Page 168 of The Moment You Know

He pushed his plate away and leaned toward her. “I appreciate your concern. I really do, but I don’t want you to worry about hurting me because that’s not going to happen.”

Paige shook her head. “You can’t know that.”

“Yes, I can. Just like I know we’re not going to fail.”

“You can’t know that, either,” she sputtered.

“Again, yes, I can. You know why? Because we’re not going to quit until we succeed, that’s why. ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again’. That’ll be our motto.”

Pushing her untouched plate away as well, she leaned toward him, searching his face very carefully for any sign of mental illness. “So, you’re proposing we have sex as many times as it takes to ‘succeed’? That if I don’t like sex the first time, or the second time, or the fiftieth time, we just keep going?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. I don’t care how long it takes, Paige. This is important to me.”

“Why?”

“Because if anyone should get to share your sexual ‘awakening’ with you, it should be me,” he answered evenly. “I want that privilege.”

After letting that settle for a minute, she asked, “What would happen afterwards?”

“I don’t know. I guess you send me a giant gift basket or something? The kind with assorted muffins are my favorite.”

Paige gave him an exasperated look. “Will you take this seriously?”

“What makes you think I’m not?”

“Oh, I don’t know, because you’re suggesting I send you a basket of muffins after we have sex?”

David could see she was a little overwhelmed, so he reached over and took her right hand. “We’re friends, right?”

After a brief pause, she said, “Right.”

“Well, I think we’re better friends than we were before, to be honest. And we have a stronger bond now, too, so after everything is said and done—so to speak—you and I are going to be just fine. Better than fine.”

“You really think so? You think that’s possible?”

“I do,” he insisted. “I wouldn’t be suggesting any of this if I thought otherwise. The last thing I want is for either one of us to get hurt.”

Then, as if they hadn’t just had the strangest fucking conversation ever, he got up from the table to get them each a piece of tiramisu, even though she hadn’t eaten any of her dinner. When he returned to the table, Paige watched him eat the dessert with appreciation, and then after getting the green light, started in on hers.

After he was finished, David then surprised her by not staying and continuing to make his case for them having sex, which she appreciated. In turn, Paige surprised him by packing up almost all of the leftovers for him to take home, minus what she saved for Dolly, and walking him to her door. Instead of a repeat of the other night’s make-out session, David pulled her in for a one-armed hug and gently kissed her temple; when he pulled away, she told herself she wasn’t disappointed.

“Think about it,” he said.

“I will.”

“But don’t overthink it,” he added.

“I won’t.”

“Good night, Paige.”

“Good night, David.”

He opened the door slowly and to her amusement, scanned the hall, ostensibly looking for any sign of Mrs. Harte, before deeming it safe to leave. Paige watched him, much like she had the other night, until he was out of sight, before closing the door.

Then, in a bit of a daze, she wandered back to her kitchen and sat down, poured herself another glass of wine, and finished off her cold spaghetti. When she felt somewhat fortified, she picked up her phone and called Jules.

“Please tell me you weren’t still at work when I called earlier,” Jules said upon answering.

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