The lights went out in the theater, and I was drawn to Scott like a magnet. It was a good thing this theater had arm rests between us because it was the only thing keeping me from retrying that kiss. I couldn’t concentrate on the movie. Several times theaudience would laugh, and I had to refocus. The only thing that caught and kept my attention was Scott. Scott brought my hand to his lips, and I felt his warm mouth press into the back of my hand. Scott must have been thinking about our kiss too. I was attracted to him the moment I met him in the corn maze, but it was much stronger now. The bands around my heart were loosening.
Was this okay?It was safer because it was short-term, but that didn’t mean it would break my heart any less when it ended. I reminded myself that this was for fun, and I shouldn’t get attached.
At the end, the lights turned on and Scott leaned in closer. “Did you like it?”
I grinned. “What? The movie?”
He laughed and nodded. Shoot, what was I supposed to say? Did he like it? I shrugged and was honest. “I don’t know what happened. I kept getting distracted.”
He chuckled and raised my hand to his lips and brushed a kiss along the back, causing my arm to erupt in goosebumps. “Me too.”
Whew, I was playing with fire. Hot, hot fire. He grinned. We stood to leave the theater, but I didn’t drop his hand. It was awkward to walk out of the row with my arm twisted behind me. I relaxed my grip to drop his hand, but my hand stayed in his. I glanced over my shoulder as I shuffled through chairs. Scott was watching me, his eyes still stormy. My foot caught on the chair in front of me, and I pitched forward. In an instant, Scott’s arms were around my waist, pulling me back into his chest.
“You okay?” Concern etched on his face, and he leaned down and kissed my forehead. I shivered as his nose brushed against my neck. I cleared my throat.
“Yep, should just watch where I'm going.”
He chuckled, and I made it to the end of the aisle without further embarrassment.
“Dinner?”
“Sounds great.”
We went into a little cafe and ordered burgers, fries, and hot cocoa with whipped cream and cinnamon. I felt the heat rush to my cheeks.
“I did this way before I found out you smelled like cinnamon. It's the best.” I blanched.Why did I say that out loud? Ugh!I closed my eyes and tried to erase the moment.
He chuckled, and the server left with our orders.
“Cinnamon, huh?” The left side of his mouth turned up in a grin.
“Maybe.” I felt my cheeks turn bright red.
“I think you smell like green apples.”
That was my shampoo. I liked that he’d noticed.
“Tell me more about you.” I wanted to remember every piece of him so I could remember him when I left, or when he moved on. We wouldn’t last, but the memories could.
“What do you want to know?” Scott reached across the table and took my hand.
“Anything, everything?” I shrugged. With the trunk-or-treat over Halloween was on my mind. “How about a fun Halloween costume?”
Scott looked up at the ceiling in thought. “Once, when I was in second grade, I wanted to be a vampire for Halloween at school. Well, we didn’t have Halloween makeup, but mom promised her makeup was even better. She went and grabbed her makeup and put it all over my face. She was so happy and loved doing it, but I was wearing my mom’s makeup . . . to school . . .” Scott smiled and shook his head. “I was so embarrassed, I knew that the kids were going to tell. I hid most of recess so my class wouldn’t know I was wearing women's makeup. Later that day, I got a big prize for being the most mysterious vampire. I guess they all thought I was in character, hiding in the corner with my cape.”
I could picture him huddled in the corner with his cape drawn around him. We both laughed so much we cried. The rest of thenight we shared stories of growing up, mostly silly ones, but some of the hard things too. I brought up London, and what I wanted to see. The drive home went by too fast, and I realized I had spent five hours with Scott, but it felt like only minutes.
I was falling for him. He was charming. He was strong, but soft in all the right ways. My heart beat like I was on the edge of something scary and I didn’t know if I wanted to run toward it or far, far away.
Scott walked me to the front door after the date. We’d held hands the whole night, and I wasn’t in any hurry to drop his. I wondered if I could ever let go. The thought sent chills through me. At the front door, his stormy eyes searched mine before they stared at my lips. He was going to kiss me once more.
Was I ready for this? Did I want to be more than friends? This kiss would differ from before, not a quick moment of joy, but the start of something.
Scott bent to me, searching my eyes for permission. I knew what way I wanted to fall. I wanted to fall into Scott. Into his safe arms. Into his serious side and his goofy one too.
It wouldn’t work. We were both leaving. My thoughts screamed in protest.
Ugh. No planning. Just falling. I reminded myself I didn’t like plans anyway.
