I looked left and right, not sure what I had expected. “Ice cream actually sounds really good.”
Chapter 4
Sanders
I fought to keep from punching the air in victory. It was just ice cream but it felt like so much more. Another chance to explore why meeting this woman felt so right. I’d never felt a physical connection so strong, so fast. If touching her felt like a gift from the universe, imagine what good conversation would be like.
I laced my fingers through hers, desperate for contact again but keeping my touch light like capturing a baby bird. “Is this okay?” I asked.
Blush pinkened her cheeks as she glanced around the busy sidewalk. “Um, yeah.” She lightly squeezed my hand back.
Not to put the horse before the cart, but I wracked my brain for things to ask her. I wanted to know anything and everything she’d share with me. And the way she called me back after returning her jacket, told me she wasn’t ready to end the night yet either.
“I was thinking,” I started as we maneuvered through the nighttime crowds, toward the 16th Street Mall area, “it’s going to be difficult to have a conversation with you without knowing your name. I can’t keep referring to you as The Beautiful Woman Who Stole My Heart On the Dance Floor.”
She scoffed loudly. I was laying it on a little thick but I liked making her blush. You’d think she’d never been praised for her astounding beauty before.
“You’re too much.” She glanced away.
“I’m just looking out for you. It’ll be easier to remember than Good-Looking Stranger With The Sweet Dance Moves.”
She snickered again. Making her laugh was beginning to feel more valuable than the thrill of adrenaline. “Actually I’ve just been referring to you as Smooth Talker, not too bad.”
“It’s Sanders. I’m Sanders.”
She stopped and her gaze narrowed before she tossed out her hands to the side. “Fine. I’m Roxanne.”
“See, that wasn’t too hard,” I teased and then immediately started singing the famous song by The Police that shared her name. She gasped and covered my mouth with her hands after a few people stopped to stare at me.
“Stop. Oh my God!” She was laughing though and I continued through her fingers. “Shh. Stop,” she pleaded with a grin, casting looks from side to side.
I pulled her closer. Her laughter stopped as her hands fell to her sides. Her gaze grew heavy as it dropped to my lips. I’d pay money to know if she was replaying our earlier kissing like I was.
She cleared her throat and stepped back. I gave her space but kept her hands grasped in mine.
“You know that song is about a hooker, right?” she asked with one arched eyebrow.
I frowned in thought before saying, “Actually, I think it’s about a man who’s fallen in love with a woman and is telling her she can forget about her dark past and just focus on their love.”
Her mouth parted slightly and she studied my face like she was just seeing it for the first time. A moment later, she cleared her throat and the cool mask she wore was back in place.
“Most people call me Roxy anyway,” she said in a soft voice and pulled me to start walking again.
I hoped I hadn’t accidentally offended her as she grew quiet again. But at least I had her name. A name that suited her perfectly and now I couldn’t see her as anyone else but beautiful Roxy. “Roxy, The Beautiful Woman Who Stole My Heart On the Dance Floor. But I suppose I could shorten it to just Roxy. Roxy and Sanders. Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”
I snuck a glance to find her shaking her head with a quiet smile. “You’re one of those painfully optimistic people, aren’t you?” she asked.
“I just know how fast life can change. I prefer to live in the moment.”
She went quiet again and I could almost see her digesting those words as her brow furrowed and lips pursed. “Life can change in an instant. We agree on that.” Her free hand fiddled with the edge of her jacket as we walked.
“My best friend deals with that by trying to control every aspect of his life,” I said. “I go the other route.”
“What do you mean?”
“I like adventures. Skydiving, bungee jumping, base jumping. Really anything that involves a waiver and a free fall.”
“Oh, okay. So you’re a crazy person.” She softened her jibe by poking me in the ribs.
“Nah. Just an adrenaline junky.”
It had always been like that. The moment the darkness started to creep in the edges of my mind, I pushed myself to some new limit to clear the fog. I had just been about to explain that many of my adventures were part of my job so I didn’t seem as flaky but she spoke up first.
“I think I’m more like your buddy,” she said.
“Ah, a control freak.” I kept my tone light so she knew I teased.
“I never thought about it like that,” she said. Again her voice got that airiness to it, like her thoughts were far away. “I guess, like you, I know things can be taken away without a moment’s notice, so it’s best to be prepared.”
Her words rang so true. My life had changed in a moment more than once and seeing her so guarded made me understand that she had experienced darkness too. Where I spun out, she held on tighter.
“It must be exhausting to try and prepare for every situation. Plus, where’s the fun in that?”
“You and I are very different people.” She said it with a forced
