Deep Surrendering (4 page)

“Whoa there, Tiger. Easy on the latte. As much as I would enjoy giving you mouth to mouth, it might confuse our friendship.”

“True,” I said, gulping from a glass of ice water.

Chloe started listing more reasons that Fin could have left, some more ridiculous than the crooked penis. I was about to beg her to stop when my phone started going off.

“It’s him,” I said, staring at my phone, but not moving to actually answer it. After so much silence, it was like something out of a dream to actually hear from him.

“What are you doing, you fool? Answer it!” Chloe picked up the phone and shoved it toward my face, swiping her finger across the screen.

“H-hello?” I said, trying to take the phone from Chloe and put it up to my ear at the same time.

“Hello, Marisol.” His voice was crisp and formal. The opposite of how it had been last night. Well, at least before he’d put the brakes on our runaway train of romance.

“Hi, Fin,” I said, smacking myself in the face because I’d already greeted him. Chloe was watching me, and I could tell she wished we were alone so I could put him on speakerphone and she could eavesdrop.

“Hi,” he said, sounding as dorky as I did.

“I wanted to apologize for last night,” he said at the exact same time I said, “I’m sorry things were so weird last night.” This caused us both to laugh, which broke the ice just a bit. I nodded to Chloe and got up from the table, walking to a private corner behind a large potted plant so I wouldn’t disturb the other customers. Also, so Chloe wouldn’t make weird faces at me.

“So, last night,” I said.

“Last night was not my finest hour.”

“I thought the kissing part was good. Was it not good for you?”

He sighed and was silent for so long I thought the call had dropped.

“Yesterday was amazing. Last night was…yes, the kissing was more than good, I’d say. At least for me. You are very talented, Marisol.”

“Well, in addition to my Master’s degrees in Business Admin and Education, I also have a Master’s in Kissology.” He let out a burst of unexpected laughter.

“Those must have been very…informative classes.”

“Oh, they were and the coursework was exhausting.”

“I can only imagine.” The tone of his voice was reminding me of our “coursework” from last night.

“We need to talk about…what happened after the kissing. When you jumped up from the couch as if you were on fire and left without an explanation. Now, if I were to listen to my mother’s advice, it would be to shut up and pretend it never happened. But, unfortunately for you, I’ve spent most of my life trying to not be my mother. So. What happened after the kissing?”

My speech seemed to stun him momentarily.

“What happened after the kissing. Well. That is a loaded question that would require quite an explanation.”

“Wow, you’re long-winded with your explanations.” I just wanted him to get to the point and tell me about his crooked penis so I could assure him that I didn’t care a whit about it and we could move on to date three.

“I…I really don’t think this is the kind of thing I can do over the phone. Can we meet?” Well, I wasn’t looking my best at the moment.

“Sure. How about my apartment? An hour?”

“See you then.”

He hung up without any further pleasantries and I went back to Chloe, who was bouncing in her seat for information.

“Well?”

I sat down slowly, picking up my half-finished latte and sipping it carefully.

“Mari.” She knew I was teasing her, but I wanted to let her suffer for a few seconds. It was good for her. Taught her patience.

“You whore, tell me.”

“Well, it was kind of awkward and he didn’t really give me an explanation, but we’re going to meet up at my apartment and talk. So I’m guessing it’s more than just a crooked penis.”

And now I was freaking out. If his issue needed an explanation that had to be delivered in person, it was probably…delicate. Or explosive. Maybe he had an explosive penis.

“That doesn’t sound good. That probably means he’s a serial killer. I should hide in your bedroom, just to make sure.” For Chloe, this was a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

“Chlo. Would Rory let me go out with a serial killer?”

“Only if she didn’t know he was a serial killer.”

This was getting us nowhere.

“I know if I don’t let you come, then you’re going to barge in, aren’t you?”

“I might.”

I sighed. “Well, we need to get going, because he’s coming over in an hour and I need to make myself presentable.”

“You look fine. If he can’t appreciate you as you are, then he doesn’t deserve you.” Typical best friend, thinking the world shined out of my ass, and any guy who didn’t think I was perfect wasn’t worth my time.

“I’ve known the man for all of two days. I’d like to give the allure that I look fantastic all the time. At least for a week.”

I paid the bill and we headed back to my place.

“Nope,” Chloe said as I tried on yet another dress.

“God, what do you want from me? You’ve turned down every single one so far. I don’t have a whole lot of clothes, you know.” My few designer pieces had been found after much thrift shop searching and were very dear to me.

“I want you to be yourself. Right now you look like you’re trying too hard,” she said from her position on my bed, a pillow under her chin.

“Well, if you’re such a fashion genius, what should I wear?” I pulled my dress over my head and put my hands on my hips.

“This,” she said, holding up a dark blue top I didn’t even know that I owned, and a flared black skirt. “And some black boots. Trust me.”

I was skeptical, but I put the outfit on. I had to admit that it was really cute.

