Date in the Dark (3 page)

For a moment I don’t think I should go too,
but then it dawns on me that I don’t know where these cards are
either. I should probably know where to find them just in case I
need them during the events.

Allie guides us to a storage room at the end
of the hall and hands a stack of blue cards to Amber.

“Thank you, Allie. Have a good weekend,”
Amber says, and I step out of the doorway so she can pass. She
gives me a smile and then returns to the front where she is helping
a customer. Looking back into the storage room, I find Allie
standing with her hands on her hips, clearly scanning the shelves
for something. I step up behind her at the exact time she takes a
step back. Her back smacks into my chest and she startles. She
spins around with her hand to her chest.

“Oh my gosh, you scared me,” she breathes.
“Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

“Sorry, I thought you heard me come in behind
you.”

She narrows her eyes at me then turns back
around.

“What are you looking for?”

“I’m looking for an extra swipe card I can
activate for you. I should have thought about it sooner, but you
won’t be able to access most areas of the first floor without
one.”

I examine the shelves to help her. These
swipe cards are the size of a credit card. She’s going to have to
get a lot closer to find one if that’s the case, because I don’t
see any labeled boxes.

“Oh, right there!” She moves forward and
steps up on the bottom shelf, which is about a foot off the ground.
She grips onto a rail with her hand and extends the other as far as
it will go. I’m about to tell her she’s going to hurt herself and
that I can get it for her when she pushes to the tip of her toes
and slips. It’s not far to the ground, but I rush forward and grab
her by the hips to steady her before her feet can decide to slip
from under her.

In the small moment, Allie manages to land
upright facing me. Her shirt bunches at the sides from where my
hands are gripping her. Her arms are still in the air exposing a
glimpse of her bare stomach. Our eyes lock together as she slowly
lowers them. I assume she’s going to push me away, but instead her
hands come to a stop just as they reach my shoulders. The moment
they hold on to me, something happens. It’s as if a spark is sent
through my body. Something to tell me that this is the girl for me.
That opportunities like this one don’t just happen.

My hands tighten a little around her waist
and I rub my thumbs against the soft skin of her hip bone. This
woman is beautiful. I want to pull her close and wrap my arms
around her, but too quickly she steps back.

“It’s umm…” she looks around the room. “We
should probably get going.”

I let my arms fall to my side and nod. “Yeah.
We probably should.”

Allie locks the room, and we walk in silence
back to her office. I want to say something, but I don’t know what
I can say. She never did get me that swipe card.

Chapter Three

Parker

“Have a good night.” Allie’s sweet voice cuts
into the chilly evening air as we step outside. It’s getting dark,
colder than this morning, and snow is falling fast. She turns to
lock the backdoor and then begins walking right past me. When Allie
reaches the sidewalk, a feeling I’ve never felt settles in the pit
of stomach and my eyes wonder the parking lot. My truck is the only
vehicle left.

“Wait! How are you getting home? You’re not
walking, are you?” I don’t care if she’s bundled with her matching
gloves, scarf, and hat. She isn’t walking home in this weather.

She stops to face me. “I don’t live far from
here and I like to walk.” She shrugs and continues on her way.

“Can I give you a ride?” I jog to catch up
with her and point to my truck. Even with my hand at the small of
her back, she doesn’t move from where she stands.

“Thank you, but I don’t need a ride.”

“I know you don’t, but it’s late and dark,
and you shouldn’t be walking alone.”

“I do it all the time.” Her voice is
pleading, but I don’t budge. If anything happened to her, I’d never
forgive myself.

“To be honest, if my mother ever found out I
let a beautiful woman walk home alone in the dark, I’d never live
it down.”

Pulling her bottom lip into her mouth, she
looks around us. Nodding, she finally gives in and heads toward my
truck. “Okay, but I’m not going to fall for the momma taught me
best line every night.” She grins to the ground as she keeps
walking.

“Okay, I’ll be sure to think of a few more
lines to use until winter is over.”

