Chasing Love (Dark Love 1)

He leans in further, and whispers, “If I greeted you the way I want to, we would be kicked out and arrested for indecent behavior.”

“Oh, c’mon, let’s try that,” I taunt him, playfully. “YOLO.”

“Eric is warping your mind.”

“I know. It was his word of the week last week, but let’s get back to you taking me on the table—”

“Don’t tempt me.”

Pulling away, he grabs the menu. I do the same, covering my smile as his words linger. Damn, I’m all kinds of hot and bothered now. Why do we have to eat? Given that I haven’t seen him in a week, we should’ve had dinner at my place followed by him taking me on all fours.

Enzo’s is a small restaurant in Little Italy. It’s a traditional Italian trattoria with checkered tablecloths adorning the small tables. Candles are lit, and soft piano music plays in the background. The waiter has a very authentic thick, curly mustache and plays the perfect part of the Italian host.

“I’ll have a Budweiser and the lovely Charlie will have…”

“A Margarita, please. What can I say? I’m a sucker for punishment.”

Julian smiles with a slack expression, stroking my hand with the tip of his finger so effortlessly. My insides are doing a happy dance, missing his simple touch and how he makes me feel with just one smile.

As for the Margarita, it’s all fun and games now, but wait until I wake up in the morning with a splitting headache. It’s all about pacing myself. I can do this.

We finish our first round of drinks before our meals arrive. Once again, our conversation steers toward the past. Julian grew up in a small town in North Carolina with his mother and sister. His dad left when Julian was three, and he never saw him again. He went to Harvard where he studied journalism, then met Serena, his girlfriend at the time. He thought she was the love of his life, but she changed colleges, and they couldn’t do the long-distance thing.

“Have you thought about contacting her?” I ask him, curious, “Or should I say social media stalk her?”

“I did think about contacting her for a while, but I moved here, and well, life became hectic. I heard from a friend that she’s in Boston, but I think the book’s closed on that one. If it were meant to be, we’d have worked it out back then.”

He lays his hand on mine, again, gently caressing while he seductively stares into my eyes. My body starts to tingle all over, sex goosebumps as I like to call them. It has definitely been a while since someone made me feel this way. My mind is going crazy wondering if it would be too slutty of me to say, “Hey, let’s skip dinner and ‘do it like they do on the Discovery Channel.’”

I’ve been spending way too much time around Eric.

“Enough about me,” he says, thanking the waiter with a smile as the food is served. “What about you?”

“I believe I have one get-out-of-jail-free card?”

“Yes, and I believe you used it last weekend.”

“Oh, that’s right… when you fucked me in your bed. Oh no, wait, was that the time against the wall? No, my bad, it was when you did me on your kitchen counter,” I tease in my sexiest voice as I run my foot up his leg.

“Nice segue, but you ain’t getting out of this. I want to know more about you, Charlie.”

With a small pout, I give in, noting to keep the information to the bare minimum. “Well, I told you I grew up in Carmel…”

“I honestly never figured you for a California girl. Why did I think you were from Phoenix?”

“I don’t know. Why, don’t I look like I’m from California? Because I’m not wearing Daisy Dukes with a bikini top?”

“Carry on, smart-ass.”

“I went to Carmel High. My dad was a truck driver, so he was on the road a lot. It was just my mom, my older sister, and lil’ old me until my sister left to go backpacking through Europe when I was fourteen. Mom and Dad split up when I was thirteen, then Mom moved back to Cuba to take care of my grandpa, who was really sick. The rest is just a drunken frat night Margarita haze before I landed here.”

“Somehow, I can’t imagine a drunken Charlie in college.”

“Why is that?”

“You’re just so… together. In complete control of your life and every aspect of it.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”