I want to put my hand on her thigh again, but I don’t know if that counts as pushing my luck. I already feel like I’m being bolder than I should be, being alone with her like this.
“Are you doing okay?” I ask, wanting to coax some conversation out of her.
She sniffles quietly.
“Yeah, I guess it’s just been a rough night. I just can’t wait to get home.” Her eyes widen at her words. “But you’ve been really great company, and I can’t thank you enough for what you did for me tonight. No one else would have done something like that for me.”
It’s so sad, knowing that everyone in her life seems to let her down.
I wish she could see that she’s not the problem. I wish she knew that she deserves so much better. I finally settle my hand on her leg, unable to stop myself. I want to touch her, to comfort her, to let her know where I stand.
“I’m sorry that your friend let you down. And that the asshole at the bar made you feel less than you are. You should feel special every single day, Macy. I’ve never met a woman like you before.”
Macy blushes. “I’m sure that’s not true. I’m just an ordinary girl. There’s nothing special about me.”
“To me, there is,” I growl, squeezing her thigh. I keep one eye on the road, but I can’t fully look away from her. She’s too damn beautiful. “The moment you got in my car…everything shifted for me, Macy. I saw a beautiful girl with such sadness inside her, and I want to be the one to change that. I know this is crazy. I only met you a short while ago. But something tells me I need to know you. That I need to have you in my life. If you’ll let me, I’d like to take you out to dinner tomorrow night. I want to show you how a woman like you deserves to be treated. I want you to know what it’s like to have a date with a real man. Is that too forward?”
She looks a little shocked, but after a moment, she shakes her head. “No…I…I mean, I’m surprised that you want to, but I’d love to go to dinner with you, Tate. That’s so nice of you.”
I offer her a smile. “I’ve been thinking about asking you since we met earlier,” I tell her. “It would be my honor. Hopefully, we can forget about everything that happened tonight and I can show you a good time.”
“I think that sounds amazing.”
I can’t help feeling incredible at her response.
I’ve always had my fair share of attention from women, but she’s not just any woman. She’s the one woman who has managed to bring out these feelings in me that have been buried for so long.
She’s released the beast from its cage, and there’s no turning back now. Her beauty is enough to make me want to ravish her body right here, right now, over and over again. I never thought when I got into my car earlier that I was about to meet the woman of my dreams. Now, she’s agreed to go for dinner with me, and I only have twenty-four hours to wait before my life truly begins.
She directs me the rest of the way back to her home, and we stop outside a small block of old apartments. She’s clearly just starting out in life, finding her feet, but all I want to do is get her out of this place and take her home with me. She deserves to live a life of luxury, to have everything she wants. I’d give her everything I have just to make her smile. I may not be the richest man alive, but I feel it with her next to me, and now, what’s mine belongs to her as far as I’m concerned. I’m ready to make her a part of my life.
But first, a first date.
“Thank you for bringing me home,” she says gently. “If you pass me your phone I’ll key in my number.”
I wait patiently while she inputs her number into my phone. Her hands shaking slightly.
This clearly means as much to her as it does to me. As she hands the phone over to me, our hands brush and I feel an electric spark. I groan quietly. Every instinct inside me is telling me to grab her, rip off her clothes and take her right here. Make her mine. But she’s had quite the night already. If I want this…and fuck, do I want it, I need to try and be a little patient. Even if it’s killing me.
“Goodnight,” she says shyly as she opens the car door.
“Sleep well, beautiful. I’ll pick you up tomorrow evening,” I tell her firmly, leaving no doubt I will be back for her.