Page 40 of Creep

Minutes ticked by, and I tried to distract myself by fiddling with the radio, but my eyes kept drifting back to Mael. There was no distraction great enough for me to ignore him. He seemed to take up all the energy in any space he occupied. Before I knew it, he was lowering my car back down and stowing the equipment in his trunk.

He approached the driver's side window, and I rolled it down, thankful for the gust of cold air rushing in. I needed that, and I hoped my face wasn’t too red or gave away too many of my thoughts.

“All set,” he said, his deep voice sending a wave of goose bumps to rise on my skin and a pulsating pounding on my clit.

I shifted on the seat.

Dammit, get control of yourself.

I nodded. “Thank you.”

He smiled, the light from the car showing me his face clearly for the first time. He had a dimple. It was small and only on one side of his cheek, but it was there. Hell. Who knew a dimple could ruin me?

“How about a date?”

I shot him a look. “You’re going to make me go on a date with you for helping me with my flat tire?”

“Not gonna make you, baby. But perhaps you might feel sorry for me enough to say yes.”

I bit my bottom lip to keep from smiling.

His eyes brightened. He knew he had me right where he wanted.

I didn’t even know anything about him. Just his name. Shouldn’t I know more before I decide to go on a date with him?

“How old are you?” I asked, instead of giving him the answer we both knew I would eventually give.

He looked like he was holding back a smile when he answered, “Twenty-nine.”

Twenty-nine. Just two years older than me. It wasn’t much, but I had thought he was much older. It was his eyes, I decided.

He looked like he had seen a lot. Way more than any man in his late-twenties should have seen.

“Would you like to see my ID for my address and date of birth? See if I’m an organ donor or not? Or would you like to know where I was born?” he teased.

I narrowed my eyes on him over his playful words.

“No need. I would probably find out later.”

“Yeah? So that’s a yes to the date?” His eyes brightened. Had anyone ever looked so happy simply because I had agreed to a date with him? That shouldn’t have made me feel good, but it did.

“Okay,” I said softly. His smile widened, causing my heart to race. I hoped I wouldn’t end up regretting this.

Besides, it was just one date. What could possibly happen?

* * *

I had just finished gettingready for bed when my phone pinged with a text. I grabbed it from the nightstand and lay down on the bed, looking at the screen.

It felt like the fluttering of butterfly wings brushing up around my insides as I took in Mael’s name on the screen.

Mael:What are you doing?

I thought about it before I texted him. It wasn’t a hard question by any means, but my relationship with him felt anything but simple.

Me:Just getting ready for bed.

The three little dots appeared, telling me he was texting me back. My heart felt like it was about to drop to the mattress when my phone vibrated in my hand.

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