Page 64 of To Have and to Stalk
Maybe my mother.
So, decades ago.
“We often think the most important things are what we see,” she said, “but without dark matter scaffolding everything, we wouldn’t be here. And when you actuallylookat it, it’s undeniable how everything connects. It follows the same organic pattern of dendrites, of slime mold, of tree roots?—”
She stopped suddenly.
I leaned forward. “Why did you stop?”
She poked her fork at her mostly bare plate, eyes down. “I’m rambling.”
“I love it,” I said.
She lifted her eyes, surprise and delight written on her features. Then bit her lip, nervous. Those nerves were doing something to me. Igniting some primal, caveman need inside my marrow. A challenge.
I was looking forward to getting her out of her head. Fucking all the anxiety out of her body until she was a puddle of submission. Until I saw the truth she hid beneath the nerves she wore like armor.
Her eyes shifted as the silence stretched. “What?”
“I’m wondering what else will make your cheeks flush like that,” I said truthfully.
“Oh,” she said, voice soft.
Another flush crept across her cheeks, this one lighter than before, hazier, like a foggy sunset. Her eyes softened. Her whole fuckingbodysoftened. She looked up at me through thick lashes.
For the first time all night she looked hungry?—
“In the mood for dessert?”
And just like that, the mood was shattered by good service.
Shay blinked out of it, as if catching herself.
“Do you want dessert?” I asked. She rolled her mouth, shaking her head. “Just the check,” I said, eyes still on her.
The waitress set down a black leather book on the table. Shay pulled out her wallet.
“What are you doing?”
“Um…paying my half?”
I placed a card in the leather book. “It’s taken care of.”
“Maybe Iwantto pay.”
That defiance sparked something in me, a glimpse of the woman I’d chased through a graveyard. She folded her arms again, and this time I didn’t pretend to not look at her chest.
“Too bad.”
chapter
twenty
SHAY
Calder’s hand found my lower back again, firm, fingertips pressing into my flesh as he led us out of the restaurant. I felt giddy. My blood fizzed like it had been replaced with champagne. Calder had this uncanny ability to make me comfortable. His smile. His silly questions. The pressure of the date slowly lessened until I felt lightweight.
He held the door open for me, hand still on my back. It had gotten colder as the night stretched. A small winter breeze made the air icy. I shivered, and Calder stepped in front of me, clutching my coat lapels.
