Keep Her (27 page)

After my first date with Griffin, two nights after our meeting at the beach, he convinced me with his good manners, witty conversation and that to-die-for dimple to go out with him again a few nights later.

This time we were headed to a restaurant his friend owned in SoHo. Rather than drive and pay a fortune to park, we decided to take the train into the city and enjoy the warm summer breeze as we walked from the train station to our destination. It was the perfect beginning to a second date.

He hooked his arm in mine as we strolled and laughed, and it occurred to me that I already felt at ease with him for only knowing him a short time. While I was definitely attracted to Griffin—did I mention he was smoking hot—I was not jumping that gun again. Whatever was happening between us already felt very different than anything I’d ever experienced with a guy.

Maybe it was that he was older and more mature. Maybe it was that he was reserved and old fashioned, not trying any funny business on our first date. Or maybe it was just that even though I had fun spending time with Griffin, my mind was still preoccupied with thoughts of Beck.

Whatever it was, I owed it to Griffin to be in the moment and give him my full attention. “So how do you know this friend?” I asked, curious to find out more about my enigmatic date.

“Buddy from high school. Great guy. We spent a summer in Europe together on one of those student exchange type things. He decided to take in the culture through his mouth—big dude, by the way—and I took it all in through my eyes. Bought my first camera as soon as I got back to the states. Haven’t stop snapping since.”

“For someone who
snaps
so often, I haven’t seen your camera once.”

“You haven’t seen it, but it’s seen you.” He winked.

“Huh?”

“I took a few candids on the beach that day. Haven’t had a chance to really look over them yet, but I know they’re beautiful.” He smiled, focusing those smoldering eyes on my mouth.

That look right there secured him the first kiss green light. If he didn’t try to at least do that tonight, I might go in for the kill myself.

“Creepy,” I joked, trying to hide the way my heart was thumping, thinking about his lips on mine.

“Creepy? Do you make a habit of letting creepy men take you out twice in one week?”

“Maybe,” I shrugged.

He laughed, a hearty, deep laugh, and pulled me closer to him as he continued to guide me down a few more blocks.

When we arrived at a restaurant sporting a yellow and red awning and emitting mouth-watering aromas, he unhooked our arms. Opening the door, he placed his hand on my back and led me inside. “After you.”

“Thanks.” It was a simple gesture, but it again proved what a gentleman he was.

We stood at the hostess’s podium for a few seconds and Griffin took out his phone to call someone. I thought it was weird timing to make a phone call, but when he started to speak, I realized what he was doing. “Hey. We’re here,” he said. He must’ve been calling his friend, the restaurant owner.

He put his phone back in his pocket and motioned for me to sit on a bench in the lobby. “He should be right out. When I told him I was bringing you he went all out. Seems we’ll have a private table and special attention tonight.”

“That’s very sweet, Griffin, but he didn’t have to do that.” I looked around to the other tables in the dining area. Although it wasn’t necessary, having our own private area might actually be a great idea. This place was loud. There’d be no way to carry on a normal conversation over the noise.

“Well, he did. And here he comes.” Griffin stood, extending his hand to me.

I willingly grabbed it and stood to join him.

“Griffin, buddy,” the large, round man bombarded my date with a hug, clapping him on the back a few times.

“Sonny! So good to see you again. It’s been too long.”

“Well, I guess I have to thank this lovely creature for finally getting you out here. Not like you don’t live right over the damn bridge or anything.”

“I know. I have no excuse. I guess I’ve been a bit of a recluse these days.”

“A rude recluse. Introduce me to this stunner.” Griffin’s friend had a warm smile and welcoming eyes. He used them to eye me up and down, but there was nothing scrutinizing about it.

“Sorry, Sonny, this is Riley. Riley, this is Sonny.”

“So nice to meet you. Your place looks—and smells—amazing.” Extending my hand to shake Sonny’s, he grabbed it and brought me in for an unexpected hug.

“Any friend of Griffin’s is a friend of mine. Come on. If you think it smells great, wait ‘til you taste what I prepared for you two tonight.”

Sonny did not disappoint. Everything from the signature martini he’d created just for me to the homemade gnocchi pesto entrée I was currently polishing off my plate.

“I take it you didn’t like the food?” Griffin joked, watching me stuff my face.

Suddenly embarrassed, I dropped my fork and picked up my napkin to wipe my mouth. “I don’t usually indulge like this. I actually haven’t had a carb in way too long, but this—” I stared at the few gnocchi left, dying to finish them off. “This was incredible. Your friend is quite the chef.”

Griffin laughed, taking another sip of his own drink—some kind of scotch that was supposedly aged to perfection and a beverage he and Sonny had had many fun times sharing in the past. “Yeah, he knows a thing or two about how to make the taste buds happy.”

I couldn’t help myself at that comment. I was having a great time—again—and he deserved to know. “And you know a thing or two about how to make the ladies happy.”

Tilting his head and arching a brow, he leaned in closer and took my hand from across the table. “I want to take you back to my place.”

I quickly withdrew my hand from his, disappointed that my one tiny compliment made him think I was ready to sleep with him. I mean, it’s not that I wasn’t wondering when he’d make that type of pass at me, but I kind of liked that he wasn’t like so many other guys I’d dated in the past. It was nice to take things slow and get to know each other—to be wooed—before taking to the sheets.

Sensing my discontent with his comment, Griffin shook his head apologetically. “Oh, no. I didn’t mean it like that, Riley. I guess I shouldn’t have blurted it out like that.”

