Tempted by a Dangerous Man by Cleo Peitsche

faux broom closet, and this time he pulled out a long black coat that I was willing to bet was cashmere.
    “I can’t accept that.”
    He narrowed his eyes and shook his head as if disappointed. “It’s mine. I’m just loaning it to you.”
    “But—”
    “Please, Audrey. This next month is going to be…” He blinked. “Not fun.”
    “How dangerous is it?”
    “Not much more than usual. But please let me have this memory.”
    Well, that was one way to win an argument. I allowed him to help me into the coat. The way he looked at me had me blushing to the tips of my toes. “So this is like a real date, I guess,” I said to cover my nervousness.
    “I think we deserve one night without all that other stuff getting in the way. Don’t you?”
    I nodded with a little smile and began fastening the buttons. Corbin pulled a dark purple scarf out of the closet and draped it around my neck. It was so soft that I actually sighed.
    But then he opened the door, and I stared at the snow. Corbin stepped outside, turned and easily picked me up. He closed the door.
    “You’re not carrying me down the mountain!” I said.
    He laughed.
    I snuggled into him as he carried me five minutes to the waiting SUV. And he didn’t seem the least bit winded by the time he carefully poured me into the seat.  
    “Can’t believe I missed this road.”
    “It’s hardly a road,” he said. “And I might have been keeping you away from it.”
    Corbin went back inside and returned with the backpack as well as a box.  
    I could allow myself this one night of being just a girl on a date with a boy she really liked. I wasn’t going to think about who he was, or who I was, or that I didn’t have a job or any money. I wasn’t even going to think about what’s-his-name who had almost ruined my life. Either of them.
    Corbin had put together a perfect night, and even my insecurities and worries couldn’t ruin it.

    ~~~

    We drove for over two hours. Corbin put on music—folk music this time. I was happy to look out the window, lost in my thoughts.  
    My mother had once told me that the sign of a good relationship was being comfortable in silence together. Well, we had that, though Corbin got most of the credit. He was so at ease in his own skin that just being around him could relax me. Or work me up, if I let my mind wander toward the carnal.  
    “We heading to Mexico?” I asked eventually.
    He smiled. “Not long now.”
    And in fact, twenty minutes later, a uniformed valet was opening my door and helping me out.
    Corbin tipped the valet, then draped his arm across my shoulders. Inside, he helped me out of my coat and checked it.
    The room was full of tuxedoed waiters who kept polite smiles on their faces and never made eye contact. Corbin and I weren’t the youngest diners, but I was willing to bet that I was the poorest.  
    The starched maître d’ led us to a table draped in stiff cloth that I already knew I was going to soil; I could have sworn that it trembled in fear. As we sat, I saw a waiter at the next table, though maybe not a waiter but a special wine guy, pouring two glasses from a dark bottle.  
    A sommelier, I remembered suddenly. That’s what they were called. “Where I come from, you just grab the box and tilt it,” I said.
    Corbin smiled, but there was a trace of anxiety in his eyes. “Thank you for doing this,” he said.
    “Are you kidding? I’ve wanted to have a real date with you since… a long time. Not as long as you think, though,” I added quickly.
    But he wasn’t in the mood for making cocky comments about how irresistible I found him. He reached over and trapped my hands between his. “Thank you. For allowing me to do this. I… I’ve missed dating. Didn’t realize it.” His full lips twisted into a smile. “Well, there wasn’t anyone I wanted to spend time with.”
    “Fuck them and leave them?” My voice was a little too loud, but Corbin didn’t seem to care.  
    “It was hardly the worst