In Your Arms

Chap. 10: A Third Date Won't Hurt

(Picture of Halee Wheeler Above)
*Katie's POV*

"I thought she was going to reach over the table and strangle me." I stare up at the ceiling, "Her eye was twitching and everything."
Halee and Tara lay beside me with a box of donuts from Tara's bakery shop. I bite my lip at the torture Hannah is going to put me through now that she knows I'm dating a handsome man. And not just any handsome man, a handsome man with a butt load of money.
"Well, Cinderella is finally getting her happily ever after and the wicked Stepsister isn't." Tara chuckles.
Halee sits up and gives me a disgusted look. "You HATE roses."
I groan. "I KNOW! They are so cliché."
"I would have tossed the in the trash." Halee says annoyed, "Or give them to Hannah and let Hannah show up to your dinner date instead of you."
              I did think about that. I considered it, but I felt stuck up for thinking that way. So I called Tara and Halee instead.
            "No, you did the right thing." Tara says with her sunshine smile, "You told him you weren't a gold digger—and you're not—so he must be interested in you. Especially after your argument."
            "Yeah," I side with Tara on this one "that's why I didn't give her the flowers and—"
             "And what?" Halee yawns, "And why you let this jerk walk all over you?"
             "It just felt nice to be the girl with the roses." I sigh, "I have never had anyone send me anything sweet or romantic like this before. Not from a man, at least."
             "Yeah, remember Luna in college? She was weird." Halee says, making my chuckle. "She used to send you rocks and crystals and claimed she wanted to cleanse your soul."
              I mimic Luna's voice. "Come dance with me under the stars the way we were supposed to be—bare and naked to Father Moon's eyes. Ooh!"
             We all three burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. Luna was weird. REALLY weird. I'm glad I got roses instead of stones. I bite my lip at the thought of somebody wanting me. Chris obviously has an agenda to get me in the bedroom, the roses and asking me out on a third date through a love note screams I WANNA HAVE SEX! But if that is his agenda, then he is going to have to work extra hard for it. I'm not an easy girl. I want to know that he is THE one.
             I doubt that considering our age gap, taste in activities worth wasting time, and just our social status that we are not a match. It doesn't quite look right. But, you see, I have this habit where I can't say no...to certain things. A third date won't hurt nothing, right?

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                "Hello?" Chris's deep voice makes me grin, biting my lips at how happy I am to here his voice.
                "Well, I got your flowers." I try to not sound so impressed or excited.
              Chris chuckles on the other end. "Oh, did you now? Are they too fancy?"
                I dramatically sigh. "Well, roses are a cliché when it comes to romance."
                The other line is silent for a long time. "Oh, really? Then what flowers would have you preferred?"
              A small smile dances on my lips. "Tulips."
               "Tulips." Chris says in a soft voice, "Not as expensive but hard to find year around."
                I giggle. "Sunflowers are nice too. They remind me of home."
                "Duly noted." He says on the other line, a small bounce in his voice. "I'be been thinking a lot about what you said."
               I plop down on my bed in my silky jammies. "Oh really, which part?"
              I can almost see his smile. "All of it."
              "Well, good then." I say teasingly, "Maybe that 10 dollars and 24 cents really went into use after all."
                The sound of Chris's small laughter sends butterflies fluttering all around in my stomach. God, what is wrong with me? I have to watch myself and not slip up. Not while I have him where I need him to be.