I felt her arms draping around my neck and pulled her into my lap. I reached for the white zipper on the front of her pajamas—pulling it down far enough to where I could see her red lace bra, and felt one of her hands fiddling with the button on my pants.
“Is this still considered slow?” she panted. “This is technically our third date, right?”
I can’t do this. Not now… I promised I wouldn’t hurt her…
I shook my head and zipped her pajamas back up. “I don’t think we should rush things.”
“You’re right,” she caught her breath. “Well, um…I really enjoyed dinner and Uno with you tonight.”
I stood up. “Me too. Do you need help cleaning up?”
“No, I think I’ll be okay. Thank you.”
I grabbed my jacket and kissed her on the cheek. “Good night Selena.”
“Good night Ethan.”
I stood at the elevator, contemplating whether I should turn back around and knock on her door, whether I should try to stay the night. But before I could make up my mind, the doors glided open.
I took my time driving home, looking away from Sweet Seasons and Autumn Wonder as I passed them.
I couldn’t believe I hadn’t put two and two together earlier. I should’ve asked if she was related to her Sweet Seasons lookalike. I should’ve known that was her mom who served me every afternoon, and I should’ve had my intern research her background further.
I tossed my keys on the floor and collapsed onto my bed. I didn’t want to think about anything, but images of Selena continued to loop through my brain.
She and I weren’t even serious. We were just starting to get to know each other, and although I wanted to tell her about my real occupation, something told me not to—not yet anyway.
I didn’t know if I was the only guy she was currently “dating,” and I was still undercover. I still had things to do for my board in Boston.
I reached for my iPod and hoped music would be all I needed to go to sleep. I scrolled down to Coldplay and heard my phone ring.
“Hello?” I answered without looking at the screen.
“You busy?”
Selena?
“I’m not,” I ripped the ear-buds from my ears. “What’s up? Is something wrong?”
“No, I just couldn’t sleep. I tried listening to my iPod but it’s not helping.”
Where is my checklist? There has to be something on there about crazy coincidences…
“Well, I hope you weren’t singing along with it. I’m sure that wouldn’t help you or your neighbors tonight.”
“Oh shut up! I’m not that bad!” she laughed. “Who is your favorite artist?”
Chapter 19
Selena
I dropped my black chip into the board and jumped up. “You don’t have to bother putting your chip in now! I have you beat two ways! I beat you! I beat you! I finally beat you!”
I danced around my living room, holding up the “L” with my fingers, teasing Ethan about my inevitable victory. I knew I was acting like a toddler who’d just gone to the potty for the first time, but I didn’t care. I was sick of him beating me at every game and gloating about it right after.
“As much as I’m enjoying this private dance,” Ethan smirked and dropped a red chip into the board, “Connect Four, sweetheart.”
“What!” I plopped down in front of the board and looked where I thought I had him beat ten seconds ago. I had two potential lines forming, but I clearly hadn’t noticed where his red diagonal was taking shape.
“You must have cheated!”
“Whatever you say. What game do you want me to beat you at next? I’m willing to play blindfolded at this point.”
“You’re always so modest when you win,” I rolled my eyes. “You’re not going to ask me a question?”
“Oh right, Confession Connect Four,” he laughed. “Why haven’t you let me take you out on a real date yet? Are you scared it won’t go well or something?”
I sighed. I knew he was getting tired of coming over and playing board games every night. He’d offered to take me out to dinner almost every day, but I turned him down each time.
“I’m trying to do things differently,” I looked at the Connect Four board. “Every time I’ve dated someone and we went out all the time, we didn’t really talk much…It was like all the over the top dates and expensive gestures were the only communication and I didn’t know them as well as I thought I did when it was over. I want to keep things simple…”
He probably won’t call me again after tonight...It was fun while it lasted…
“Hmmm,” he smiled. “Okay. I think I better understand you now.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” he started putting the chips back into the box. “I really do.”
“Can I ask you something personal, Ethan?”
“Anything,” his eyes met mine.
“Well, you told me you’ve never been in love before so…Why did you propose to your last girlfriend if you weren’t in love with her? Why would you do that?”
That question had plagued me ever since we played Confession Uno. I didn’t understand why any man would propose to someone he didn’t love—minus the men in staged Hollywood relationships of course.
“I thought we were compatible and that that would be enough for the long haul,” he said it as if he were handling a business transaction—cool, calm, detached. “But, apparently that’s not enough for marriage.”