She laughs and spins around to object, but I
open her door and place my hands at her waist to help her inside.
She freezes at my touch and then her hands cover mine quickly as if
she is going to remove them, but changed her mind. Her eyes go wide
and her chest rises with her breath. Like any normal man, my eyes
fall quickly to the movement. For a moment we just stand here - her
watching me, me watching her every breath, and her hands on top of
mine. Everything about this encounter is peaceful. As if the
moments alone between us are natural.

Our exchange has a warm feeling to it that
I’ve never felt before, and already I know I like it enough that I
can’t screw this chance up. Slowly, I lift my head to look at her
and the moment I do, she shivers. I swallow hard and watch as her
eyes dart from mine to my lips and back. The urge to pull her close
and kiss her until neither of can breathe takes over me.

I close my eyes and start to lean in when a
car speeds by honking the horn, followed by someone screaming out
the window. I can’t make out what they said, but with the way Allie
is blushing, I’m guessing she did and it was something about us and
what I was about to do.

“It’s getting cold out here. You should get
in,” I say regrettably.

She nods and slowly moves her hands from mine
as she turns toward my truck. Once she’s safely inside, I lean in
to grab her seatbelt. When my face is inches from hers, I freeze. I
do this whenever my niece rides with me and I think the habit got
the best of me. Whatever the reason is, it brought me closer to
Allie.

“I can get—”

“Sorry, I—”

A laugh escapes our lips and I pull back,
closing her door and jogging to my side of the truck. I jump in,
thankful for the auto start that already has my seat warm and ready
to go. I turn the radio down a bit because I plan on talking to her
the entire way and I don’t need the distraction.

“So, what made you decide to work in a
library?”I ask, pulling out of the parking lot.

“The short version—take a left here—the short
version is that I’m addicted to anything that involves books.”

“And the long version?”

“The long version is that this is just a
small tour in my future of reading and writing.”

“Sounds like the long version is easier than
the short version.”

“Yeah, but everyone has to start somewhere,
right?”

“Yeah, I guess,” I say, nodding to her
response.

“Turn right here, and it’s the third building
down,” she points to my right.
Damn, I thought I would get more
time.

I follow her directions and pull up in front
of an old building. It’s two stories of red brick that clearly
looks like a four-plex. The second-floor apartments have balconies
that look like they might fall off if anyone sets foot on them.
Please let Allie live on the ground floor.

I put the truck in park and get out, walking
to her side briskly and opening her door. She smiles.

“I would have never taken you for the
chivalry type,” she says and freezes as I offer her my hand. She
stares at it, clearly trying to decide if she should take it or
not. The way she blinks and squints her eyes tells me she’s
thinking hard about it. Reaching my hand to hers, I lace our
fingers and she gets out of the truck. She doesn’t even try to pull
away.

“Which apartment is yours?” I close her door,
but never let her hand leave mine.

“I’m on the second floor right—” she points
up and starts to laugh. Before I get the chance to see what’s
funny, the sound of a dog barking from inside captures my
attention. I look up to a large window and see the glimpse of a dog
between two curtains, its head thrown back with each bark. “That
would be Bell, also known as my watch dog and proud cat chaser,”
she smiles.

The wind comes up from behind us, reminding
me we’re outside. I squeeze Allie’s hand and guide her toward the
entrance. Once inside, she starts up the steps and lets go of my
hand.

“I can take it from here. Thank you for the
ride home.” She steps backward up the stairs.
I don’t want to go
yet.

“A true gentleman would make sure you got to
your door and inside safely before he leaves.” I skip the stairs
two at a time until I reach the top.

Allie can’t hide the grin on her face. She
steps up to the door on the left, unlocks it, and then turns
around. “Again, thank you for driving me home.” Bell scratches the
door behind her, needing out I’m sure.

Here’s my chance.
Ask her now or you will
never know
. “Before you go, I was thinking it would be a great
idea if sometime this weekend we got together and had dinner.”

