A/N: You should thank Kiki and my muse for the quick update and the next chapter is coming soon as well, hope this one will give you an idea what's going to happen in that one ;)
Chapter Twenty-One
"I shouldn't have let you talk me into this," I shift the blame on Alicia even though I'm aware there's no time to change my mind anymore.
"I don't remember you protesting too much when I offered," she reminds me with a supportive smile and I know she is right. When she suggested this solution to my problem I was grateful and accepted right away, but it was before I slept on it and started to have doubts.
"We shouldn't be hiding," I look around in my friend's office that is half the size of mine in the school and I'm not even sure how all the furniture fitted in on the first place. I feel embarrassed that I have to turn to such means just to meet with a man in my age.
"I would agree, but…" she starts, but I cut her off quickly.
"I know, I need to find a way to tell Gina that I'm dating the father of the boy she probably has a crush on," I finish her chain of thoughts.
Our conversation with Millie still hasn't left my mind and I wish I knew how to handle this situation properly.
"Good luck with that," Alicia tries to lighten the mood and I realize there's no point in thinking about it for now. I need to focus on why we are here.
"We're sticking with hiding," I declare and glance at the clock on the wall. "Shouldn't he be here by now?" I ask anxiously.
"Patience," she tries to calm me and I'm willing to listen to her.
"Thank you for doing this for us, we really appreciate it," I tell her.
I thought Alicia's plan for Kurt and I to meet in the hidden office in her boutique was brilliant, here we have the privacy we need and it didn't take much to convince Kurt either.
"I'm happy to provide you with a love nest," she says with a smile and when I grasp the meaning of her words I'm pretty sure of the color of my face.
"You don't think that we? Oh god, you cannot be serious," I shake my head at her suspicion and I hope she is just teasing me.
"Why not? If you only want to talk, you can do it on the phone all the same," she points out and I begin to regret my choice to come here on the first place.
"You know that other things can be done on the phone too, right?" I try to embarrass her in return, when we hear a knock on the glass door.
"Hold that thought."
She turns around and walks out of the room to open the door.
"Hi, I'm Alicia Gardner, Diane's friend," she introduces herself and I wish I could have been the one to introduce her to Kurt, but we have to make sure no one actually sees us together, so we have taken all the necessary precautions.
"Kurt McVeigh, it's nice to meet you," I hear his voice and it finally hits me that he is really here, with only a wall separating us.
"Same here. Diane is in there," she sends him my way, while I have a last glance at my outfit, to make sure I look okay. Nothing outstanding this time, just a skirt and a purple blouse, I came from work after all.
"Hey," he greets me and as our eyes meet I feel that there's no other place I'd rather be right now.
"Hi," I smile at him, then my gaze shifts to Alicia on his side.
"I'm going to leave you two alone now. Will you come with me to lock up?" she addresses me.
"Sure, I'll be back in a sec," I tell Kurt and as I walk past him our arms brush against each other slightly, causing a heat flash to run through my body.
"He is handsome," Alicia notes in a soft tone once we are at the door, but I'm still afraid she might not be silent enough.
"Shhh, he could hear us," I whisper.
"Have fun and I can't wait for Will and I to go on a double date with you two," she smiles at me and it's good to have her approval, even if she only exchanged a few words with Kurt. I assume part of the reason behind her offer was that she wanted to finally meet him and I can't really blame her for that.
"You are thinking too far ahead," I warn her with a grin.
"Enjoy my couch," she whispers and turns around quickly, probably to avoid my eye roll.
"I'll pretend I haven't heard that," I reply and step to the open door.
"Will you call me later?" she turns to me once she's outside.
"I will," I promise and lock the door before I walk back inside the room with Kurt in it and close that door as well, just to be safe.
"I'm so sorry for this," I apologize for the inconvenience, but he looks at me confused.
"What are you sorry for?"
"The sneaking around," I explain as I approach him.
"We are alone in a room, you shouldn't feel sorry for making it happen." I can see that he doesn't mind the circumstances at all and I'm extremely grateful for that.
