Chronicles of a Serial Dater - Book 7: A New Adult Romantic Comedy (7 page)

After a couple hours, we said our goodbyes to the girls outside. We stood in the warm, dusky light out on the sidewalk and I felt the first wave of nerves hit me again.
We’re alone. What are we doing? What is he thinking?

“So,” he said absently as he checked his watch. “We have a reservation in an hour, unless you have another date you need to leave for?”

I screwed up my face and laughed. “No, I canceled my 11 p.m. after I saw what a poor loser you are. Seeing you wave that stick around really worked for me.”

Clint moved closer, his eyebrow moving just a touch. “Did it, now? You liked that?”

“Oh yeah,” I replied with wide eyes.

“You like angry men with big sticks?”

I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. “Love ‘em. The ragier the better. You should see me at a hockey game.”

We were only a few inches apart and I was sure he was going to kiss me. Hell, he was staring at my lips like he was a starving man in front of a three course dinner.

“I’ll be sure to cause a scene at the next place then,” he breathed. A few tense heartbeats passed before he grabbed my hand and turned away. “Come on. We’ll be late.”

He was playing me like an instrument and I could only laugh.

Thankfully, he didn’t use the blindfold going back into the city. The darkened windows made the journey fly by. Before I knew it, we were pulling up to a curb in the Lower East Side. The street was bustling with bars and restaurants, laughter and traffic, shouts and horns. As I waited for Clint to come around the back of the car and join me on the sidewalk, I felt a buzz of excitement. Every once in a while, I feel intimately connected to the city. For a brief second, I wasn’t
in
the city. I
was
the city. I felt like I was part of the life and pulse of what made New York so great. The feeling had washed over me several times that night alone.

Presumably to make up for the frozen yogurt portion of the bad date, Clint had arranged a table at an amazing new restaurant specializing in ice cream. The relationship I have with food, I’m surprised I wasn’t first in line when it opened. They literally make your ice cream from scratch on a frozen slab of metal right in front of you, table side.

Our server was incredibly, hand-shaking nervous. The poor girl didn’t look a day out of high school and was trying her hardest not to mess up, but our ice cream refused to solidify. Mine looked like a mint chocolate chip soup, which I probably would’ve eaten if she hadn’t thrown it straight away. In the end, another server had to take over and our original girl ran off in tears.

As we were leaving, Clint hung back. “Wait outside for me. I forgot something.”

I watched from the window as he pulled the manager aside. After a brief conversation, the manager waved over our first server. She looked utterly dejected, but after a few seconds with Clint, her entire demeanor changed. Grinning ear to ear, glancing back and forth between them, I knew Clint was putting in a good word for her. My suspicion was confirmed when I saw him palm a decent tip in her hand as he said goodbye.

If I hadn’t already decided to bring him up to bed when we got home, this would’ve sealed the deal. He was kind when people weren’t looking and when it cost him nothing. Brave, kind, and sexy as hell… what more could you ask for?

I took one step up the front stairs and paused. “Do you want to…” I nodded to the building, unable to finish my sentence. But in my head I said,
come upstairs and fulfill a fantasy I’ve had for months?

“No, I better not. I have an early flight tomorrow I probably won’t make if I stay here with you.” He sounded genuinely disappointed.

“Where are you off to next?”

He spoke quickly, as if it were a topic he didn’t want to waste a moment on. “Back to L.A. for a week. Ironing out the final details. Anyway,” he sighed, reaching for my hands.

It was like our goodbye at the door of the house, the scene of our first kiss. Butterflies churned in my stomach. I think I was holding my breath so much I felt a little light-headed. Instead of meeting me at equal height, Clint pulled me down to the sidewalk. With a swift step forward, he pressed me against the stone railing that led to my building.

The hunger in his gaze weakened my knees. He paused for a moment, our noses almost touching, peering into my eyes as if he couldn’t believe this was happening. His thumb brushed my cheek, a rough callous scraping my smooth skin. Even though I could tell he wanted to consume me, when our lips met, it was practically chaste. It was only when his hand slipped to the back of my head the kiss began to heat up. When I moaned against his mouth, he backed away suddenly.

Clint still held the back of my neck still but apologized. “I should be going.”

“But you… I,” I sputtered, pointing to the front door. “Coffee!”

He pulled me closer and gave me a lingering kiss on the cheek. “As much as I’d love to, I really should let you get to bed.”

I slid out of the tall SUV seat, shut the door, and looked up in awe. “These trees are enormous.”

I’d had reservations about this date from the very start. After my disastrous attempt at the outdoorsy life in California, I didn’t think upping the ante out in the forests of Upstate New York would be a great idea. At least I could
see
civilization from the top of that hill in L.A. Out here however…

We parked in a dirt lot covered with a thick canopy of trees. The road to get here was a complete dead end and judging by how empty the lot was, we were one of the few people in the area. A half dozen trails disappeared up the hills into the thick undergrowth.

“This is… pretty,” I ventured carefully.

