Red

I was getting tired but I didn’t want my night to end with my perfect stranger. We stepped out of Gameworks just after two in the morning. We stopped on the sidewalk and Nathan wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I held my dress in one hand while my other wrapped around his waist.

“You’re more competitive than Jay,” he laughed referring to my outburst inside when he beat me in the final round of skee ball.

“You always let the girl win! American rules!” I giggled digging my forehead into his shoulder. “Who’s Jay?”

“He’s my best mate. Enough about him though. I’d like to kiss you.”

I felt my cheeks turn bright red as he slowly brought his lips to mine. I dropped my dress and brought my hands up to his neck, pulling him deep into me. My toes tingled, my stomach flipped, my palms became sweaty. I’ve never had a kiss affect me the way this was now. Nathan’s hands rested on my lower back as he held me in place, keeping me from falling backwards. There could have been a massive car accident right next to us on the street and neither of us would be aware. He slowly pulled away and I opened my eyes to peer into his bright green ones. I placed my hands on his upper arms and he brought me back to a standing position.

“That was . . . “ I couldn’t finish my sentence I was too breath taken by what had just taken place.

“Classic Hollywood,” he grinned grabbing my hand. “Where to now?”

“What time do you need to be at the airport?” I asked not ready for him to leave so soon after just meeting.

“I should really be on the first flight out, but I’m not ready for this night to end.”

“I’m not either, why don’t you collect your things from the hotel and come to my place. I can drive you to the airport in a few hours.”

“Are you sure?” He asked skeptical.

“Of course. That’ll give us just a little more time and I want to get out of this dress before I ruin it even more,” I giggled squeezing his hand. He didn’t say anything else, he just smiled and began the long walk to the hotel.

Twenty minutes later we were riding up the elevator to his hotel room. The butterflies in my belly increased ten-fold as the doors opened. “You okay?” He asked as the doors opened and we stepped off.

“Yeah, just tired.” I smiled weakly at him, my cheeks probably matching the same hue as my dress.

I followed him into his hotel room where he began to collect his things. It didn’t take long for him to pack up all he had. It appeared that he was mostly organized which was rare for a man of his age. Which I still didn’t know. He didn’t look older than me, but he had to be around the same age.

“Ready?” He brought me out of my thoughts and I smiled at him, walking out of the hotel room. He slung a bag over his shoulder while dragging a suitcase behind him. Once he was checked out of his room it was a short walk around the block to my apartment.

I could see the smirk on his face when he noticed I selected the 32nd floor in the elevator of my building. It was the top floor afterall.

“I’m a trust fund baby,” I suddenly felt my need to explain.

“I wasn’t going to ask. We haven’t asked much about one another since we met anyways, thought we’d just keep it that way.”

How was I supposed to take that? Did he not want to get to know me like I do him? I shook my head of my questions and stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hall to my front door. I pulled the keys out of my clutch and unlocked the door throwing it open for us. I turned on some lights and kicked off my high heels. I turned around to see Nathan still standing in the doorway.

“You can come in, I’ll put some tea on,” I smiled to him as he finally stepped inside and shut the door behind him.

“Sorry, I was just . . . I have the exact same artwork in my flat back in London.”

“Oh, well Warhol is popular, I’m not entirely surprised by that,” I smiled as I turned on the kitchen faucet to fill my teapot with water.

“No, not the Warhol, the Hockney.” My eyes shot up from the kitchen sink as he says this.

“You know Hockney?”

“Of course, he’s British. I have this exact print in my bedroom. I’ve never seen it anywhere else,” he pulled his eyes away from the print on my wall above my couch and just smiled at me.

My heart thumped a little and I felt myself blush again. “Um, well . . . “ I stumbled over my tongue as I pulled down two mugs from the cabinet above my head. “Make yourself comfortable, the bathroom is the first door on the left in the hall if you wanted to change.” I walked out of the kitchen after placing the tea pot on the stove and walked up to Nathan. I placed a gentle kiss on his lips and felt him smile as he kissed me back. “Can you get the zipper for me?” I asked turning around feeling his fingers crawl over my skin to the zipper on my dress. He slowly pulled it down and I held the dress against my bust to keep it from falling. “Thank you,” I smiled to him over my shoulder before taking off down the hall to my bedroom.

Once I had freshened up I walked back into the kitchen just as the tea pot began to sing. I heard a noise behind me and saw Nathan pulling the milk out of my fridge. I began to laugh when I saw his sweatshirt; it was Mickey Mouse’s hand with its middle finger up. I had to get one for myself I loved it so much.

“See something you like?” He asked laughing as he came to stand next to me.

“Sorry, you’re sweatshirt, I adore it. Where did you get it?”

“A . . . friend gave it to me.”

“It’s pretty awesome,” I laughed as I poured two mugs of tea for us.

“I like yours too,” he grinned, the back of his fingers brushing against my bare stomach. Goosebumps formed all over my body as I giggled and pulled away from him. I grabbed the bottom of my sweatshirt and pulled it down to cover my skin.

I carried my tea into the living room and sat down on the couch that overlooked my view of Puget Sound. Nathan was close behind me, taking a seat directly next to me. We sat in silence, cuddled together, staring out the windows in pure bliss. I had to keep this guy in my life somehow.