I swallowed hard and tried to pull myself together. “I don’t have much self-control when it comes to you,” I admitted, showing her my weakness.
“I beg to differ.” She lifted one brow in disbelief.
“I want you. I’ve dreamed about this moment, but it was never like this.”
I glanced around us at the nearly empty parking lot and the orange glow of the streetlights. Then I closed the space between us, not wanting her to mistake my meaning, or my desire for her.
“Our first time isn’t happening in a parking lot. I don’t care if it is my favorite restaurant.” I took her hand and kissed it, like I always seemed to do with her. “Plus, it’s only our first date. I don’t think sex is supposed to happen until date three.” I gave her a cocky grin, and she laughed.
“Who made up that stupid rule, anyway?”
“I think you women did.”
She shook her head. “That’s definitely something a man would do.” Mimicking a man’s voice, she said, “It’s been three whole dates. I’ve paid my dues, put in enough time. I’ll die if I go one more date without having sex.”
“We definitely start dying if we have to go longer than three dates,” I said jokingly, and she shook her head in mock disgust. “Honestly, though, I don’t care if it’s on date three or date fifty-three. I’ll wait however long you want.”
Her eyes widened. “You mean that?”
She was so serious, I almost felt bad for women for having to deal with us men and our excuses for our penises. But then I remembered that women were a little crazy, so I considered us even.
“Of course I do.”
“Such a gentleman.”
“I am, but my dick’s another story. He might start crying if we really wait until date fifty-three.”
Claudia grinned up at me. “Aw, I wouldn’t want to make your dick cry. No longer than date fifty, for sure.” She patted my chest and I grabbed her hand, keeping her close.
“I’d wait forever if you wanted me to. I don’t want that part to be a joke. I mean it, okay? We don’t have to rush anything,” I said sincerely.
She tugged her hand from mine and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me down to her waiting lips. “Thank you,” she whispered before kissing me.
I soaked in the perfection of the moment, wondering if it would always be this good.
“I should probably get back to the bar and close up. If Ryan even looks at the books, I’ll be fixing that mess for days.”
She giggled as she nodded. “I can see that.”
“Come on. I’ll take you home,” I said and reached for her hand.
When we got to my bike, she grabbed her helmet and tugged it on, fastening the chin strap as she asked, “Do you know where I live?”
“No.”
It was hard to hear anything when you were on the bike other than the roar of the engine and the machine cutting through the wind, and asking her for directions while we rode would be close to impossible. So I pulled out my phone and opened the map application, then handed it to her so she could enter her address. When the directions loaded, I made sure her helmet was fastened securely and enjoyed the feel of her body pressed tightly against my back as we headed back down the Pacific Coast Highway and toward her apartment.
While Claudia and Britney technically lived in Venice Beach, they were right on the border of Marina del Rey. I’d had no idea how close she lived to me this entire time. I could have walked over to her apartment every night if I wanted to. It was probably a good thing I hadn’t known before now.
I pulled the bike to a stop and waited. Claudia maneuvered her leg around my back and hopped off before I turned off the bike and followed. After removing her helmet, she shook out her long, dark hair and ran her fingers through it with a grimace.
“It’s a little tangled.”
“Sorry about that.”
“It’s not your fault,” she said, then gave me a teasing look. “Well, maybe technically it is.”
“Is that so?” I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. “Thank you for coming tonight.”