Between Here and There
Chapter 3
Kate parked herself at a table in a small cafe for a couple of hours after leaving the train station, her body craving caffeine and the hush of still ground. It'd been no time at all, but she already missed Rick's face, a thing she hadn't expected and couldn't seem to control, and working to try to process that on top of everything else swirling around her brain proved to be a distraction more powerful than her willpower could subvert. With no headway made on the case file she'd brought along with her, she headed for the hotel.
She swiped her way into room 407 at the Loews a short time later, remembering to leave Rick's name with the young woman at the front desk who kindly allowed her access despite the early hour. She dropped onto the bed face down, her suitcase abandoned in the middle of the floor, her coat and scarf still wrapped around her body, and she could hear his voice as though he was right there next to her, whispering in her ear, that soothing voice of the stranger who now occupied her thoughts, and slumber found her as she listened.
Her cell phone rang at nearly 6PM, its buzz waking her with a start. Her father had called earlier to make certain she'd arrived safely, but she'd missed it as she slept, his second attempt a grateful success, given the hour. She assured him all was well and expressed her love, something she always made sure to do since the loss of her mother, her pulse quickening as she watched three more minutes tick by on the nightstand clock. In just two more hours, Rick would be there.
xxxx
She gave herself one last look in the mirror when she heard his knock, thankful she'd brought two dresses along with her on the trip, indecisive at home as to the better of the two for the wedding. The more daring of the two won out for the evening, unconsciously or perhaps not, and she moved for the door with a nervousness that felt almost sweet. "Hi," she said, sounding positively girlish as she pulled it open to find him waiting, bouquet of flowers in hand.
"Wow," Rick said, taking her in. "You look...Wow." He sighed at his own inelegance. "Please, forgive me. Apparently I can't seem to come up with an intelligent group of words to describe how incredible you look."
"Some writing professor you are," Kate teased. "And, thank you. I was just glad there was an iron in the room or we might've been in for some interesting attention tonight."
"Ah, the woes of travel," he said with empathy. "I actually went out and bought this shirt today."
Their eyes met and lingered. "Sorry, um, would you like to come in?" Kate asked, breaking the spell with unspoken regret.
"Sure, yeah, thanks," he said, slipping past her. "Oh, and these are for you. I know you aren't here for that long and a vase is probably a tall order, but I was walking by a shop earlier and I just couldn't resist. They made me think of you."
All she'd been doing for hours was thinking of him, and she well understood the sentiment. "That's very sweet, thank you. They're beautiful." She walked around him and into the bathroom. "Did you enjoy your day?"
"I did. I did some more writing, actually. Inspiration often strikes when I least expect it," he told her as she emerged with a glass of water. "I believe I have you to thank for that."
"Me?" She set the flowers into the shallow glass and propped them up against the lampshade on the nightstand for added balance. "Why me?"
"You ask as if you don't know how compelling a woman you are. How is that possible?" He took a step towards her and his woody scent flooded her senses. "You've been the only thing on my mind since the minute you walked off that train, and it is taking every ounce of restraint I've got not to do something very stupid right now." His eyes fell to her lips and she felt it in her bones.
"I...I didn't expect any of this," Kate murmured under her breath. "I can't believe this is happening."
"I'm sorry, Kate," Rick said, taking her cue and backing off. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I'm truly, truly sorry."
Without another word, she came for him, her mouth finding his with marked insistence. "You didn't," she whispered, leaning in for more. His fingers clutched at the hair at the back of her neck, fueling her even more. "God, where did you come from?" she asked breathlessly. "Whatever this is, I never do this."
"I came from Albany," Rick said amusingly, "and on behalf of me and the capital, we're both so happy you're doing this."
Kate giggled against his lips and the resulting tingle passed between them. "And you smell really nice," she blurted, the words sincere yet extemporaneous, her eyes dropping shut in embarrassment. She'd delivered hundreds of arguments in open court without issue, but here, now, with him, she became a bumbling idiot.
"What? What is it?" he asked, taking in her expression.
"I didn't mean to say that. I meant to thank you for making me laugh." Her forehead dropped to his shoulder. "I told you I never do this."
He wrapped his fingers around hers and gently squeezed. "Hey, look at me." It took her a few seconds, but she did as he asked. "If you were any more enchanting than you are in this very moment, I don't think I'd be able to breathe. I don't want you to be nervous or to worry about what you say or how you say it, because I guarantee that by the end of this night, I'll have said some of the most foolish things you've ever heard." He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "This is just me and you going out for dinner and spending some time together in seats that don't rattle, no expectations, no pressure."
