Page 18 of Bad Seed
Aubry leans against his truck, hip cocked. His dark purple shirt strains across his shoulders and chest. Two of the top buttons are undone, letting a hint of tamed chest hair peek through. He’s not even in jeans. Those are black trousers tailored within an inch of their life.
“Hi,” he calls, pulling off his sunglasses. For a moment, he squints in the unforgiving light of a cement parking lot. But then a smile crosses his lips as I race toward him, my purse somehow twisting around my body like a python with vertigo.
“Hey. Great timing. I just got here myself. Yep,” I call out and stop right in front of him. My brain points out that the restaurant is behind me, but I freeze and have no idea what to do with my hands. Put ‘em in front of me? Behind? Just grab him then and there?
At the same time I plant one fist to my hip, I start to lean. My elbow crooks to land on the hood of his truck. What am I doing? I pause, but my elbow’s still bent, and I don’t know what to do with it.
Smiling, I give a little half wave like I’m in a parade.
I look absolutely insane.
Aubry returns my stupid wave as he checks his watch. “I was worried I might be late.” A lot of gold flashes on his wrist.
“Don’t worry about it.” I laugh. “I’m always late.”
The man with a shirt begging to be torn off of him stares at me from under his brow. My cheeks heat to a billion degrees.
“To things. I’m always late to things. Meetings. Classes. Busses. But I’m here, and you’re here, so we should eat. I hope you’re hungry.”
“Quite,” he says, his eyes never leaving me.
Oh boy. Come on body, you can handle turning and walking into a restaurant. One foot in front of the other. “Their tea salad is the best. I get one every time I’m here.”
“So you haven’t tried anything else?” he asks brushing up behind me.
I can sense his hand hovering just behind my back, but there’s barely any pressure. “Um.” Surely I’ve eaten something else here. We used to come all the time after work on Fridays before the Taphouse renovated. “There’s uh… No. I guess I found the tea leaf salad and never looked back.”
“You know what you want and go for it. I can respect that.”
Goosebumps. Clear down to my toes. A man like that respecting me is terrifying, and hot, and overwhelming. My mouth takes over, bypassing my brain that does little to stop it. “You say that now, but wait until morning.”
Aubry stops as we stand before the door. He runs his hand over my arm, turning me with just a touch. I peer into his dark eyes nearly black in the shadows.
“I doubt there is anything you can do…” His gaze caresses down my body, hitting every curve peeking and straining in the dress. “…to change my opinion, but I’m not against you trying.”
“Ha!” A panicked laugh erupts as I try to not grab him by the arm and drag him back to my place. There’s no hope for my panties, however. “We should…dinner. Eat. The food, for sustenance, and things for stamina reasons. Lots of calories to…”
Forcing my mouth closed to stop the flow of babble, I reach for the door handle.
“I forgot to tell you, you look lovely.”
“Lovely, huh?” Is this damn thing sticking? I tighten my grip to the handle and tug harder.
As I’m fighting the door, I barely note the palm brushing over my shoulder, fingers sliding down my bare skin. It’s when a breath brushes over my ear, that I realize Aubry’s right behind me. “I’d love to—”
“Fuck!” I interrupt, finally seeing the sign taped above the menus. In Times New Roman it declares the White Elephant closed for a family emergency. “They’re not open.”
I spin to face Aubry who’s wearing a confused look. “What isn’t?”
“The restaurant,” I explain and point to the sign.
“Ah, yes.” He reads over the note quickly and folds his hands behind his back. “That’s a shame.”
“Well, there’s a couple other places we could try.” I stare over to the Mexican restaurant beside us. As the door opens, loud music blasts into the night and two people stumble out in sombreros. Exactly the worst kind of atmosphere I’m going for.
“It looks crowded,” Aubry says.
“Yeah. The food’s pretty good. Loud. Lot of people damn near sitting on top of each other.” Whatever hope I had of wowing him with my avalanche repartee slams to a halt. We’d spend the whole night screaming at each other and not hearing a word. At least he’s nice to look at. I bet he could even pull off a dollar store sombrero.
