I needed a minute. I knew Elsie had every right to be mad at me, but the things she’d said were downright ridiculous. I couldn’t get a hold of myself. I was angry enough to break something!

Was she jealous of my success?

How dare she say that I played the victim card?

I watched her get up and leave and there wasn’t much I could do about it.

She could leave if she wanted to.

I had a reputation to maintain. I couldn’t just run after her and make a scene. I gripped the whisky glass tightly in my hand, tipping it over my mouth. I drank the very last drop of it and slammed it down again.

Elsie was gone.

Would I ever see her again? What about the job?

I jumped up from the chair and ran after her. She’d been gone for several minutes now. I didn’t even know which direction she would have walked in. Had she taken a cab?

I ran out of the bar and headed left, hoping I might see her. Chicago was busy and the streets were filled with people. But that turquoise colored cocktail dress stood out.

I saw Elsie walking up ahead, with her head bowed down. Was she crying?

I pushed past people, rushing to catch up with her.

When I was directly behind her, I put a hand on her shoulder and forced her to turn to me. She gasped from the shock.

“Elsie!” I growled, grabbing her by both shoulders now. She wasn’t crying yet but her nose was red and her eyes looked bleary. A few more moments and she’d have broken down.

“Jared…I…” she was trying to say something but I pulled her into my arms.

I’d failed to hug her before I left town ten years ago. If she was going to walk out on me now, I wasn’t letting her go without a hug.

Elsie was warm pressed up against me. I hugged her tightly. She wrapped her arms around me and I was grateful for that. It didn’t feel strange to hug her again. Somehow it felt natural. Like no time had passed since we last hugged.

Her hair was on my face now, and I breathed in deeply. I could feel her heart beating against my chest. Her breasts were squeezed up to me. I could feel the shape of her beautiful body. Even though I’d stopped thinking about her these past few years, she still appeared in my dreams.

They were the same fantasies over and over again. Elsie, naked, lying next to me in bed. In my old family home in Madison Green. Elsie’s limbs entwined with mine. My fingers trailing over her smooth, long legs.

I felt dazed as I held her now. Gently, she pulled herself from me. Her blue eyes were sparkling as she looked up at me. Her hair was ruffled from the hug. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever set my eyes on.

“Take care of yourself, Jared,” she said.

She was going to go.

“Elsie, come back with me. Let’s have another drink. We could talk,” I pleaded with her and she breathed in and shook her head.

“I can’t, not unless you answer me honestly. I need to know why you never called,” her voice was gentle as she spoke. She wasn’t being aggressive now. She just wanted answers I couldn’t give her.

“I don’t know why,” I told her.

She pressed her eyes close, like she was trying to hold back the tears.

“Then I have to go,” she said and tugged herself away from me. I was still holding her hand and I pulled her back. She fell on my chest, slowly looking up at me, her lips just parted.

I knew I shouldn’t have done it, but I couldn’t help myself.

I leaned towards her and grazed my lips to hers. Elsie gasped, but she didn’t pull away. I parted her mouth with my tongue, leaning deeper into her, and I slid my tongue in.

In the twenty years we’d known each other—this was the first time I was kissing her. I thought she’d be angry. She wasn’t. Instead, she kissed me back.

Our breaths mingled and my arms wrapped around her waist. She was kissing me back as forcefully as I was kissing her. I’d fantasized about this moment for decades and it was finally happening. Now, when I was thirty years old. After all these years of wanting it, this was the best kiss I had ever had. Because it was with her. Nothing else would ever compare to it.

My hands travelled up her back, seeking out the nape of her neck. Her hands were on my chest. She wrapped my tie around one wrist, pulling me closer to herself so she could kiss me better. I stroked her nape, weaved my fingers into her hair. This kiss was getting wild, getting out of hand.

Elsie finally pulled her mouth away from me. She was breathless. Her cheeks were flushed pink and her blue eyes were shining.

“Elsie…” I tried to find the words to say. Should I be apologizing?

“My apartment is one more block away,” she interrupted me. I crossed my brows as I stared at her. What was she saying?

“We’re practically strangers to each other now, right?” she asked and smiled weakly at me.

In that moment, I would have agreed to anything she suggested.

“I guess we are,” I told her.

A film of darkness passed over her eyes for a moment, but then it was gone. She turned on her heels and started walking in the other direction. I had no other choice but to follow her.

This was actually happening. Elsie Carr was taking me back to her place.