Page 44 of M.M. Scrooge
“I just got here.”
“Right. I knew that.” He turns off the faucet and faces me. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s nice to see you again.”
A long moment passes where he stands there, hands awkwardly held out, dripping onto the checkered linoleum, and I try to stuff mine into nonexistent pockets—damn gym shorts. We both let out a nervous chuckle.
I scrub my hand through my hair. We talk over each other.
“Can I take you to dinner sometime?”
“I hope you don’t mind I switched trainers. I thought—”
“What?”
“What?”
“Hold on.” Daniel grabs a paper towel and dries his hands, his back to me.
“It’s cool you picked Andy. I can see how it would be weird to work out with me after—”
“You kind of hurried me out before. I didn’t think you’d be up for a repeat and especially not dinner. I got the feeling—”
“Totally my fault, yeah. Sorry for being an ass. I got spooked.” That’s the truth, though Daniel will have no idea what I really mean by it. “And I feel bad about how I treated you.”
He spins and furrows his brow like he’s struggling to figure me out. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not. I had a great time with you. Like really great. Mind-blowing. Then I hustled you out of here without so much as a kiss good-bye. I was a jerk. But if you’ll give me another chance, I’d like to make it up to you.”
Daniel cocks his head, still skeptical. “With dinner?”
“With dinner.” I rock on my heels while waiting for his answer.
He lets me stew, studying me with those big brown eyes as if trying to solve a particularly stubborn puzzle. Two bold steps from him bring us face-to-face. Or face-to-throat, really. He’s shorter.
Doubt takes a stranglehold on my spine. Maybe he’s not into me after all. I shouldn’t have asked. Now I’ve put him in a weird position, and I should take it all back before—
“I’d love to have dinner with you, Max.” His smile reveals the cute little gap between his front teeth. “When?”
A rush of warmth fills my chest. I wish I could leave with him right now, but I have a client in ten minutes. And Daniel probably doesn’t want to go to dinner in his gym clothes after a workout anyway. “I’m off Friday.”
“Sold. You have my number, right?”
“I’ll pull it from our computer.”
Another step brings him within arm’s distance. His hand lands on my waist. “I’ll take that parting kiss you owe me.”
Daniel is bold when he’s decided what he wants. That’s one of the first things I liked about him. I close the remaining gap between us. “My pleasure.”
He rises to his toes and leans into my chest. I cup his nape, warm, sweaty, and perfect. Our lips meet.
Holy shit, everything I went through might have actually been worth it. A kiss like Daniel’s? Full of heat and promise? One in a million.
All I have to do is not fuck this up.
I can do that. Right?
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