"Isn't it ridiculous?" I glance around in the small room once more, while he gets closer to me, slowly blocking my view.
"Maybe you'll think differently after this," he touches my chin softly and places a kiss on my lips that I've been craving ever since we parted.
"Still feeling ridiculous?" he inquires after he pulls back from me.
"I'm feeling ridiculously happy to see you again," I admit, while I let go of every other feeling that blocked me so far.
"Sounds much better," he responds with a wide grin. "And in case it doesn't show, I feel the same way."
"It shows," I smile at him. "I will find a way to tell Gina, so we don't have to hide anymore," I make a promise I don't know how I'm going to keep, but when I'm with him I feel capable of all sorts of things.
"Whenever you feel ready," he reassures me that he doesn't mind giving me all the time I need and I couldn't ask for anything more.
"I fear she has feelings for Keith. I'm not sure she knows what you told me about him."
Since I promised not to tell Keith's secret to anyone, Kurt is the only one I can talk to who really understands my problem with the whole situation with the kids.
"I have no idea."
I know Kurt has a hard time communicating with his son, which makes it all a lot harder to handle. But even if I was allowed to talk to Gina about Keith's secret, I still wouldn't want her to find it out from me. It might save her from a heartbreak, but I'm sure she would still blame me for ruining her hopes, if there are any.
"I'll think of a way to find out."
The last time Gina and I talked, she insisted that she and Keith are only friends. Maybe I can ask if she's interested in any other boy.
"And what if you find out that she does?" Kurt brings up the worst case scenario, that has been bugging me for a day now.
"Then we'll have to convince Keith to tell her the truth somehow," I reveal the only solution I can think of. It has to come from the boy, that's the only way Gina will be able to accept it and make peace with it.
"I wish things weren't this complicated, because all I really want to think of now is you," he reminds me why we are here on the first place, that we have fought the obstacles to spend some quality time together.
"You are right, we shouldn't waste the little time we have," I fold my arms around his neck and kiss him, while I feel his arms slide around my waist, pulling me even closer.
'I'm happy to provide you with a love nest. … Enjoy my couch.' I hear Alicia's voice in my head during the kiss and it would be so easy to give into the temptation. His hands start stroking my back and I feel the desire taking over me slowly. When he moves his lips to place gentle, but clearly hungry kisses on my neck I almost feel my skin burn.
I try to fight the inevitable and I open my eyes that fall on the inviting dark green couch right next to us. All I had to do was take a step or two and push him on the couch and there would be no way back for us. But it's not why I came here today and I don't want it to happen like this, hiding in the office of my friend's store. We can do better.
"What's wrong?" He notices my distraction and moves away to look into my eyes.
"I just…" I pull back from him, not sure how to tell him exactly, maybe he thought this is why I wanted to meet him here, like Alicia did.
"We don't have to do anything you don't want to," he removes his arms from around me, understanding where I'm coming from.
"It's not that I don't want to, I just don't want it to happen here," I explain and I hope I haven't disappointed him too much.
"Don't worry, I understand. I just got a little carried away," he admits and I don't blame him at all, it was just as easy for me to get lost in his arms.
"I'm free Saturday night, at least until midnight, that's Gina's curfew." I reveal that we could have waited until then to meet again, I still decided not to.
"And what do you plan for us to do?" he asks with a hopeful smile.
"I haven't thought about the details," I throw the ball back at him.
"I could cook for you again," he offers.
"At your place?" I inquire boldly. I may have said no if he had invited me to his place for the first date, but I don't feel the need to do that anymore.
"Or your place, whatever works better for you. Or I could just bring over the food, like the last time. Unless you prefer going out again," he lists all our options, causing my head to spin a little.
I glance at the couch once more and my mind goes back to a few minutes ago when he was kissing me so passionately and it helps to make up my mind rather quickly.
"I think I like the idea of staying in this time," I hope it's clear to him why I answered this and his reaction doesn't disappoint.
"So your place or mine?"