For now.
“See, Aaron, I don’t really know you, do I?” I continued, admiring how his lightened brown hair fell into his eyes. “All I know about you, Mr. Connor, is that you were a very mean kid in high school. You all were.”
“I thought you didn’t want any more apologies,” Aaron said, a grin on his lips.
“No apology needed, just stating the facts.” I leaned forward on the table, hands crossed in front of me. “My point is, I don’t know the real you, who Aaron is now. How do I know what kind of company you may or may not be based on what I know of you in the past?”
“I think you’re too clever for your own good,” Aaron said, his eyes twinkling. “You always have been.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that once or twice.”
The server delivered our drinks, and when I took a sip of my Pina Colada, I was pleasantly surprised as the rum burned my tongue. “Now, that’s more like it.”
“Cheers to that.” Aaron raised his drink in the air as a toast, and I clinked with him. His cheeks were tinted red, which was adorable on this man, and even the ears poking through his mess of almond hair were tipped with red.
“I was enjoying this already,” I told him, allowing my body to relax with my mind. “Thanks for saying yes to my date.”
“Well, you know ...” he looked around awkwardly, blushing even harder, and it took everything I had in me not to laugh. “I figured you'd have said no after our first run-in if I had asked you.”
“I probably would have,” I admit, savoring the pineapple taste on my tongue. “After all, I like to take charge in a relationship.”
Aaron is silent as he watches me, eyes reading my face like an open book. This man could see straight into my soul and out the other side. He just has that depth to him.
“Wow,” he said after a moment, nodding his head. “You really are different, aren’t you?”
“Different how?”
“Confident. Secure with who you are. You’re nothing like the girl I remember from high school.”
I took another drink, licking my lips. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
“I think it’s a little bit of both,” Aaron said, shrugging. I keep my eyes on him, chewing on my bottom lip. I hadn’t exactly expected that.
“How is it bad?” I asked him. “Is it bad because I’m not such a loser anymore? Is it bad because I finally feel good in my own skin?”
“No, Renee, that’s not why it’s bad.”
I leaned forward until my face was only six inches from his, then I reached out a hand and placed it over his, squeezing. “Then why?”
“It was bad because there was nothing wrong with you, to begin with,” he said finally. “It’s bad because three jerk guys in high school made you feel like you weren’t good enough, forcing you to become an entirely different person. It’s bad because if you hadn’t changed a tiny thing about yourself, you would still be the woman you always were. The nerdy, super-intelligent, shy girl deserved the same kind of respect you still do now.”
I didn’t know if it was his words or how he said it, but for a moment that went on for far too long, I was speechless, and an intense emotion washed over me. He’s seen right through me, just as I expected he would. What I never realized, however, is precisely how much he understood.
Without thinking twice, I pulled my hand back from his and dropped it into my lap, clearing my throat. I was not about to cry in front of my date. Aaron seemed to sense something turning in me because he smiled kindly and stood up to excuse himself.
“I’m going to use the restroom. I’ll be back.”
I nodded and watched him go, a warm feeling spreading through my body and to the ends of my limbs. His words cut deep, but for the first time in a long time, the words didn’t cut to hurt me.
Feeling a bit sassier than I had been moments ago, I slide from my seat and cross the floor toward the restrooms. A fire is burning deep inside, smoldering, growing with every second passing. I wanted to hold Aaron, press my lips against his until we’re one person, a single entity combined as one.
Fanning myself, I leaned against the cut-off, private wall between the two washrooms just as Aaron emerged. He spotted me there and stopped dead, a smirk playing on his lips. I have my lip pulled between my teeth, teasing him, my shirt drawn down farther than before.
“Well, hello,” he said, coming towards me. Slyly, I turn my body towards the women’s restroom and push open the door, poking my head in without taking my eyes off Aaron.
“Is anyone here?” I called. “Somebody is trying to tow your car.” When no one answers, I take Aaron’s hand in mine and pull him in, locking the door behind us.
“What’s going on?” Aaron starts to ask, but I press my lips to him to shush him, fingers on my right hand working down towards the lump in his jeans that is growing steadily by the second.
