Page 32 of Forever Fascinating

“Maybe?” he began openly, watching her. “I’m asking you to talk with me, email me, and let’s plan on seeing each other again in the future – because I don’t date around either.”

“You don’t?” she whispered, feeling her heart contract in her chest.

“No,” he smiled softly, his thumb rubbing across her knuckles. “I’m glad we think alike. I’m kinda hoping that we could be dating, because I would really like to get to know you better, too.”

“Take things slow, talk, and we can just see about meeting again,” she repeated, seeing his tender glance, moments before he pulled her hand to his lips, kissing it.

“I would really like that,” he admitted – and then smiled widely, sniffing her hand, before pretending to playfully bite her fingers. “And you smell like steak, butter, and…”

“Oh you!” she hissed, immediately pulling her hand from his as he laughed, before she began chuckling in embarrassment. He turned to look at her, smiling, and nodded.

“I like you a lot,” he smiled shyly, picking up his fork and knife. “Let’s finish eating and maybe we can dance together for a little bit before we head back home.”

* * *

Thirty minutes later,Matthew was swaying with her on the dance floor as they listened to the music play. It might have been a live band but apparently, they were taking requests and playing several slow songs tonight.

She adored the feeling of laying her head on his shoulder, the way his hands lay on her lower back, and feeling him set his cheek on her hair, as if he treasured this feeling, too.

“Are you as uncomfortably full as I am?” she asked quietly, and felt him laugh in her arms.

“Miserably so,” he admitted against her hair. “I’m surprised that I haven’t popped a seam in my khakis, and it’s like everything expanded in my stomach.”

“Same here,” she admitted, laughing softly before sighing heavily.

“That’s part of the reason I keep dancing with you,” he admitted. “I’m so full I don’t think I can sit down yet.”

“That’s only part of the reason?” she prompted instantly, feeling curious.

“That,” he began, hesitating as he spoke against her hair, so she could hear him, “and I’m not ready to say goodbye yet.”

Jana felt her throat suddenly close off as she nodded in silent understanding. This had all been so nice, so easy, and so unexpectedly perfect that she wasn’t ready for their evening to end either.

Sure, she still needed to pack all her stuff for her flight tomorrow, plus she didn’t want to leave Karen’s apartment a complete disaster while the newlyweds were out of town on their honeymoon.

Karen had been nice enough to leave keys with her and Emily – and would get the keys from her sister once she returned in a few days.

An hour and a half later, they were both driving back towards Yonder, somber. They tried to hold a few conversations, but there was definitely a miasma in the air as the end of their date was coming to a close.

It was getting late, and Jana had called an end to their evening, knowing what all she still needed to do before tomorrow.

Pulling up in front of Alpo and Glory’s house, she hesitated, feeling extremely awkward and wondering if she should walk him to the door. Was he going to expect some sort of kiss, especially after talking about dating and such?

“Give me your phone,” she said abruptly and held it out so he could see what she was doing. “Here’s how you text a photo,” she began – opening the kaleidoscope flower app icon, revealing their photos – and one or two more of him that she’d taken.

“I promise I’m smart enough to figure it out,” he chuckled nervously, looking embarrassed at having to be taught. “I just haven’t played with it much and probably won’t use it a whole lot in Ghazni. We don’t get reception on the base.”

“You should download a few games, so you can kill some time, before you go,” she offered, going immediately to the app store. “Do you like bubble games, word finds, jigsaw puzzles, or…”

Her breath seized in her chest and the words stopped coming. She wasn’t ready to do this, nor did she want the evening to be over. It was crazy to think how wonderful and easy this felt today… and it was going to all disappear in the blink of an eye.

“Jana…” he began, his voice achingly soft. “I’m going to miss you, too.”

“I don’t really want to do this,” she whispered, afraid to look at him. “Let me put a few games on here for you and I’m going to text myself the photos, so I have them. Which one is your favorite?”

“My favorite?”

“Your favorite photo?” she prompted.

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