“Great.” I feel so frigging stupid.
“Look.” He’s still got his hands on my hips. “I really wanted to talk, but once we got in here, all I wanted to do was kiss you.”
“Oh.” Should I be falling for all of this? His lines?
“Yeah. Oh” He chuckles. “I’m sorry I dry-humped you in the archives.” He looks remorseful.
That’swhat dry-humping is?
“Can we talk about Saturday night?” he asks softly. “I’m telling you the truth. Cody will vouch for me.”
Of course he would; he’s his friend.
“Cody won’t lie for me, if that’s what that look on your pretty face is telling me.”
“I believe you.”
“You do?”
I nod. I’m still not so thrilled about any of this. “You said you’d call on Sunday….”
His face is unreadable. All he’s doing is blinking. Then—“Shit.” Lowering his head, he rests his forehead on mine. “I forgot. I had practice, then homework….”
“I understand.” I do. I really do. I get busy.
“I thought about you all day. Hell, for the last three and a half days.”
Okaaay. What am I supposed to do with that information?
“Youcould have calledme.”
I quickly shake that suggestion off. “No. You said you were going to callme.” The ball was in his court as far as I was concerned.
“You won’t call guys?” He’s looking at me like he’s sincerely asking.
“I––that’s not what I said.”
“Even after we dry-humped in the archives?” He chuckles again. “Will you call me after we did that?”
There’s a rush of heat on my cheeks. Hopefully it’s too dim in here for him to see. Doing my best not to sound nervous, I say, “It’s not that.”
“So, you’re a traditionalist?”
I don’t know what he means by that. “You said you’d call…” I sigh. “It’s just manners. It’s nothing to do with traditional or non-traditional or gender or equality. It’s just manners.” And even though my parents are poor as church mice, they’ve always thought manners and politeness were important. And kindness. That’s a big one.
“I get it.” Eli takes a half step back. “Manners.”
“Yep. Manners.”
“So, when I tell you I’m going to call, I need to call.”
“That’s the gist of it, yes.”
“Manners,” he says, then smiles. “Got it.”
“Good.”
“I’ll call you later.” He’s got his hands beneath my armpits, helping me down from the filing cabinet.
When I’ve got both feet on the ground, I’m a little unsteady. Righting myself, I place each of my hands on his arms. Looking up at him, I arch my brow at him. “You’d better.”
“I will.” He bends down to kiss my mouth softly. “I promise.”