“Whoa, too much swirling there, babe. You’re gonna need to wear some tights or something so you don’t show him EVERYTHING on the second date.”

“Technically this is the third date,” I said, pulling some tights that I’d worn all of once out of my drawer. I hated the damn things, but Chloe was right. I couldn’t flounce around showing everyone my lady business.

I left my hair down because it was behaving today, but I gave it a good brush before I applied some makeup and posed for Chloe to show the final effect.

“I’d do you,” was her response to the outfit. “Also, you might want to stop fiddling with the hem of that skirt or else he’ll know you’re nervous.”

I didn’t know I’d been doing that, but as soon as Chloe pointed it out, I was conscious of it. “Thanks. Now I’m even more paranoid than I already was.”

She got up and stood behind me in the mirror, putting her chin on my shoulder. “Don’t be paranoid. You’re beautiful and smart and funny, and he’d be a dumbass not to see that. So there.” She smacked me on the butt and I winced. “Now go get him.”

I’d managed to get Chloe to go back to her apartment by agreeing to go clubbing with her at a gay bar. Five minutes before he was supposed to pick me up, Fin was at my door in a lovely gray shirt, black pants, and a light purple tie.

“Wow,” I said because I couldn’t help myself. He had one hand behind his back and revealed a bouquet of lilacs. As soon as the smell hit me, I grinned like an idiot and had to resist the urge to throw my arms around his neck. Lilacs weren’t a very easy flower to find, but somehow he had.

“Wow doesn’t do you justice,” he said, handing me the flowers. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, memories flooding my mind. I hoped tonight I could make new ones.

“Once again, I’m so sorry about bolting last night. It was nothing you did, and I know that sounds like a line, but it’s the truth. I know we just met, but I really like you and I’d like to spend more time with you.” I stepped aside to let him into the apartment, which was a hell of a lot cleaner than it had been last night. Actually, it was probably cleaner than it had ever been.

“I wish you could have told me this last night instead of just leaving. That was kind of a dick move, you know.” He chuckled as he followed me toward the kitchen. I had to find a glass bottle to put the flowers in, since I didn’t actually own a vase. In fact, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d needed one.

“Yeah, it was. But running seems so much more easy than actually telling the truth.” He still hadn’t really told me anything, other than he liked me.

“So what is the truth?” I asked, filling up the bottle and sticking the flowers in it before setting it on the middle of my kitchen counter. “Chloe thinks you have a crooked penis, and I said that I wouldn’t care. I’d get over it. I mean, by the time we got to that stage. We were pretty close last night.”

“Yes,” he said, “we were.” Then he seemed to absorb the rest of what I’d said. “Wait, you thought I had a crooked penis?”

I shrugged one shoulder. “It was a possibility. Is that it? Crooked penis?”

He laughed, throwing his head back. “No. There is nothing wrong with my penis. I’ve had plenty of compliments on it.” I was sure he had, along with compliments on the rest of him. From what I’d seen so far, it was all complimentary.

“Look,” he said, stepping closer to me. “I think we moved a little too fast last night. Maybe we should…put on the brakes a little and go slow. See where this leads.” He was asking me to let what happened last night go and pretend it didn’t happen.

I guessed I could do that.

“Deal. But don’t let it happen again,” I said, admonishing him with my finger.

“Deal.” He lunged out and bit the tip of my finger.

This time Fin took me to a performance of the play
Noises Off
, which I’d seen before, but not in a long time.

“I wasn’t sure if you liked musicals or not, so I figured this was a safe choice,” he said as he bought the tickets.

“When it comes to musicals, as long as it’s not
Cats!
, I’m good.”

He shuddered at the mention of
Cats!
. “Agreed.
Cats!
is pretty much the worst thing ever to happen to musical theater.” A straight guy who could admit he loved musicals. Where the hell had he come from and how was I on a date with him?

After we laughed our faces off at the play, we went to dinner at a little hole-in-the-wall Thai place that Fin said he’d seen good reviews about.

“Have you been to Thailand?” I asked after we ordered.

He nodded. “A few times. It’s one of the most beautiful places in the world, but, like I said, I didn’t get to see much of it. I’d be in the middle of these meetings and I’d look out the window and imagine just getting up, leaving the room and going to the beach.”

“And what stopped you?”

He smiled. “My father’s wrath. Losing my job. It’s true that I don’t love it like I used to, but that doesn’t mean I want to quit. Besides, it’s kind of impossible to get out of a family business, as you probably know from Rory.” The only difference was that Rory adored her job and she’d worked her entire life with the one goal of working with her father. It was rare, I supposed, to actually choose the same thing your parents wanted for you. I certainly hadn’t.

“But I don’t want to sound like I’m whining. I have opportunities some people would give anything for and I don’t want to seem ungrateful. What about your family? I’ve been going on about myself. I want to know about you.” Right. Me. I’d much rather talk about him.