At her words,Crispin frowned, realizing that despite the differentcircumstances, how similar a childhood they’d had.
“You think I’m weird, don’t you?” she asked, looking away fromhim.
He took herchin in his hand and turned her head towards him. He waited untilshe looked into his eyes. “I do,” he said with a smile. Before shecould pull away, he kissed her, this time, on the mouth with lipsso stunningly soft she nearly swooned. After a good long while, hedrew away and gazed at her. “Refreshingly weird, and I like it. Ilike it a lot.”
Chapter 17
Following thatspellbinding kiss, Gwen was grateful once again for Crispin’staking the lead since she couldn’t trust her knees from bucklingand it was taking all her concentration to keep walking. With herhand in his, he led her along Tower Bridge Road and found a nicequiet pub in which to have dinner. She smiled as the greeter placedthem in a cozy corner booth and smiled, even more, when Crispinhelped her off with her coat.
“Go on, get in there,” he said as he encouraged her to slide inahead of him. He then followed her in and sat snug beside her. Hetook the initiative and ordered them a bottle of Baco Noir. Whilethe waiter went to retrieve the wine, they sat quietly and studiedthe menu. After a moment, Crispin closed his, sat back, and restedhis long arm on the booth behind Gwen’s head and waited for her todecide.
From where theywere seated they had a great view of the charming old place. It wasjust what he’d been looking for as they’d passed a few more modernrestaurants along the way. He could tell Gwen was pleased with it,too, since she appeared to have a preference for this old-worldkind of thing.
While his eyestook in the scene in front of him, his mind was only on one thing.That thing was how to get through this trip with whatever was leftof his heart intact. He had thought he could have the best of bothworlds, a casual sexual escapade with his unexpected travelcompanion without fear of attachment. But it would appear that hisplan had already gone to shit. After that kiss back by the RiverThames, he had no delusions of how this would play out. Getting herinto bed would be a piece of cake. Keeping her out of his heartwould be near impossible. Yet he was determined to shield himselfas well as he could. He was prepared to do whatever he needed to doto save himself the inevitable disappointment when she realized hewas not this fantasy literary hero she imagined him to be.
With thatthought in mind, he reached into his coat pocket with his free handand checked his phone. A melancholy smile formed on his face,finding a text from Keegan telling him to call Becky and put themall out of their misery. He might have done so, but he had to admitthat a selfish part of him got a kick out of her quirky concern forhim. Strangely enough, he found it nice to be missed.
The waiterreturned with the wine and made a big show of popping the cork. Hethen waited as Crispin took a sip and nodded before he backed away,promising to return shortly to take their order.
Gwen smiled,watching Crispin play the part of a well-schooled gentleman. Hereally did seem older than he was. Not bad for a twenty-somethingcollege kid from Kingston, Ontario, she thought while giggling toherself. When he quirked an inquisitive eyebrow at her, she wavedhim off with a shrug. “You should call,” Gwen said, distractinghim.
“Call who?” Crispin asked, shaking himself off, slipping thephone he still held in his hand back into his pocket.
“Becky, I assume,” she said, trying not to let her insecuritiesshow. Truth be told, she couldn’t help but wonder if, in fact, hisfeelings for Becky went beyond that of close friendship. She hadn’tthought so until now, but seeing the wistful look on his face gaveher cause to wonder. “Am I right?” Just how deep did his feelingsrun for her?
“You are wrong, actually. Becky doesn’t have my cell number.Thank God for that or I’d never hear the end of it. It was a textfrom Keegan, asking me to call her, though. Apparently, she’smissing me terribly,” he said with a smile.
“And you? Are you missing her terribly?”
He sat up andcleared his throat. “Possibly, but that is neither here northere.”
“What does that mean?” When he ignored her, she tried adifferent question. “How did you all meet?”
“So many questions,” he said with narrowed eyes as he cockedhis head and looked at her. He rested his arm on the booth behindher, his fingers gently stroking her shoulder.
Feeling cheeky,she missed the shift in his mood and instead raised her eyebrowsand said, “For everything you tell me, I’ll give you a kiss.” Asthe words left her mouth, she tensed, when his fingers tangled intoher hair and took hold of it. He gave it a borderline painful tugand leaned in real close, his expression dark and menacing.
“Listen here, young miss, the only one giving away kisses, isme,” he growled into her ear. “Understand?”
“I… I’m sorry. I was just…” She could only stare at himwide-eyed. What was this about? He could kiss her, but she couldn’tkiss him? He could touch her, hold her, yet she was not allowed totouch or hold him? Could she be okay with that? Should she beconcerned? In every other way, Crispin was perfect. He’d been kindand caring, so affectionate. He’d held her hand all day. Just nowby the river, he’d held her in his arms, and kissed her. Why was heso opposed to being on the receiving end of things? She wanted toask him, to demand he explain his reasonings, because, in allhonesty, she wasn’t sure she could hold back much longer. But atthe same time, she didn’t want to ruin their evening. They’d beenhaving such a nice time so far.
“Don’t apologize.” He relaxed his grip and kissed her quick onthe corner of her mouth. “It’s just the way it is… with me.” Helooked in her eyes
