The ladies' room of the only Italian restaurant in Bearsville was done up in alternating black and white subway tile. But they'd fucked up the pattern in the corners. Black, white, black, black, white. I knew this because I'd been hiding in the corner stall for far too long. Taking a deep breath, I splashed some water on my face and looked in the mirror. My fingers slid to my lips, where Jules' kiss still burned.

I'd been strong enough to walk away. Now I needed to be strong enough to stay away. I pushed the door open and walked back out into the restaurant to resume my date with a nice guy.

"I'm back," I said, sliding into the chair across from Eric. Then I looked around. "Hey, where'd my menu go?"

"Oh the waitress came while you were in the ladies ' room," he explained. "She brought rolls. I ordered for you already."

I blinked at him. "No one's ever done that before," I said icily.

He shrugged and leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table in the exact way I'd always yelled at my brothers to stop doing. He reached over and grabbed a roll and started sawing it in half with a butter knife. "I guess you've never gone out with a gentleman before," he said, with an insinuation in his voice I didn't like at all.

Had I imagined his niceness? What the hell? "Guess not," I said, leaning back and folding my arms. "Luckily for me."

"What? I got you something I know you'll like."

"Do you really now?" I could feel my cheeks heating up. "You have no idea what I like."

"I know what's good here," he said, firmly.

I shook my head and looked away, feeling a little nauseous at the prospect of spending a whole dinner with him. "What if I had a food allergy?" I blurted out.

"Do you?"

"No, but..."

"Then don't worry about it, you'll love it."

"I'm a vegetarian," I lied.

He grinned. "I figured as much. I got you the eggplant parm."

I wrinkled my nose. I detested eggplant in all its forms, but the breaded slime of eggplant parmesan was the absolute worst. "Do you order food for all your dates?" I wanted to know.

"Sometimes."

"Hmmm." Maybe it was the noise of tires on the gravel lot outside. Maybe I was just looking to plan my escape. I don't know what made me look out at that exact moment, but it was the moment a very familiar cargo van pulled up into the lot.

Relief at being rescued? Anger at being stalked? I had no idea what it was that made my stomach rise and fall on its own internal roller coaster, but it was welcome.

"What was that?" Eric wanted to know.

"Oh, I was just wondering something." I hesitated for a second, but my decision was made. "Is it 1950 in your head? Because out here in the real world, it's 2017 and women are allowed to think for themselves."

I threw down my napkin and stood up just as Jules came striding through the door. "Sorry to interrupt, mate," he said, breezily snatching a roll out of the basket before reaching out his hand to me. "Ready to go, love?"

I pressed my lips together, then let my hand slide slowly against his palm. He closed his fingers tightly around my hand and lead me out the front door.

At the top of the steps that led down to the lot, I pulled my hand away. "What are you doing?" I asked, but it was more of a reflex then anything else.

"Told you, love. I'm done playing this game." He lifted his chin in the direction of Eric, still sitting here abandoned at our table. "Was it fun wasting your time with that knob?"

"He's a..." I trailed off. He wasn't a nice guy after all. "It's none of your business."

"I just need to know." He was standing on the step below me, his eyes level with mine. My lips burned with the memory of his kiss and the need for him to do it again. He lowered his voice as he leaned closer. "Does he do to you what I'm doing right now?" he asked softly, his breath grazing my cheek.

I inhaled sharply. "You're not doing anything for me." But the words came out all ragged and hoarse and he knew I was lying. He grinned and stepped up to me and lowered his forehead to mine so that we were eye to eye. I bit my lip, consciously pulling it into my own mouth before I pressed it to his by mistake. "Tell me, love," he murmured, tilting his head quizzically. "Can he make you feel this way? Can he make that pretty flush spread across your cheeks?" He lifted his hand and I made a small noise, but didn't back away when he pressed it to my heart and kept it there for a moment. "Can he make your heart race the way it's racing for me right now?"

"What do you want, Jules?"

"I want you to answer my question."

I swallowed, stalling. His hand was still pressed to my heart but his pinkie brushed downward every so slightly and to my horror, my nipple stiffened.

Jules glanced down and back up again. "Answer me. Pick one," he said, brushing his thumb lower. "Any one of them will suffice."

His fingers spread wider and this time his pinkie caught the sensitive peak, sending a spark through my body. A little sound escaped my lips before I could catch it.

"Thank you," Jules said.

"For what?" I was breathless and my brain didn't seem to be working properly anymore.

He chuckled. "For answering my question."

I licked my lips. "Now what?"

Before he could say anything, my stomach growled.

"Oh that's lovely."

"You'd better not be making fun of me considering it's you're fault I didn't get anything to eat."

He shrugged. "Well then? Let's go get you some food."

"Here? I can't go back in there. Not after the stunt we just pulled."

"So come with me. I saw a place on the ride over here. Looked terrible." He grinned and extended his hand.

I hesitated. Boundaries. Distance.

But his hand closed around mine again, and suddenly there was no distance between us at all.