The pair soon met up again when it went dark mickie was walking down the street towards a place she had spotted earlier in the day, when she stopped and turned noticing John wasn't walking to her pace but his own. She loved this new John, he wasn't the one that would just do what she said, she liked a man and that's what he was being, he wanted to call the shots and that really got her going, Even him keeping his pace as he closed the space between them she liked even after seeing the impatience on her face when he got closer he didnt change his pace.
John had found a technique with mickie that worked, and he was sure determined to stick to it, he was just being the man he is around the guys, the masterful one that hated the word no and wouldn't back down without a fight. He was only like a small puppy rolling over for his master because he didnt want to come across mean to her but if bold is what she liked, he'd give it her, after all it was another side to him, it's not like he's changing for her. That he would draw the line at.
"Remember what we were talking about this morning?" she asked. Her smile turned vaguely pensive. A radiant sense of calm came into her face while Tampa went about its business all around them. "About one, pivotal moment that affects everything else?"
"Ok," he said, watching her lips, waiting for them to move again.
"I think you're wrong," she told him. "I don't think there's ever just one. There has to be a lot of them. They line up after a while and then everything goes down like dominoes."
"Interesting theory," he grinned. He could tell her she was right some other time. He started to keep walking but she held him back for one more thing.
"And just so you know, whatever you think just happened this morning…didn't."
He wasn't about to speculate. He just grinned innocently. She turned on her heel and kept going down the street with a swing in her hips, it was like she was begging for him to answer back, take charge, he decided he would, discreetly, but enough so she notices but it's not over powering and at the right time. When they reached the end of the main drag, he gave her a gentle push in her arm and guided her left, down the street that ran along the edge of the beach. It was much darker there, and less crowded. It was also much quieter. He led her past a few more clusters of holiday makers and finally crossed over toward a bar on a small area of land sitting at the end of the beach.
There was an open air patio area with small, plastic beach chairs and tables. It was lit only by torches set at each of the patio's corners. A new moon scattered reflections across the water like the sun did during the day.
Three people sat at a corner table, conversing over drinks in some foreign language. Straight hair and beet red sunburns covering there visible body parts. Mickie went for the table furthest away. In the little light from the torches, John picked up her hand when they sat down and rubbed his thumb across her palm. He felt her watching the gesture.
"So is this what you asked to meet up for?" she asked. "So you can hold hands in a dark corner?"
"you asked me" he corrected. "Besides, you have beautiful hands. I've been thinking about touching them for them a long time now."
She snickered. "Is that why you put your hand under my skirt this morning? Because you're too shy to hold hands?" Her hand was moving with his. Their hands exploring each others.
"Actually," he said slowly, "I'm not as shy as you like to think I am"
She started to laugh. "Oh, but you…"
John held up his finger to cut her off. "Let's avoid any topics that might cause me to say anything to put you in a bad mood."