"Just so you know," Kate said after a brief pause, "I wasn't trying to take it back. I really do think you smell nice."
"So do you," Rick replied with a smile. "Now let's go make some people jealous."
xxxx
They sat close in a curved, leather booth beneath a gold-rimmed mirror at Boka, their knees kissing beneath the table every so often in titillatingly unintentional fashion. The restaurant recommendation had come from the same friend who'd set up Rick's meeting with the editor, though he hadn't offered any specifics as to the reason for the inquiry, superstitiously not wishing to curse the evening in any way. They'd each ordered a glass of wine, nursing them as they awaited delivery of their meal, the conversation just as light and effortless as it had been on the train in.
"Tell me something you love about your job," Rick said, watching as she circled the base of her glass with her fingertip, absorbing everything he could in the minimal time he knew he had with her.
"One thing, hmm? Well, I guess I love that when everything comes together, when all the effort and the time and the sacrifice bring us a successful outcome, someone, a family, can go home feeling safe."
"God, that's admirable, spending your days and nights working for someone else's peace of mind," he told her, having expected nothing less.
"You're shaping minds. And you and your students are creating worlds that help make this one a little bit easier to live in. That's just as admirable, Rick. We all need that."
"I just really like that I can wear jeans to work," he retorted, sipping from his glass. "But, thank you, they're good kids. They teach me a lot, too. I probably learn more every day than they do."
"I bet your book is wonderful," she said. "I really hope I get to read it one day."
"For many, many reasons, I hope you do, too." Her hand found his knee and she smiled. "So, how are you feeling about tomorrow? And, if you don't want to talk about it anymore, I totally understand."
"I'll be fine. Of course, I'm happy for him, for them, but there really was a time when I thought it would be us," she said wistfully. "I've been trying not to get too caught up in that space. It's been many years at this point, but it's still a bit strange, I guess, when something that was once such a large part of your life moves on without you." She picked up her glass but set it right back down. "But, God, this is just an ex's wedding. You're seeing your father tomorrow. I can't believe I'm talking about me and my silly stuff."
Their waiter stepped up to the table with their selections, offering Rick a brief moment to let what Kate said to land. "That looks delicious," he said, eyeing her plate with appreciable lust. "Why didn't I get that?"
"Because you lack my fine culinary taste?" Kate quipped, noting the fact that he hadn't looked away from her plate since it'd been placed in front of her. "And because if we'd gotten the same thing, we wouldn't be able to share." She plucked one of the scallops from her plate and set it on his next to his roast chicken, grinning as he giddily reciprocated the gesture and offered her some of his own. "I'm not one who often makes deals, so this better be the best damn chicken I've ever tasted," she said.
"Your kindness shall bring you endless rewards," Rick said, reminiscent of something one might expect to read on a piece of paper tucked into a fortune cookie. "You know, Kate, I hope you don't think what you're feeling about the wedding isn't important because of what I'm here to do. I understand it, I really do, and I know it's not easy. You should let yourself go through whatever you need to, and if I can do anything to help, you just say the word."
She'd just met this man a day ago. She knew so little about his life, about the things he believed in and wanted and felt, but she'd never before felt such a profound connection in spite of those things, or wanted to know more about another person in her entire life. She set down her fork and dabbed her mouth with her napkin, drifted across what space there was between them and kissed his lips gently. "Just you saying that helped," she told him, settling back into her spot.
Rick playfully cleared his throat. "Yes, and apparently it helped me, too. I think I'll carry that one around with me for a while, if you don't mind."
"Your kindness shall bring you endless rewards," Kate said with an audible wink. "Now, eat your scallop before it gets cold."
xxxx
They hopped in a cab to the Riverwalk after dinner, the night air raw and biting, but they strolled arm in arm back towards her hotel as though blanketed by the warmth of summer. Kate recounted trips there with her parents as they walked, times they used to stand together on the bridge and wave at the passing tourist boats on the water just to see how many would wave in kind, or how big a treat it always was for her to buy her own hot dog from a street vendor and hand him the money herself. Everything about the city was a source of joy for her, and Rick relished hearing every word of it.
"I'm sorry. I feel like I've been talking nonstop," she said, suddenly conscious of the sound of her own voice. "Is everything okay? You've been quiet since we left the restaurant."
