question in his eyes. “So? Shall we?”
“Kiss?” she said. “You don’t have to ask every time.”
He gave a low chuckle. “I meant, shall we give it a go?” His sapphire eyes searched hers. “You and me.”
Nat realized that she hadn’t officially asked him to the event, yet. Or told him about her ongoing public dating competition. But at the winery, he’d said that he had read up on her, right? Maybe he already knew about the BuzzFill thing and was fine with it. And maybe it was also fine if she just assumed that and didn’t actually confirm it. She produced a bright, perky grin. “What if you were my date to a party next week?”
“What kind of party?”
“Oh, nothing big . . .” Nat hedged. “Just a work thing. Probably totally boring but you know . . .” She rubbed his bicep. “I just need some arm candy.”
Thom lit up in spite of the joke. “Oh, I see! Well, then, by all means, sign me up.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely.” He leaned toward her with bedroom eyes. “As long as it means I get to spend more time with you.”
Something in Nat hesitated as he nibbled at her neck.
“It’s hard for me to let you go,” he cooed against her skin.
Nat smiled and thought of sliding onto a bar stool at the jazz bar. “I know, but I don’t want to rush this.” She pulled away.
“You’re right. Proper dates. Like your work party.” Thom winked and nodded. “I’ll be there.” He raised her hand to his lips for a soft kiss. “Bonne nuit.”
Nat leaned in her doorway to watch his figure walk away. A few feet away, he turned around and met her eyes. Her stomach flipped. He blew her an air kiss.
She pulled out her phone. Rami still hadn’t responded, but she was too wound up to sleep without a cocktail and a chance to flaunt her victory. She texted him one last time.
Nat:See you at the postmortem.
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