Page 3 of Charmed and Alarmed

I swallow, heart thudding heavily. “Do you want a ride?”

She spins around, a look of surprise flashing across her features, and for a moment, we just look at each other.

“What happened to your date?”

You.

I force myself to smirk. “Not my type.” My car appears before the valet stand, and the driver gets out, rounding the hood to pass me the keys. I hand the man a tip, thanking him quietly, but still, I don’t move. “A rideshare is going to take forever. Let me drive you home.”

Unbidden, the image of Lenora in my house appears in my mind’s eye, her fingers working to open the buttons of her coat. I would step closer, curling my hand around her neck, watching her expression turn from surprise to desire…

The icy wind carries down the street, and she shivers, pulling her coat closer.

“Okay.”

I’m careful to keep my expression light and amused, not allowing her to see how much this development excites me as I open the passenger side door for her. There isn’t anything to be excited about. I’m going to give her a ride home, that’s all. She’s my partner’s daughter, and I can’t leave her standing alone on a cold street.

Just because I’m attracted to her, doesn’t mean I have to fuck her. That might be a foreign concept to me, but I do have some boundaries. Or, at least, a strong sense of self-preservation.

“Thank you,” she tells me graciously, gazing over at me through the dim light cast by the dashboard as I get into the driver’s seat. “There was a forty-minute wait, and I’m pretty attached to my extremities.”

“Of course.” I fasten my seatbelt and move to put the car in drive, but pause. “Am I taking you to Bram’s, or?—”

Leni silences this question with a withering look. “Honor’s place. She’s across from that Italian restaurant, Boca. I’d rather not risk hearing anything I can’t unhear at Dad’s.”

Considering the fact that her father is in a brand-new relationship with a beautiful woman who is half his age and for whom he was pining for over a year, I would say the probability of Leni overhearing something unfortunate is rather high. “Fair enough.”

She leans back in her seat, crossing her legs as I pull away from the curb, heading across town toward work. “I have to say, you’re not high on the list of people I would expect to run into at a bar on New Year’s Eve.”

Is she calling me old? “I go out,” I protest, resisting the urge to turn and look at her as we stop at a light.

“Yeah, to gallery openings and restaurants that serve tiny portions with unpronounceable names. Not mingling with the unwashed masses at a place where you have to get a stamp on your hand to enter.”

“It wasn’t my idea,” I confess, not quite sure why I’m so reluctant to admit she’s correct. “You’re leaving early too. Does that mean you’d rather not mingle with the unwashed masses, either?”

Her delighted laugh makes the whole car warmer, and I tug at the top button of my coat, feeling the weight of her gaze on me. “If you must know, I was duped into attending. Craig, the guy from the band? He’s one of my roommate’s brothers. When he told me he played bass, I was picturing upright classical, not mediocre electric.”

It’s my turn to laugh, indecently pleased that it doesn’t seem likely Craig will be getting a second shot. “The venue wasn’t a tip-off?”

“He picked me up!”

“I bet gallery shows and restaurants that serve tiny portions with unpronounceable names don’t sound so bad right about now.” Leni’s answering giggle fills the car, and as we stop at another light, I can’t help looking over at her.

Our eyes meet through the darkness.

We both look away. Christ, she’s fucking beautiful. Stunning, even. As grim as it is to admit it, somewhere along the way, sex became routine. I can’t remember the last time the thought of being intimate with a woman was truly exciting, and I’m not sure whether it’s the forbidden element of this, or she really does affect me so strongly, butfuck…

Instinctively, I know she’s interested too.

Would it be so terrible to fuck her? Just once? We’re both consenting adults, and Leni doesn’t seem like the type to get attached. I’m confident we could go our separate ways with one immensely satisfying night to remember each other by, and never talk about it again.

Bram would never have to know.

My heart is beating faster as I double-park outside the darkened Italian restaurant she mentioned. I’ve been here before, but never paid any mind to the large, brick apartment building across the street.

Leni doesn’t move. “Thank you for the ride. I’m sorry your date didn’t work out.”

“I’m sorry yours didn’t either.”

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