Rick squeezed her arm in against his body with his own. "You have nothing to apologize for. I love your stories. They actually made me want to come back and do all of those things you talked about, including the hot dog. I'm going to start saving my pennies for that the second I get home," he joked. "I just…my father called while we were at the restaurant and I listened to his message when you went to powder your nose. It all suddenly felt so real."
"I think it's really brave what you're doing, Rick," she said. "Vulnerability isn't something I'm all that great at, so I'm not sure I could do it if I was in your shoes."
"Yeah, I kind of sensed that, though you've been pretty open with me so far, I think."
"I haven't really worked out an explanation for that yet. Maybe there was something in that cookie you bought me," she said as they stepped up to the entrance of the hotel.
"Keep cookies coming. Got it," Rick mumbled as a playful note to himself.
"Would you, maybe, like to come in and have a drink at the bar? I think I could use a brandy after that walk."
"I absolutely would," he agreed, taking the hand she offered.
There were two empty seats at the end of the bar, and Rick helped Kate out of her coat before she excused herself to the ladies room for a tissue, leaving him to order their drinks. He never took his eye off the door once she disappeared inside, finding himself positively lost in the vision as she made her way back across the room to him.
"What?" she asked, noting the intensity of his gaze. "Do I have-"
"You are absolutely the most breathtaking woman on this thing," Rick interjected with arousing sincerity.
Kate's eyes narrowed. "'On this thing'?" she asked with a chuckle, settling into the seat next to him. "Did you kick a few back when I stepped away?"
"Very funny," he said, "but, no, I did not, thank you. This thing is this planet, counselor." The bartender set their brandies in front of them and Rick picked up his snifter to toast.
Kate was seated, but his frankness made her knees weak, and she could feel her eyes wandering to his lips, his neck, his hands, her mind wandering to her empty room upstairs. She wanted him. She knew that as clearly as day was day and night was night. She wanted him more than she'd ever wanted any man, and that truth was one she found impossible to deny. "Rick, I want to see you again before I go," she told him, reaching for her glass. "Maybe on Sunday we could…"
"Definitely on Sunday we could," he agreed eagerly, tapping her glass with his own. "I didn't want to push because I thought you might want some time alone here, but I was hoping for more of you."
She felt a blush in her cheeks and the warmth of the brandy in her throat. "Good. So, Sunday."
"Sunday," he echoed with an unapologetic smile.
They left the bar when it closed down at midnight and climbed into the lobby elevator behind two other couples enjoying an evening out together, Rick insisting upon escorting her back to her room over her objections. They were leaned against the railing in the back corner of the car, each silently hoping, unbeknownst to the other, the foursome would exit early, leaving them alone to release some of what they'd been holding inside since dinner. Kate's hand brushed up against Rick's as one of the other gentleman pressed the button for the second floor, and she swore he could undoubtedly feel her euphoric grin.
They bid the pair of couples goodnight as the four rowdily exited the elevator and disappeared, and watched the doors push close behind them with palpable relief. Rick immediately pivoted and stepped into Kate's space, her hands finding his waist in fists around the fabric of his shirt. "Was it just me or did that one floor feel like an eternity?" he said, inching forward with her unspoken plea.
"It wasn't just you," Kate whispered before their mouths met with a collective hum of satisfaction. They remained intertwined for the short ride to the fourth floor, the repetitive clang of the arrival bell finally succeeding in separating them following a valiant effort. "Shit, this is me," she sighed, cursing the sight of her hallway beyond his shoulder.
Rick dropped his head and stepped backwards into the door's track to pin it open. "We should've taken the stairs," he lamented. "No time limits." In an exhale of frustration, he beckoned her with his eyes. "God, you're good at that," he praised.
"That takes two, teach. Don't sell yourself short." She pushed a tiny bunch of errant hair from his forehead, leaned in and gently kissed the skin of his neck, the elevator door lurching against his back in its effort to regulate. "You know, I don't think I've ever made out with a college professor in one of these things before."
"Oh, then you must've signed up for the hotel's gold service package, then. Congratulations on your maiden voyage, 407, and please be sure to write something nice on the comment card in your room before you check out. Our reputation is our business."
Kate let out a laugh and pushed in for one final kiss. "I really hope you enjoy your time with your father tomorrow. I'll toast you and your courage with some champagne at the reception." She backed out of the car and his hand reached zealously for her, but she was already too far gone. "I know it's silly of me to say, but try to get some sleep."
"Sunday," Rick said and he pressed the button for the lobby.