Page 8 of Third Time is the Charm
Her smile remained for his compliment, taking the torturous tulips from him and ushering him inside her apartment. “I’ll just put these in water and grab my shoes and then I’ll be ready.”
“Sure, take your time.”
She wanted to feel something at his compliment – shereallywanted to. Anything to feel something other than the ache that burned inside of her. Anything to show her that she could feel something good again, especially for someone who was so good to her.
Quickly pulling out a pitcher (she didn’t have a vase because, why would she?), she cut the bottom of the stems and put them in with some water. Setting them on the kitchen counter, she tried to step away from them - and everything they reminded her of, without seeming too eager to be out of their presence.
“Alright I’m re—” she halted. “Shoes, still need shoes.” The last bit she mumbled to herself, even though Col heard her; his small laugh suggested that he found her frenzied thoughts charming.
“There’s no rush, Beth,” he emphasized again as she darted past him to grab her practical navy wedges.
Returning to him, this time with a semi-genuine smile on her face, she said, “I’m ready.” To which, he stuck out his elbow wordlessly asking to escort her down to the car. The small gesture made her laugh in its quaint ridiculousness, and laughter was the best medicine.
“What?” he asked, laughing too.
“You’re such a gentleman, Col,” she replied.
His expression changed to one of mock offense. “You sound like you expected something less?” He was playing along, but his tone hinted at a thought more serious as they moved in sync down the two flights of stairs to the main level of the apartment building.
“Of course not,” she reassured him, her other hand coming up to rest on his arm in comfort.
He held the door to the building open for her as they walked out into the crisp, spring night. “Good,” he said, his hand releasing the door only to capture hers just before she could remove it from his arm. “You deservenothingless.” This time, his tone said that they were no longer playing. The sincerity of his words was written all over his warm, brown gaze that grabbed hers and held it while his hand brought the back of hers to his lips.
Beth felt her face warm, accompanied by a sudden intake of breath as his lips touched her soft skin.
Too much.
The moment was too much. Beth turned her head towards the curb as Col raised his from her hand, allowing her to breathe again without the intimate contact.
“Wait, is that for us?” Beth asked in shock, staring at the limo parked out front of her apartment.
“For us? No. For you? Yes,” he grinned playfully and led her to the open and waiting door.
She wanted to run, but she was too far down the rabbit hole to turn back now.
At this point, it was better to just follow the ‘Eat Me’ and ‘Drink Me’ instructions and hope there wasn’t a Queen of Hearts waiting at the restaurant to take off her head.
Chapter 3
A few minutes later, the limo door opened to a flash of lights, behind which the glass doors of Mistral shone brightly. Col stepped out of the limo, extending his hand to her, holding her as she stepped out. Beth didn’t know what she was thinking – maybe that the lights were from the street lamps, from something exciting happening in the Back Bay area, or even just from tourists exploring Columbus Ave. Or maybe she just wasn’t thinking.
There may not have been a Queen of Hearts waiting, but there were paparazzi.Not a lot of them by New York standards, but enough to startle her –what had she been thinking?
Colin was more of a local celebrity, but because he was related to a national celebrity, the press did tend to tail him from time to time when they had no one else to bother. Probably because of the event coming up, Colin had fallen back in their crosshairs again – meaning that now she had as well.
She put a weak smile on her face as Colin’s arm came around her, pulling her closer to his side, trying to shield them both from the handful of cameras that continued to click as they quickly walked into the restaurant.
“Sorry about that,” Col murmured to her, just before they reached the hostess stand.
“Mr. Dempsey, welcome back to Mistral. We have your table ready for you,” the blonde hostess greeted him with averywarm smile. Her eyes traveled over Beth and the smile quickly turned into a smirk.
Thankfully, inside the restaurant it was relatively calm; most of the other diners didn’t realize who had just walked in and ignored them as they followed the woman to a table near the back of the restaurant, in a corner away from the windows –and the cameras.
Beth sat down with a pit in her stomach, feeling not only like a complete idiot, but like a complete failure.
“Beth, I was going to order the Riesling, is that ok with you?” Col’s voice broke the daze of embarrassment surrounding her. She met his eyes and saw concern reflected in them, then noticed the waiter who was looking to her for the answer.
“Ahh, yes that’s fine. Riesling is fine,” she answered quietly.
