Page 38 of New Girl in Town
“I should be going.” I set down my glass with a thunk. “Thank you for the lovely evening, Ben. It was a pleasure to meet you, Sophia. Good night, Grant.”
I tried to wiggle out from our corner table. I shot an apologetic look at the table next to me when I sideswiped their chairs in my hurry.
“What? Already? I hoped we could try at least one more place tonight,” Ben said, looking like he remembered he was on a date.
I fumbled with my purse, trying to count out enough cash to cover my part of the bill. “I, well, you know, I just have work early tomorrow.”
“It’s Sunday tomorrow,” Sophia unhelpfully reminded us.
I glared at her. “Oh, yeah, it actually isn’t work. Um, it—“
“So you can stay, then. The four of us can make a night of it and try another place after this round. What do you all think?” Ben asked, looking at Sophia and Grant.
“We’d love to,” Grant answered. I gave him a vehement head shake, but Grant nodded. “Another place sounds like the perfect thing, Aurora.”
“I think so too,” Sophia agreed, leaning against him with a wink. “Should we go now?”
“Of course. Let’s enjoy the drinks and then—” Ben said, hand closing around mine when he saw the cash in my fist. “Aurora, put that away. I have this.”
“I’ll just go get my jacket,” I sighed, and pointed over my shoulder, the gin and tonic at least making my veins hum with some measure of contentment despite the way the night was headed. A breather while the others finished their drinks would give me some kind of break from the mayhem.
Actually...who was going to stop me from making a run for it once I was out of sight? I’d pounded my drink with all the speed of a frat boy before the others had even touched theirs. I had time to make something happen and I doubted Ben would notice my absence if he could keep talking to Grant. I hustled toward the coat room with a plan forming in my mind. I could do this.
“Grab the coat. Put it on. Run,” I told myself, not caring if anyone saw me talking to myself or noticed my sprint toward the coat room. I’d just poured out my heart to a man while we were on dates with different people. The other patrons didn’t know or understand my need for speed.
“Find it, find it,” I whispered, throwing open the door to the room and squinting around at the selection of coats. It was a small space but thanks to the ordered racks I didn’t think I would be too much longer, which was good. I knew I looked manic, which meant my antics were sure to raise a few eyebrows.
“Close the door. Right,” I said, proving to myself why I needed privacy. I reached back behind me to shut the door and let out a yelp when my hand slapped into the warm chest of someone who had just entered.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Grant. Of course it was Grant.
“Home,” I told him, spinning around to face him. He had shut the door and leaned against it with his arms crossed over his chest. His very muscular, solid-as-a-rock, warm chest—that much I knew from the surprise smack I’d landed.
“After what you just told me out there?”
I threw my hands out in aduhgesture. “Yeah, what other choice do I have? I can’t stay on this date.”
Turning back around, I busied myself with finding the simple leather jacket I’d worn to dinner. It was a favorite, but if I didn’t find it soon I wasn’t above cutting my losses and leaving it behind as a casualty of war.
The sound of a door lock turning stilled my fingers, and I looked over my shoulder to see Grant pushing away from the door and walking toward me.
“Did you just lock the door?”
He nodded. “Sure did.”
“Why?” I whispered, not trusting my voice at full volume in the small space. The air around me felt delicate, like the spun sugar I used to make every Christmas to decorate desserts. Any sudden movement or too-loud sound would shatter the moment. I held my breath as Grant took the next two steps to stand beside me.
I didn’t want this to end up in pieces.
I held still, eyes on him as he reached for me, the warm weight of his hands on my shoulders making me shiver. He turned me toward him until we faced each other and those hands left my shoulders to slide up the column of my neck, his fingers catching in my hair as he went.
It was only when he cupped my face, tilting it back to look up at him, that he spoke.
“This.” He leaned close and swiped a finger across my bottom lip. “This okay?”
I knew what this was. I wanted this. I gave a shaky nod.
