“Because I’m not used to having no control.” His answer clipped my sentence. He let his arms drop back to his sides as he stared intensely at me. “I need to feel like I still have some kind of restraint left.”
I touched my stretched, wrinkled neckline, my thighs hot as they pressed together. “Why?”
“Because I’ve already abandoned most of my rules around you,” he laughed quietly, shaking his head. “You have to let me keep at least one so I know that I’m not spiraling completely out of control here. I want to. I know I could. Just taking one look at you makes me feel like I could. But I need to know that I still have a shred of discipline, even if it’s just for myself.” Slowly, he closed the gap between us and touched my cheek again, brushing a soft kiss against my lips. “I’m going to have you, Nina. I need to. But before I do, you need to let me treat you right.”
I swallowed my protest. “Okay.” My fingers clasped behind his neck as his forehead rested against mine. “Then when do I get to see you for a second date?” I asked, managing a laugh amid my torment.
“I have a summer conference tomorrow and the day after. In Woodhill. Want to meet me there?” he grinned.
“Um, yes but no. Absolutely not.”
He touched the dimple in my cheek as I managed a smile. “Then I’ll meet you back out here in two days. I’m driving over the second I get out of that conference.”
“What time would that get you here?”
“Late.”
I raised my eyebrows suggestively, which made him laugh. “That works for me.”
CHAPTER 10
“Linh, why are you even dating this guy if it’s not to help Nina get dirt on how to get into his friend’s pants?” Adriana joked, tossing a cornichon at her.
“Stop throwing ingredients, Ade. We’re low on everything,” Em scolded.
It was 8AM and Em and I were scheduled to open the restaurant for brunch in an hour. But since Jenn had asked us to go in early to make peach puree for the bellinis, we’d invited Adriana and Linh to join us in the kitchen to basically offer girl advice and free labor. Or rather, we’d dropped by Linh’s Lower East Side apartment to drag them both out with us since Em knew that Adriana had crashed there the night before.
“Well, I’m dating Mike because, you know,” Linh shrugged, “I like him?”
“I know, sweetie,” Adriana sighed dreamily. She cast a playful look at Em. “So, like, should we do a coin toss to decide who gets Harry and who gets Marco? Because you know. Quadruple dates.”
“All four of those guys would sooner kill themselves than go on a quadruple date,” Em said.
I laughed. “Actually, that could be the solution. Go on a date with Daniel and a bunch of other people so I’m not tempted to jump his bones the second I see him.”
“Were you ever like this with Ben?” Linh asked curiously.
I barely had to think about it. “No. I did find him very attractive but I…” My shoulders slumped as I cut a lemon in half. “I know that I was half blinded by all the sparkly dinners and dresses. And my mom being in my ear, telling me that Bens were hard to find and I had to ‘hold onto this one.’” I shook my head, trying to laugh at myself. “I was so stupid.”
“You were eighteen. Any of us would’ve been sucked into that,” Em said. She glanced at Adriana, who glanced at the ceiling. “Well, except one of us. She prefers her frozen margaritas and cheap booty shorts.”
“You know me too well.” Adriana blew her a kiss.
“Anyway, let’s stop talking about this psycho,” Em said, shaking lemon pulp from her fingers. “Maybe change the subject to the other crazy person in your life.”
“Who?” I asked with a frown.
“Kelsey.”
“Em!” Linh and I scolded.
“I’m sorry! But come on, she went from zero to sixty weird that night,” Em protested, Adriana nodding in agreement. “Or maybe around twenty to sixty, since she’s always been prone to those moods. Is she at least normal-ish again?”
“I have no ide
a. She’s been in Woodhill since that night and she hasn’t texted me.”
“Yikes.”