“It’s not the way you blurted it out. It’s the way you looked at me when you said it.” He was looking at me the way I must have been looking at my gnocchi a few minutes ago. Starving for satisfaction and the taste of something rich.

“Well, can you blame me for looking at you that way? You’re beautiful. I can’t help that my eyes are pleased with what they see.”

“Your eyes or what’s inside your jeans?”

He laughed, that hearty laugh that made my insides melt. “Okay, so not just my eyes. Let’s just say you have an effect over
all
of me, but that’s still not why I want to take you home. Promise.”

I leaned forward. He really had my attention now. “Why, then?”

Taking the final sip of his scotch, he said, “I need some advice on my home studio. I spend a lot of time there and I’d like your decorating expertise. Would you mind mixing business with pleasure?”
Subtle and cute, but still an innuendo.

I definitely didn’t mind helping him out, but if I wound up back at his place I’d probably end up helping myself out too—to him. “I don’t know. Maybe we should set up a real appointment—make it more professional. Besides, by the time we get back to Brooklyn it’ll be dark. I’d need to see the place in daylight to get a sense of what I’m working with.”

“Are you scared of me, Riley?”

No. I wasn’t. I was afraid of my own lack of self-control, but I couldn’t exactly tell him that without looking like a hooch. “Do I need to be scared, Griffin?”

Reaching for my hand again, his lips curled up into a warm grin; that dimple making its appearance again. “I thought we cleared that up on the beach. You already know I’m not a serial killer. Come back to my place with me. I won’t bite.”

If only he knew how badly I wanted him to bite. My lips, my neck, the fleshy skin of my inner thigh—“Ah… I don’t know.” I squirmed in my seat trying to think of an excuse, but there was none good enough to keep me away. “Okay, maybe just for a little while.” God, I probably sounded like an indecisive tease. If this was his way of testing the waters to see how far I was willing to go, I was like a yo-yo of mixed signals.

“Really?” His eyes brightened, the lines surrounding them appearing deeper as he smiled.

“Yes. Really. But I’m still checking your freezer for Ziploc baggies of dismembered limbs, buddy.”

“Be my guest. You’ll find nothing but ice in there.”

“Oh, man, no mint chocolate chip?”

“Nope. I almost never eat at home. Sorry, kid. We can pick something up on the way back if you’d like.”

“Nah, it’s okay. I’m stuffed from this wonderful dinner and besides… I’m only going back there for one thing.”

“Oh my goodness, Riley!” He gasped, straightening to attention and placing a hand over his heart. “What kind of man do you think I am? I don’t give it up on the second date. It takes at least three to get me into bed. That one thing will just have to wait.”

Rolling my eyes, I balled up my napkin and chucked it at him. “You’re a regular comedian, aren’t you? You know what I meant: the studio. I only agreed to go back to your place to see your studio, wiseass.”

Chuckling, he motioned for the check and then brought his attention back to me with a mega-watt grin. “I’m only messing with you, Riley. But I’ve been going on dates since you were in kindergarten. You’re fidgety, and tense, and your cheeks took on a beautiful blush when I mentioned going back to my place.

“And?”

“And you worried whether I’ll kiss you goodnight, and if I’ll try to go further.” He locked his eyes on mine, his gaze intense. “I’m a gentleman, Riley. I don’t expect you to fall all over me because I took you to a few nice restaurants. Don’t confuse my manners for my lack of interest—that’s definitely not the case—but when I do take you to bed you’ll go willingly, and not out of obligation. And we’ll know more about each other than what our favorite ice cream flavors are.”

“I never told you my—”

“Mint chocolate chip. You licked your lips right after you mentioned it before. Mine’s plain old vanilla.”

His smoothness
was
pretty impressive. I had to hand it to him. He was attentive—did I like that or not? Time to throw him off kilter a little. “Vanilla? That’s all you got? Shit, now I just might have to let you take me to bed. You’re not vanilla in there too, are you?”

Choking on the last bit of his scotch, he raised his napkin to catch the dribble that spurted from his lips at my reference to his bedroom skills.

“What?” I asked, cocking a brow. Two could play at this game.

“As much as I’d like to think I can read you, Riley, you are full of surprises.”

“Yes. I am, so stop trying to mind fuck me with your I-can-read-all-women ESP. I’m not like all women.”

“No, you most definitely are not.”

“Good. Now that you know I’m
not
screwing you tonight, and that I’m different from the harem of ladies you’ve been dating since I was five… wanna show me that studio?”

The dimple was back and Griffin had this dreamy look in his eyes that practically made them sparkle.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Shaking his head and straightening the collar of his shirt that was unbuttoned just enough for the tattoo on his neck to peak through, he smiled and asked, “Wanna cut through all the red tape and just agree to marry me now?”

Running my fingers through my hair, I flipped it to the side, tilting my head. “What a schmoozer.”

“This has nothing to do with schmoozing. I don’t want to mention the… harem, as you put it… again, but I’ve never met someone quite like you.”

He wasn’t serious. I knew that. But it still made me the slightest bit uncomfortable. “That’s not a reason to marry someone, Griffin.” Not that I knew anything about the reasons for marrying someone. I’d once wanted to marry a guy because the way he growled my name when we had sex made me come right on the spot. It didn’t matter that he smoked more pot than Snoop Dog and had two illegitimate kids. Perfect husband material, that one.