“That sounds good, but I think I’ll go with some kind of chicken tonight. Do you…”
I glanced up with a raised eyebrow. “Do I what?”
He looked sheepish, and as he spoke, his face turned redder and redder. “Do you like… sharing? Not like the whole meal, but maybe trying a bite or two of each other’s? Or do you not like it? I’m fine either way and won’t be offended or anything if you don’t want to trade bites, but I just thought that maybe—”
I cut him off before he gave himself a coronary. “I don’t mind sharing. Actually, that would be pretty great since I’ve never been here before. I’m definitely good with it.”
He blew out a long breath. “Okay, cool. I… uh… I thought I maybe messed up there for a second.”
On instinct, I reached across the table and placed my hand over his. This time, when we touched, it was without the layers of fabric between our hands, and the jolt my body received was even more intense than it’d been every other time. It was like a jolt of pleasure fluttered over my skin, starting at my hand and shooting its way up my arm and over my entire body.
I’d never felt anything like it. Ever.
And I… I wasn’t mad about it, either.
In fact, I kind of… liked it.
A lot.
A lot, a lot.
I took a breath and tried to center myself since I was supposed to be comforting him and not worrying about whether or not I’d feel that same sensation all over my body if we touched when we were naked.
Oh, Mother of All, now I was picturing him naked.
For fuck’s sake.
I closed my eyes, took a breath, and looked into Lanche’s eyes. “You don’t have to worry about messing up with me, okay? I know you’re nervous, but there’s really no reason to be. Tonight has been the best date I’ve ever been on. You could literally just sit there the rest of the night without saying a word, and it’ll still be the best.
“The only thing that could ruin it for me is if you suddenly have a personality replacement and start being mean to the waitstaff—which I know you would never do. You already thanked the hostess like three times since we’ve been here, so I know you’ll treat our waiter well.”
He stared at me for a long time, then flipped his hand over under mine and gave it a squeeze. “Thank you, Dain. And… no, I would never be cruel to the staff.”
I rolled my eyes with a huff. “I know that.”
I was going to pull away out of principle, but after thinking about it for a moment, I decided against it since I was actually enjoying holding his hand.
Perhaps a little too much…
But no one needed to know that.
Chapter Ten
Lanche
Dinner turned out to be fantastic.
And not just the food, although that was really good too, but it was the company.
Spending time with Dain was a dream come true.
When we finished eating dessert—we’d both wanted some, but for me, it was only because I’d wanted to spend more time with him—we walked to the car, gloved hand in gloved hand.
I wished we didn’t have the gloves on, but honestly, it was way too cold not to.
Well, way too cold for Dain. I could actually stay out in freezing temperatures without issue. I only wore winter clothes and accessories so I didn’t stand out among all the humans, witches, fae, and other humanoids in the city.
We reached the car, and I was reluctant to let him go, but he offered me a small smile before pulling away.
