Page 35 of Once Upon a Beast

“Yes. Considering how you were in the car, could you blame me?”

Nic shook his head side to side. “I can see that now. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to complicate things. I hope you can forgive me.”

“There’s nothing to forgive. We both overreacted instead of talking to the other. Let’s not do that again.”

I turned my hand over and intertwined our fingers. I gave his hand a soft squeeze as I looked at him. He smiled at me and held my gaze as he leaned closer to me. I sat up taller and leaned towards him. I could see by his actions and his look that he was going to kiss me.

He reached his hand up to cup my face. I leaned into his hand and parted his lip slightly. His mouth was inches from mine and I closed my eyes, wanting to savor the moment of Nic kissing me.

When he didn’t move forward, I opened my eyes to see he was looking at my lips. His eyes lifted to mine and then he dropped his head down.

“What now?” I couldn’t keep the exasperation out of my voice.

“I want to kiss you, you have no idea how much but not here, not now, not like this.”

“Then when? How?”

Nic lifted his head and smiled at me. “Layla, would you give me the privilege of taking you out on a date?”

Chapter 19

Nicodemus

After Layla said yes to our date, we chatted for another half an hour before she had to go back to work. I had meetings to get to and phone calls to make but I didn’t want to leave her. I would have gladly rescheduled all of them if it meant I could spend the rest of the day talking and looking at Layla.

The tension between us was gone. It was as if no time had passed since the last time we had talked and I could see our friendship getting back on track. I was thankful that we had cleared the air between us and hoped that it would be smooth sailing going forward.

We had agreed to go out the following night. I would have taken her that night but I needed time to set everything up. I hadn’t planned on asking her out when I went to her office. I wasn’t even sure if she would see me. I was glad she had because there wasn’t a date, I had ever been more excited about than this one. Steve had been smart enough not to make any comments but had left earlier than normal and said he would be back late tomorrow morning.

I thought it was going to be good to have the extra time to myself and to get ready. Unfortunately, it left me with extra time to kill and nothing to do but think about Layla and the evening. I had wanted to do something special, something unique, something unforgettable, all things that Layla was to me. This was technically our first date. I was hoping it would be my last first date ever and I wanted to do it right.

Knowing Layla helped to plan the evening, or at least I hoped it would. She might have changed in the years that we lost contact. I didn’t think she would have changed enough that what I had in mind wouldn’t be to her liking.

Still, I was nervous as I went to her apartment and picked her up. We had only talked once more since I went to her work. I wasn’t one to text and she didn’t seem like one who would either. I always preferred face to face or voice conversations. We had agreed upon a time for the date but I hadn’t told her anything else about it. Layla had tried to push for answers but I told her it was a surprise.

“Is it a surprise or you don’t know what you’re going to do so you’re just saying it a surprise?” She asked when we talked the night before.

“Truly, it is a surprise. I already have it all planned out. I just don’t want you to know what it is, yet.”

“Will you give me a hint? I need to know what to wear.”

“Anything you wear will be perfect.”

“So, sweatsuit. I can go with that.”

“I’m sure you would look lovely in them. It’s going to be a mellow evening, so I want you to be comfortable. Wear whatever you want.”

“So, nothing extravagant? You aren’t going to take me to some fancy restaurant or the theater?”

“You love the theater,” I countered. “But no, none of those. This evening will be more mellow yet intimate. That is all I’m going to say.”

“You aren’t helping but I know I’m not going to get anything more from you. I’ll see you at seven,” she said and ended the call.

I had smiled whenever I thought about the conversation and was still smiling when I knocked on Layla’s door. She immediately opened it and my breath caught in my throat. She looked sexy, happy, and relaxed. The jeans were form-fitting and hugged her body, showing off her curves and shapely legs. The red blouse was loose flowing around her body and giving just the barest glimpse of what was underneath. She had put her hair half up so it framed her face yet still cascaded down her back. The black sandals she wore had little straps and open toes. I could see she had painted her toes red to match her blouse. I found it both endearing and utterly sexy.

“Wow, you look amazing,” I said.

“Thank you. I hope this past muster for our date,” she said with a half curtsey.