“This was fun,” I said as the night was wrapping up.

I hadn't realized how long we stayed. Not even when we decided to get desert. Now the tavern was basically empty. I had been so enthralled with everything Barrett told me, soaking it all to memory to retell one day, that the hours had slipped passed, unnoticed.

“I should probably go, my babysitter will be wanting to get back home,” I said.

“Yeah of course,” he said helping me out of my seat.

I couldn’t help but feel the tingle as his hand rested on my lower back as we walked out of the building. We slipped into the leather seats of his car without any other words between us.

“Can I just say something?” I said half way home.

“Sure?”

“What’s wrong with you?”

He looked at me with worry in his dark eyes.

“I mean, you’re a brilliant doctor, sweet, kind…How are you still single?”

“I could say the same for you,” he raised a brow at me.

“Well, I have Aria. You mention you have a kid, and men run as far away as possible.”

“I didn’t run,” he said looking over at me deeply.

“No, you didn’t,” I responded softly.

“But that doesn’t answer the question. There must be something wrong with you.”

“Uh, I don’t think there is. I mean, let me think. I wear socks to bed,” he said looking at me with a wrinkled nose.

“Yeah that’s pretty bad,” I laughed.

“I guess,” he said now in a serious tone. “I haven’t had time. I only got back six months ago. You don’t really meet people when you are in the red cross.”

“Because they don’t allow women in the Red Cross?” She teased some more.

“No. But I kinda was unavailable then. I was supposed to marry this girl from back home. I knew her all my life, our families were really close. I think it was always kinda just expected that we would marry.”

“But..” she encouraged.

“But she got tired of waiting. I was gone all the time and she moved on with her life. Rightfully so too. I feel like it was more of wanting to please our parents then anything else.”

It was an interesting conversation for me to think on for the rest of the car ride home. It made sense that he was still single if he had just recently ended that relationship. It also made me slightly wonder if that meant he was with her when we first connected.

We pulled up into my parking lot and silently he walked me up to my apartment door. I could already feel the tension between us palpable in the air. I couldn’t believe how much this was like reliving my college years over again.

I stopped in front of my door and turned to face him. I felt myself get wet just from the look of him. He stood there looking down at me with those smoldering dark eyes. It was easy to see he had the same thing on his mind.

“This was nice,” he said with a teasing smile.

“It was,” I said fidgeting with my hands in front of me.

Up to this point I had convinced myself that this was nothing more then getting to know my daughter’s father. I had tried hard to convince myself that I had no selfish desires for this date. All those lies seemed to melt away at that moment.

He took one more step closer to me and slipped a hand around my waist. I could feel the electricity surging between us. He was going to kiss me and I was going to let him.

I tilted my head up and let the shallow breath within me part between my lips. Using his free hand he ran his finger along my jawline. It was tantalizingly delicate. He got back to my earlobe and tangled his fingers into my hair.

“I’ve been wanting to do that all night," he said in a deep husky voice.

He took another step closer so that our bodies were just barely brushing each other. I could already feel my nipples go hard at the simple touch. He dipped his head low so that I could feel the warmth of his skin near mine.

“What else have you wanted to do?” I asked in a whisper.

He pulled his arm around my waist tight to him in that instant. I sharply inhaled as my hips collided with his erection beneath his jeans. It may have been eight years but I was sure to never forget that part of him.

“This,” he whispered in return, satisfied with my reaction.

He took my mouth with his in that instant. It wasn’t timid or soft. His kiss was filled with need and desire. Surprisingly, my body took over and matched his hunger. I let my arms wrap around his thick shoulders as he took the kiss deeper.

He was exploring the whole of my mouth and I wanted to beg him to take more of me. He pushed harder against my body and I instinctively arched my hips against his hard shaft.

He moaned in satisfaction and grabbed my ass. I wrapped my legs around him as he pinned me to the wall next to my front door. He rocked his dick between my now open thighs and it was my turn to moan now.

“Let me come inside,” Barrett breathed against my lips.

A part of me wanted to say yes, wanted him to carry me in and take every ounce of my body to claim as his own. But it only took a second for my head to clear and remember who was on the other side of the door. I couldn’t let him see Aria. It might be too easy to tell that she was his.

When I didn’t answer he pulled his lips slightly away from mine to look into my eyes. His stare was so dark and transparent that it made me wet already.

“I can’t,” I finally said softly. “My daughter is in there with the babysitter.”

He leaned his forehead against mine seeming to take in my answer. I hoped he knew how disappointed I was to say it.

“Okay,” he finally said opening his eyes back to me. “I guess next time I will have to plan more accordingly,” he added.

“What does that mean?” I asked as he pushed his hard erection into me again. I moaned again at the friction.

“Just that I will find a more private ending to the night next time.”

“Oh really,” I said with a sarcastic air. “What makes you think there will be a next time.”

He pushed against me again and I arched my back. He kissed me hard and deep.

“Trust me, I am not going to last long without seeing you again,” he responded.

He released his hold on my ass and let me slid back easily down to the ground. Taking a step back from me he put some air between us. It was a good idea because in that moment my resolve was significantly dropping.

“As long as what happened last time doesn’t play out,” I said mostly to myself, “then I think I just might be gamer a repeat.”

“Don’t worry, Lilly,” he replied reaching down and kissing the upturned palm of my hand held in his own. “I know where you live now,” he motioned to my door, “so there is no escaping me this time.”