Page 25 of Stronger Than Fate

“Did you come in your car?” he asked.

“No, we came in your sister’s.”

“Better that way, let’s go get mine.” And he continued walking, holding my hand.

Henry was walking quite fast and with my heels it was a bit difficult to keep up with him; if he hadn’t been holding my hand, I would have been several feet behind.

“Henry, I’m wearing heels, I can’t walk that fast,” I said, tugging at his hand.

“I’m sorry, it’s just that I’m desperate to get there,” he said, then bent down and without giving me time to react, lifted me in his arms and carried me to his car.

“You’re crazy! Put me down!”

“No.”

“People are staring at us,” I said, trying to convince him, because the few people who were out at that hour were looking at us and smiling.

“Let them look, I’m just carrying my woman.”

Again I heard him call me that and again I felt that inexplicable emotion that made me smile involuntarily, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up. I was clear that all this romanticism and all his seduction had the objective of getting me into bed. Thinking about that made my nerves more frayed because I recognized all my limitations in that area. I was going to have sex with this experienced Adonis and that created a lot of pressure on myself. I knew I shouldn’t make comparisons, but it was inevitable. On the other hand, I felt that this was the moment and he was the person I wanted to be with—in fact, I desperately wanted him.

When we reached the car, he slowly set me down on the ground and then kissed me tenderly.

“It’s a good thing you chose to go to your hotel; we’ll get there faster because it’s closer,” he said, opened the door for me and closed it himself after I sat down.

He drove quite fast and spoke little while doing so. His presence dominated the interior of the car. From time to time his hand would rest on my legs and caress them. That simple touch sent electricity through my entire body.

I felt my phone ring and took it out of my clutch. It was a message from Sol, and seeing it didn’t make me feel good. Shesent me the angry face emoji and I knew she must be furious because I had left.

Her message:

I quickly typed my response:

“We’ll talk later.

I just ask that you understand me.

I’ve never felt this way before.

Love you”

Sol saw it, but didn’t respond. Out of frustration, I put the phone away with a sigh. Henry looked at me.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes, everything’s fine.”

“Who’s sending you messages at this hour?”

“It was a message from Sol.”

“Aaah, a message from ‘Miss Congeniality,’” he said ironically.

“Sol isn’t as unfriendly as she appears with you; it’s obvious she doesn’t like you, but I don’t approve of the way she treats you either.”

“Don’t worry because I really don’t care about her bad mood.”

I didn’t say anything, but I kept thinking about my friend’s message. Why did she have such animosity toward him? I didn’t understand.