Clint stuck his head out from the back. “Wait until you see the waterfalls.”

“Waterfalls! Seriously?” I asked, suddenly a bit more intrigued.

He dropped a heavy pack on the ground and ducked back into the vehicle. “That’s right.”

I made my way around to the trunk and watched him prep all the gear with a mixture of trepidation and arousal. I liked that he was so capable and I knew we were safe, but I was afraid he didn’t understand how accident prone I truly was.

“I’m guessing it’s up one of those steep trails over there?”

Clint laughed. “Well, they wouldn’t be very impressive waterfalls if they didn’t
fall.
”

I scuffed my new boots in the dirt. Extra tread. Just in case. “I suppose they’d just be a stream at that point. I’m okay with that. I like streams. They’re peaceful.”

He held out a much smaller and lighter pack and helped me slip my arms through. As I turned, he adjusted every strap into place, clicking one across my hips and then one just under my breasts. I gave him a little look he didn’t seem to notice. Clint was all business at the moment, which was strangely turning me on.

“Right,” he said as he scanned the equipment.

“This seems like a lot for a couple mile hike.”

“After the things I’ve gone through, I like to be prepared. You never know what might happen. Now, what did I do with those MREs?”

I’d heard horrible things about those military ready meals. “You know, we could just get something to eat back in that little town we went through. I think I saw a…”

Clint leaned against the bumper and shook his head. “You named me Mr. Adventure and that’s exactly what I’ll be. Trust me. You’re gonna love this.” I tried to get on board, I really did, but apparently doubt was written all over my face. “Like anything in life worth doing, it’s going to be tough but worth it in the end, okay?”

Wow, life lessons with Mr. English,
I thought. “Okay. I’m with you.”

Three hours later, I wasn’t just with him, I was practically clinging to his hip. We’d reached the first set of waterfalls fairly quickly. The beautiful falls were engorged from a week of heavy rains, but that also meant the trails were muddy in spots. Even with Clint navigating, we’d taken a wrong turn and found ourselves in a precarious situation.

We were slowly working our way up a slippery path that hugged the line of the river and waterfalls. To our left was a slope too steep to scramble up. To our right was a forty foot drop to the river and rocky shore below. The muddy path beneath our feet was only wide enough for one person to pass at a time and slippery to boot. The roar of the falls made hearing Clint’s instructions difficult.

“It’s just a little further,” he called back over his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

I nodded without taking my eyes off the path. I hoped he’d mistake my tears for sweat as long as he didn’t look hard enough. I didn’t dare lose complete control. What good would that have done?

“Follow my footsteps and you’ll be fine. You’re doing great!” He hung off an exposed tree root to look back at me completely. When I glanced up to see him dangling over the edge, I screamed.

“Don’t do that!” I grappled with the side as if my grip would somehow help him. “Get back on the… now! Clint!”

“Okay, okay.” He smiled despite my panic and turned forward, marching up the path one deliberate step at a time.

The distance we covered could’ve only been a hundred yards, but it took an eternity. Once a bit of land appeared to my right, I felt like I could breathe a little easier. More and more ground separated us from the insane fall to the side as the path veered up and into the forest. Once a safe enough distance from the edge, Clint stepped to the side and let me pass.

“Head up to that rock,” he pointed. “We can take a break there.”

When I dropped my pack and sat down, my whole body trembled. I was shaking like I’d just taken a dip in an ice bath. Every muscle in my body convulsed. It got so bad, I could barely hold my water bottle to my lips.

Clint had his nose buried in a map, a compass in his other hand. He turned a few times in place, looking around the forest. I watched him for a moment before I started to get worried.

“What’s going on?” My voice shook as much as my body, which caught his attention.

“Jesus, Talia! Are you okay?” he asked as he rushed to my side.

“Yeah. I just can’t stop shaking,” I laughed nervously. I held my hands out in front of me to demonstrate and couldn’t believe how bad the tremors had gotten.

Clint dove into his bag and pulled out a blue packet, tearing the corner off. “Eat this. It tastes funky but it’ll make you feel better.”

“I feel fine. I’m freakin’ glad to be away from those cliffs though. Actually, I feel really… giddy. Like, excited almost.”

Still concerned, he gave me a half smile. “That’s the adrenaline. Really, you need to eat that or you’re gonna feel like shite when you crash.”

I gulped down the strange snot-like gel as Clint settled in beside me with the map. “You do know where we are, right?” I asked.

“Well, we parked here,” he pointed to the map. “And we set off in this direction. This is the river here…” Peripherally, I saw him frown as he trailed off.

“We can’t exactly go back the way we came.”

“No, certainly not. I can’t figure out where we went wrong, though…” Hearing the worry in his voice was the first time I grew concerned. I looked at the thick forest around us and felt impotent to help. Thick ferns covered the base of looming trees, faint bird song in the distance.

“At least we have enough stuff we could survive out here,” I offered, hoping to lighten the mood.