I straighten up, wetting my lips nervously and covertly. He sets his glass beside mine and then puts his hand down on the wood so that his skin barely touches mine.

His scent is intoxicating.

I’ve lost all my cool. I am putty.

“The key to good sex is listening to each other,” he says. “You told me what you like. I know you like to be kissed here.” He touches the spot behind my ear and I inhale sharply at his warmth. “I know you like to be held here.” He puts one of his strong hands around my waist, pulling me barely toward him. “I know you like to be bitten here.” He leans down and gently slaps the inside of my thigh.

I’m going to die.

“Seems like you listen really well,” I say.

“You leave me no choice.” He leans forward then, his lips close to my ear, where he whispers, “You never shut the fuck up.”

I push him away by the chest, smiling and saying, “Okay, all right, very nice.”

He laughs. “I’m kidding. I love to hear you talk, Meg. Even when you’re saying batshit crazy things like you tend to.”

My aching desire for him mingles now with a warm fondness. There’s an ease between us that runs more deeply than I can reach. I can feel the importance of us. We’re Cillian and Meg, Meg and Cillian. Iconic in our own private way.

I step toward him, waiting for a long moment before I reach up and put a hand on his cheek.

He leans into it, shutting his eyes, then wrapping his fingers around my wrist.

I run my own through his hair and step even closer.

He kisses the thin skin on the inside of my palm and I inhale deeply.

I don’t know which of us initiates, and it hardly matters. His lips are on mine, my lips are on his, and I feel like I might explode.

He kisses me with hungry urgency, one hand flat on my back, one on my jaw. He’s the best, best, best kisser I’ve ever encountered. And for a bit at an award show, I once kissed Glen Powell.

I love every piece of him that touches me. His slightly rough face where he hasn’t shaved in a day or two, the taste of French wine on his tongue, the intensity of his desire and how I can feel it matched inside me like a magnet.

In that moment, I release the doubt I have about whether or not I do or should love him. I let go of the idea that no one can love someone after only knowing them a few days. If this whole experience has taught me anything, it’s that there are gorgeous mysteries winding between us and the people we care for.