- Aiden -
As soon as she opened the door, I stuck my hand out. “Hi. I’m Aiden.”
Her face broke into a smile.
“You must be Lucy.”
She took my hand and shook it. “Nice to meet you.”
“Are you ready to go or-”
“I just need to grab my purse.” She looked me up and down. “You can come in for a second.”
I stepped inside and stuck my hands in my pockets. “Nice place.”
I could see her shaking her head as she walked down the hall towards her bedroom. My eyes drifted to the backs of her legs. They were toned but feminine, and they made me want to follow her.
She appeared a moment later with a small purse strung over her shoulder. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah,” I said, wishing she would offer me a drink and insist we skip the foreplay of dinner and go straight to the main event. At the same time, though, I was curious to go out with her. I knew she dated pretty regularly, and I was keen to see what it was like to be with her in a romantic setting.
While she locked the entrance to her building, I made my way to the passenger door and opened it for her.
The corner of her mouth curled up as she walked in front of the car. “Thanks,” she said, stepping inside. “That’s very gallant of you.”
I smiled down at her, appreciating what a good looking shot gun she was for the first time. “I’m a gallant sort of guy,” I said. Then I closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side.
“So where are we going?” she asked.
“A friend of mine just opened a new rooftop restaurant downtown. Thought we might check it out.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Cool.”
I tilted my head towards her as I turned the key. “Unless you want to go straight back to my place and get stuffed there?”
Her cheeks turned red as she shook her head. “You were doing so well.”
I shrugged and put the car into drive. “You look really pretty by the way.”
“Thanks,” she said, looking out the window.
“Even prettier than your pictures.”
She looked back at me. “You look about the same.”
I smiled. “Go easy on me, will you? It’s been a while since I went on a first date.”
“Did you just get out of a relationship or something?”
I was delighted that she was playing along. “Yeah.”
“How long were you together?”
“Too long.”
She pursed her lips. “So you’re not looking for anything serious right now?”
“I wouldn’t say that. I consider myself a pretty serious guy.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Plus, I had a sort of epiphany recently.”
“Oh?”
I pulled into the left lane. “Yeah.”
“Go on.”
“Basically, I realized that I’ve been going for women who are all wrong for me.”
“In what way?”
“Well, I’ve been focused on style over substance for one.”
“Perhaps you lack maturity.”
“Probably,” I said. “But I think I’m ready for a woman who challenges me, a woman who can make me laugh.”
“And how do you rate intelligence?”
“To be honest, I’d love to meet a woman who’s smarter than me, but I don’t know any.”
She smacked my arm and brought her hand back to her lap.
“So what do you do, Lucy?”
“I’m a hairstylist.”
I nodded.
“You?”
“I’m a physical therapist,” I said.
“How did a meathead like you get into something like that?”
“Well, I was a meathead first,” I said. “But I got injured playing rugby and had to quit at the height of my game.”
“That sucks.”
“Yeah, I really only have one friend who hasn’t treated me like a total disappointment since it happened.”
“Oh?”
I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. “She’s always been there for me. Sometimes I feel like I’ll never be able to pay her back for supporting me over the years.”
“I’m sure your friendship is more than enough payback for her.”
“Well, it’s not enough for me. Not anymore. I’m going to do something big for her one of these days.”
“Why not anymore?”
“You like The Beatles?”
“Is Brian O’Driscoll the greatest Rugby player of all time?”
I smiled. “You know that song by George Harrison-”
“Which one?”
“I think it’s called Something.”
Her eyes grew wide and she swallowed.
“Do you know it?”
She nodded. “That’s a beautiful song.”
“Well, I don’t know if you’re familiar with the lyrics or-”
“I am.”
“Well, that’s how I feel about my friend.”
“Shit.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
I pulled up in the semicircular driveway at the base of the shiny sky rise.
“Is this it?”
“Yep.”
One of the valets stepped off the curb and opened the door for Lucy while I slipped my keys into another’s gloved hand. When I joined her on the sidewalk, she looked a little pale.
“You okay?” I asked, sliding my hand across the small of her back.
She looked up at me and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”
When the elevator finally came, I stepped in after her and felt a strange tension in the air between us. I knew she took her song lyrics seriously, but I hadn’t meant to freak her out. I was only trying to put her at ease so she knew I hadn’t just brought her on a date because I wanted to fuck her. This was about more than that for me.
Sure, I wanted to make her wetter than she’d ever been, to inflict so much pleasure on her little body she had to fight back the tears. But I also wanted to spoil her, to see if I could make her feel as rich as her friendship had always made me feel.
“Ta da,” I said when the doors opened.
“Wow,” she said, stepping off the elevator. “What a gorgeous place.”
The roof was covered in light wood furniture, and thin white drapes hung strategically between the tables, creating the illusion of privacy between them and shielding the diners from the breeze off the lake. But the curtains were barely noticeable once I saw the stunning view of the city from so high up.
I stepped up to the podium and smiled at the hostess. “Good evening,” I said. “Reservation for Aiden Briggs.”
“Right this way,” the woman said, sliding two menus from a stack beside her.
I gestured to Lucy to lead the way, watching her short dress swoosh around her ass as I followed her to the table.
Before taking a seat along the restaurant’s perimeter, Lucy made a beeline for the edge of the roof. The sight of the gentle wind blowing her hair and her skirt while she stood in front of the city skyline put a lump in my throat.
I stepped up beside her. “What do you think?”
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to impress me.”
“And if I was?”
She smiled at me, her eyes forming little crescents. “It’s working.”
I lifted a hand and pushed some hair out of her eyes. At first I thought I was going to say something clever or witty, but when I realized I just wanted to kiss her again, I took a step back. As much as I wanted to feel her lips against mine- her body against mine- I wasn’t going to be feeling anything if I scared her off again.
“I can’t wait to check out the menu,” she said, almost as if she was sensing my anxiety.
I stepped over and pulled her chair out. “I just hope there will be something you’ll like.”
“Thanks,” she said, squatting down so I could push the chair back in.
“And if there’s not-” I said, walking around to the seat across from her, “we can always go back to my place and make nachos.”
She laughed. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
I fixed my eyes on her. “I’d love it.”