You Had Me At Christmas: A Holiday Anthology(44)

Kate rolled the stem of her wine glass between her fingers. “Is that what you want to do?”

She held her breath and then summoned up the courage to look him in the eyes.

The pause felt almost menacing.

“I think it’s for the best,” he said finally. Maybe grudgingly, Kate hoped. As if the words were a contradiction to his thoughts. It really didn’t matter if he was acting against his own wishes though. The result was the same.

“Okay. I don’t really need to finish my wine then,” she said, pushing the glass away. “Maybe we can just get the check?”

“Right.” He nodded with a sigh even as he signaled the waitress. “I screwed this up again. You haven’t even taken two damn sips and now I’ve just made the situation awkward. I’m so sorry.”

Kate shrugged. “You’re being honest. I can’t fault you for that. Please know that I didn’t intend to show off or anything with the fancy clothes. I mean I wanted to look nice, so I dressed up. Instead, I made you uncomfortable. Maybe if I had treated this a little more casually… Anyway, if anyone is to blame it’s probably me. In fact I’m certain it’s me. I’m awful at this aspect of my life. Always zigging when I should have zagged.”

The waitress dropped the check off and they both reached for it.

“Please,” he said. “Leave me some pride.”

A flush crept up her neck as she realized what it must have looked like. Especially after what he’d said about being dirt poor. Kate lifted her hand off the check. “I’m sorry… I’m just used to… You’re right. This was a mistake. I should go now.”

She stood up and left without another word, thinking about how quickly she might delete the dating app from her phone. She was halfway to her car when he caught up to her.

“Kate,” he said, reaching out to grab her elbow.

Turning toward him, she lost any pretense of good date behavior. “I want to go home. Can’t we be done?”

“No. You have to know you didn’t do anything wrong. This was about me,” he said gruffly. “I need you to understand you’re…”

“Beautiful and elegant,” she snapped. “So you said. A real lady you want nothing to do with. I get it. But I wasn’t exactly a real lady the other night, was I? Actually I thought I was rather slutty. Maybe that’s who you were expecting?”

His lips pressed into a flat line of displeasure and Kate thought about apologizing again for her rudeness. What was the point?

“I said I would walk you to your car and I’m going to do it,” he said, following behind her as she started walking away.

Kate pulled out her keys and hit a button that would unlock the driver’s side door. She stood in front of the silver Mercedes and figured that was just another strike against her.

He leaned around her to open her door and she had to step back to let him, which ended in an awkward moment with her back pressed up against his chest so that when she turned to say a final goodnight she was only inches from his mouth, his lips.

His first thought of her had been that she was a real lady. Her first thought of him had been that she wanted to kiss him.

“Fuck,” he whispered. “Just one time.”

Then she felt his hand behind her neck, his mouth pressed up against hers and they were kissing. It was almost startling. Like something she’d forgotten she’d been able to do. Kate, however, quickly remembered and opened her mouth. She felt the erotic push of his tongue against hers and wrapped her arms around his waist. He pulled her in closer, then dropped his mouth to place a kiss right below her ear.

“Damn you, you even smell like class,” he muttered even as he traced kisses down her neck.

But the word was like a glass of cold water dropped on them, forcing Kate to remember this hadn’t been a fun date. Certainly not a date that should have ended with a toe-curling kiss.

She pushed against his chest and immediately he took a step back. “Goodnight, John.”

“Kate, wait…”

She was done listening to him and she certainly didn’t want to hear another apology. She got in her car and closed the door and John simply backed away. She didn’t wave goodbye and she didn’t look at him, except when she pulled away she couldn’t help but check the rear view mirror.

He was still standing there watching her go, and even though she couldn’t see him clearly anymore she thought he looked sad. Why that made her sad in return seemed completely irrational.





Chapter Five





Sally was practically bouncing on her toes when she popped into Kate’s office that Monday.

“Well? Don’t keep me in suspense. How was it?”

Kate looked up at her well-intentioned assistant. She probably never should have told her about the date. Now she had no choice other than to recap it, which was something she desperately didn’t want to do. “Okay, imagine the best date you ever had…”

“Yes, and?”

“And this was the opposite of that. Next time you get near my phone to load a dating app I’m chopping off your fingers.”

Sally’s face fell and she took a seat. “That bad?”

“The worst.”

Except for the kiss, of course. The kiss was amazing. The kiss had her up all night. The kiss she couldn’t forget. Which might have made the whole experience that much more terrible because she couldn’t forget any of it.