Page 22 of Stay With Me

“Wait here, I’m going to walk her inside.”

He then made his way around to the other back door, opened it, and offered her his hand. She stepped out a bit wobbly so he slipped his arm around her waist as they made their way toward the apartment building.

“Which unit?” he asked.

She flipped a finger down a breezeway. “Last one on the right.”

After she fumbled with her keys and swung the door open, she tugged on his elbow to usher him inside, but he didn’t budge.

“Whatsa matter?”

“I think we should call it a night.”

She pressed her chest against his and tilted her chin up. “What about pulling my shorts off with your teeth?”

He groaned quietly.

Dear God, that’s tempting.

But he couldn’t.

Instead, he kept up the role of the genuinely interested guy he’d been playing all evening.

He held her face and kissed her one last time. “Let’s save that for the tenth date.”

She gleamed at him. “You are such a good guy.”

Not really.

She kissed his cheek. “You’d better watch out, or I might fall in love with you.”

Time to bail.

He chuckled politely and kissed one of her hands.

“Good-night, Samantha.”

He started to pull the door closed when he got a funny inclination to ask a simple question.

“Hey, Samantha?”

“Hm?”

“What’s your last name?”

She gave a quick, breathy giggle and stuck her arm out toward him. “Holt. Samantha Holt. What’s yours?”

He shook her hand gently.

“Chapman. Nick Chapman.”

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Mister Chapman.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, too, Miss Holt.”

Nick gave a small wave before letting himself out and closing the door behind him. He lingered on the doorstep for a moment, suddenly feeling a little weird.

The weird feeling was a combination of something good and something bad. He couldn’t quite place it, and it became overpowering to the point that he had to lean against the wall briefly.