So her hand remained frozen on his thigh for the rest of the movie. She was too nervous to rub him back, and she was too curious to move it away.

AT THE END of the Batman movie, Ivan knew for a fact that he could have a beautiful dessert if he wanted it. He was no longer an amateur. All he had to do was ask Jacari the right questions. But he was hesitant to ruin her.

It wouldn’t be fair, he told himself. I’m not really feeling her like that. I mean, she’s nice, but my mind is preoccupied. Then again…we’re all the way in New York. I could just act like it’s a vacation thing.

He held her hand comfortably until the end of the night. Then he asked her, as they strolled up the New York street, “Are you looking forward to getting all dolled up for me tomorrow?”

She grinned. “Of course.” She sounded more confident now.

“And you got some more Italian clothes you wanna show off?”

“Yup.”

“And lingerie?” Ivan couldn’t help but slip that in as they walked, hand in hand, outside the movie theaters. They hadn’t bothered to hail a cab yet. What was the rush? The New York City lights were beautiful.

Jacari felt all hot and jittery as she failed to answer his sneak attack of a question. All she could do was smile at it.

He’s teasing me now, she told herself. What do I say?

As a respectable young woman, she felt obligated to back him off.

“I don’t know about that,” she forced out with a smirk.

Ivan smiled back at her knowingly. She don’t mean that, he assumed. But I wouldn’t rush it anyway…if I even decide to do it.

However, he was thinking about it. So abruptly he stopped walking. Things were getting too clouded in his mind. He said, “I guess I need to get you a taxi back home now, right?”

She nodded, still undecided about them herself.

“Yeah, I guess so. I’ll just see you again tomorrow.”

Ivan said, “You will.” And when he grabbed an available taxi for her to ride home in, he pulled her close to him and kissed her on the lips anyway. He felt like she deserved it.

“That’s just because you’re beautiful,” he told her. “Now I need to see how you’ll look for me tomorrow.”

Jacari continued to smile and climbed into the back of the taxi. “Okay. We’ll see,” she responded to him. She gave him a girlish wave. “Bye.” And when he closed the taxi door back behind her, she had to squeeze her legs together to knock the edge off her feelings of looseness.