Page 59 of Inked Temptation
“I keep calling myself an old man, and you keep calling him a boy. It’s starting to creep me out.”
“Then maybe you should stop calling yourself old. You’re young, not carefree in the slightest, but you’re allowed to make new memories, to breathe, and to believe. Just have faith in yourself.”
“We both know that’s not going to happen.”
“Then have faith in the promises that you made.”
“That’s what you say.”
I kissed her on the forehead again, and then I ran, out of breath, to my truck.
It was getting colder at night, but that was fine with me. I needed the stiff breeze against my skin as I tried to catch up with what I was feeling.
I was going out to dinner in public with another man. That part didn’t bother me. It was the fact that this was my first first-date since I had been in college, when I had first met and fallen in love with Danielle. Now Danielle was gone, and so was our baby girl, and I was standing here trying to pretend that I knew what I was doing.
I had no idea what I was doing, but I could fake it. And maybe I would think of this as a third date. That would be easier, after all.
The drive down to the city to a small hipster-like restaurant was easy. Getting out of the truck, though, wasn’t.
Then I saw Archer slide out of his truck, run his hands nervously down his sides, and let out a breath. I wouldn’t leave him to wait for long. When I saw a couple give him a look, one that implied need and desire, I got out that much quicker.
Because Archer was sexy as fuck, something I tried not to think about often, and yet, everyone that walked by him seemed to notice. But Archer didn’t.
No, his ex had been an asshole, had hurt his self-esteem. So I was going to do my best not to be that person. I did not want to be like this Marc asshole. So I wouldn’t. However, I would try not to be that Killian asshole I had been so good at.
We were off the main street where a lot of the college bars and bar crawls were for the universities in town, but there were still people milling about. Many of the older couples were probably associated with the university or Boulder city in general. Not as many college students. That made sense to me because when I had looked up this restaurant, the pricing wasn’t exactly suited for college-age, nor was it as expensive and fancy as somewhere that Danielle’s family would have gone.
Though they were up in Wyoming, they lived like they could walk down Fifth Avenue in New York City without a second glance or care in the world.
So, I had been to far nicer restaurants than these, and to mom-and-pop diners where I was afraid I would die from a heart attack. This, at least according to the website, seemed like an easy middle.
The fact that I had looked up the menu beforehand worried me. Why was I so nervous?
Then Archer smiled at me, and I let out a breath.
Oh, that was why.
“You made it.”
I saw the relief in his eyes, and I could’ve kicked myself. “Of course I did. I wasn’t going to stand you up.”
Archer slid his hands into his back pockets, which wasn’t an easy feat considering they were tight on his ass.
Hell, he looked delicious.
And now that I thought about it, we matched, him with a stone-blue shirt, and me with a stone-gray shirt.
Archer seemed to recognize it at the same time and smiled wide. A woman behind him nearly swooned, and I didn’t blame her.
“It looks like we picked our uniform for the evening.”
I rolled my eyes. “I wasn’t sure what to wear.”
“Good choice.”
And then Archer reached for my arm, squeezed my elbow, and placed a kiss on the corner of my mouth.
I grinned, tilting my head as I studied him. “You’re good at settling my nerves.”