“Like on a date?” she takes a step toward
me.

“Yeah,” I nod.

She takes another step. “I don’t date
coworkers.”

Shit.

“Then think of it as more like we’re non
coworkers over the weekends.”

Allie steps back and looks me in the eye. She
nods up and down slowly as she considers it.

“I thought I heard someone… oh,” the friend
from the coffee shop, Kelly, erupts from the door across from
Allie’s. She freezes midstep when she notices us. “Sorry, I—” she
turns back to her door then stops and spins around again. Her
checks are bright red. “Allie, just, you know, call me when you’re
done or whatever. Okay, see ya,” she says awkwardly before
disappearing behind her door.

Without hesitating, I glance back to Allie,
who already has her door propped open. “Tomorrow night?”

“I’m sorry, Parker; I don’t think it would be
very professional of us to go to dinner.”

With that, she steps inside her apartment and
closes the door. How this woman left me speechless, I’ll never
know. What I do know is my brother is going to kick my ass when he
finds out I wasn’t able to hold up my end of the deal with our
sister. Looks like both him and I will be attending that dark
dating event.

Allie

I close the door to my apartment and lock it.
I give Bell a scoop of food for dinner and mindlessly fill her
water bowl.
He asked me out…on a date.
A real date.
Again
. Did I imagine that? Is it possible he really is into
me? I set the bowl down, and the sound of Bell slurping and
spilling water as she takes a drink fills the silence. Dropping my
purse on the counter, I wander into the living room and straight
over to the window. I pull back the curtain just in time to watch
Parker’s tail lights disappear. It was real.

“Whoa, girl! That was one fine man!” Kelly’s
voice carries as she storms into my apartment, letting the door
slam shut. “I always knew you would give in and give him a chance,”
she dramatically fans her face. “I know you’ve banned coworkers all
thanks to a bad experience at your last job, but not every guy will
turn out that way. I promise. Besides, you can’t help who you
like.”

Kelly wanders into my living room, where I’m
now sitting on the couch still wearing my jacket, hat, and gloves.
I’m too thrown off by Parker’s behavior to fully register her
comment. I can’t deny I’ve always been attracted to Parker. I want
to look at him all day and every time I do, I can’t help but smile.
This isn’t good.
Not good at all.

Kelly might be right. Dating a coworker isn’t
a bad thing, and I do think he’s pretty good looking. I mean, I
don’t think another man could wear slacks as sexy as Parker does.
And he’s not just sexy and smart. He’s down to earth and he like
kids. Most guys our age are terrified of the idea of being around
small children. I can’t wait to see how he acts with them next
week.

“Hello, earth to Allie,” Kelly waves her hand
in front of my face, and I blink myself out of my self-induced
trance to look at her.

“What?” I ask, playing dumb and praying she
didn’t just read my mind.

“What? Really?” her hands go to her hips and
she cocks her head. “You really didn’t hear a word I just said, did
you?”

“About what?”

“That
guy
,” she points her thumb to
the door and glances out the window then back to me. “What’s going
on? What aren’t you telling me?” She pins me with a confused look
that quickly turns to curiosity. She folds her arms in front of her
and plops onto the couch. “What happened at work today and why did
Parker bring you home?”

“We’re working next week’s events together,
and he asked me out again. I turned him down.”

She stands and starts to pace the room.

Is she freaking out more than I am?

“What am I going to do with you?” Her arms
fly up, and I catch a hint of a smile on her face as she keeps
pacing. She stops and gives me a full grin. “I think we need to
start at square one,” she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.
She’s getting into that funky mood that she pulls off playfully,
but is actually completely serious. I’d better fill her in before
she can go on. Although, her fun and relaxing attitude is just what
I need. “When a boy and girl meet…” she begins.

I cut her off and try to hold back a laugh.
“I just need more time to think about it.”

She was totally about to give me the
birds-and-bees talk. Maybe I should have said yes to the date. Have
I really lost my mind?