"My Mom mentioned a former coworker who had won a few hundred dollars in the lottery. A few minutes later, Nana whispered something about, ‘You'll never win the game if you don't really play’."
He chuckled. "That's just good advice. You can't dream of winning if you don't buy a ticket once in a while."
"Yes – that's exactly what my mother thought. So she went out that day to buy a ticket and won a thousand dollars."
Eric pursed his lips, drumming
his fingers on the tabletop. "That could be considered good luck, not really a curse or a prophecy."
"Okay. There was one time Nana whispered, ‘Stay ahead of the curve, because the darkness is coming.’ My sister Eva was doing a paper on some programming curve thing. She’s really into software tech, I didn’t understand it. Because of Nana’s whispers, she raced to finish her paper before the power went out in a storm that night.”
I glanced at Eric. “She would have failed if she didn’t get that assignment in on time, and the wifi doesn’t work when the power is out.”
Eric turned, taking both of my hands in his. "Are you afraid that if you date someone who could technically be thought of as the devil, that something bad will happen to me?"
I nodded seriously, squeezing his hands.
"I don't want to go through life with you thinking there is some shadow of dread hanging over us," he said. “I don't want you to be scared of what we have."
His deep eyes locked onto mine. "You feel this, don't you, Eden? This isn't a fling. We're good for each other. We’re right for each other."
I swallowed hard so my throat wouldn't close. I knew he was right, and I wasn't sure why I was becoming tearful again. “I was so sure during the last relationship, even though all evidence pointed to it being a disaster. Now that everything looks incredible, absolutely too good to be true, I don't know what I would do if this fell apart." I had to tear my eyes away from his. "It's all too much."
Eric slipped his arm around me, sliding his chair closer so I could lean into his shoulder. "I know I'm supposed to be the big strong man here, with all of the answers, but I'm going to tell you a secret." He turned to the coffee cup. "Should I tell her? Will she think I'm being a wuss?” He nodded. "Okay."
I laughed, shaking against him.
"Eden," he said, stroking my hair gently, "I'm scared too. I've never dated anyone for more than a few weeks, maybe a month or two. I've never had feelings anywhere close to what I feel for you. This is all brand new territory. Uncharted waters.”
He rocked me gently, making me feel safe and warm, as if we were the only two people in the world. "Baby, what if we just dated for a while? No getting into bed. Even though these gigantic feelings I have for you are very serious, perhaps we could just stick to the light side for a while. You could come over for a movie. I can go to your place and make you dinner. Little dates, and normal conversations."
I nodded. "That sounds extremely logical."
His thick arms tightened around me. "Of course we have to be logical. This is a very important business meeting. Our relationship is the most important project I have on my plate right now."
Giggling, I said, "I would love to see you in a board meeting. Honestly, I can't imagine you being serious for twenty straight minutes. Do you start talking to inanimate objects when there are grownups around?"
He waggled his eyebrows. "Maybe you'll never know."
"Seriously, I can't even picture you in an office."
"It's only a few blocks away. Would you like to see it? The view from the fifty-first floor is pretty spectacular."
"Wow." I sat up straight and drank the last sip of my coffee. "Sure, a walk together would be nice."
Eric grinned, looking extremely relieved.
As we stood up and I grabbed my purse, I asked, "Were the results of this meeting satisfactory?"
He tucked my hair back behind both ears, holding the sides of my face as he gently kissed my forehead. "Absolutely. We are still in negotiations. Everything is still on the table. We are switching locations and having a field trip to check out a new site. These are all excellent things."
He took my hand as we walked out of the café. "Plus, the elevator is really fast. I'm secretly hoping that you'll get a bit frightened and grab me inappropriately."
I giggled like crazy, secretly hoping that he wasn’t kidding.
~ Chapter 14 ~ Eric ~
* Building *