“I’m not sure I should have anything else,” she said eventually. “I’m stuffed.”

“How about coffee?”

She made a face. “At this time of night? Absolutely not. I’d be bouncing off walls.”

He gave her a sly smile. “It was worth a shot. I’m running out of ways to keep you here.”

Cosima didn’t respond immediately, and Tristan found himself backtracking. “Was that creepy? I didn’t mean for it to be creepy.”

“No, not at all,” she said, a wide smile blossoming on her face. “I just thought I was the one keeping you here.”

Tristan returned her smile. “Maybe we’re keeping each other.”

5. Cosima

Chapter 5

Cosima

Maybe we’re keeping each other.

The idea that he was enjoying her company just as much as she was enjoying his shouldn’t thrill Cosima as much as it did, but she couldn’t help grinning up at Tristan like a middle schooler who’d finally gotten the attention of her crush.

Wisps of excitement and attraction fluttered deep in Cosima’s belly. She wanted to reach out and touch him. Wanted to trace her fingers along the inside of his wrist so that she could feel the warmth of his skin against hers. Cosima didn’t know what to do with herself. It may have seemed as natural as breathing sitting with Tristan and exchanging funny stories over crab cakes and drinks, but Cosima had to accept that she didn’t really know this man. He was virtually a stranger, even though she knew his favorite color was burgundy and that he always bribed his daughter with another snack so he could have the pink Starbursts. It didn’t matter that she knew he constantly dreamed of flying and falling and once spent hours looking up dream dictionaries searching for what his subconscious was trying to tell him before he gave up and decided to enjoy the ride.

Cosima didn’t want the night to end. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt as intrigued by, taken with, or attracted to a man, and it was disappointing that the circumstances that threw them together meant she probably wouldn’t see him again after leaving the restaurant.

The thought that this might just be a one-time moment of serendipity had Cosima reaching for the menu even though she was too full to take another bite. She moved back and forth between a brownie and a cheesecake until Jules sauntered over to the table with a knowing smile on her face and asked, “Are you guys still going? Is there anything I can get for you?”

Tristan looked up at Jules with that smile that did the weirdest things to Cosima’s insides and said, “I think I want to get a Spiked Hot Chocolate.”

Cosima raised an eyebrow.