“I think people can change if they want to.”
“You just don’t think I can change?” He looked sad, and her heart went out to him.
“I don’t know. I’d like to think you can, but you hurt me, Chris. You hurt me more than anyone else.”
He reached over the table, taking hold of her hand. She gazed at his much larger hand against her smaller one. He squeezed her hand before pulling away. She missed his touch instantly.
“I’m going to prove to you that I’ve changed. I know I hurt you, and I can’t change that, but I’ll show you the man I am now. All I ask is that you give me time.”
She knew she was being a fool for even considering his words. He’d hurt her once, and that had been enough to steer her clear from men for three years.
Erica nodded her head, staring down at her hands in front of her. He signalled the waiter and ordered her a chocolate milkshake and himself a cold beer.
He smiled at her when the waiter left with their drink orders. “Did you really think I’d bring you to a place you couldn’t stand? I know you hated the posh, upscale restaurants we used to go to for work meetings.”
“I thought you’d forgotten.”
The man was back once again, handing her a frosted glass with a straw.
“Try it. I guarantee you it will taste lovely,” Chris said. She sucked up the frothy liquid and gave a moan of appreciation. The velvety chocolate taste hit her tongue and made her want more. The milkshake was cold but not bitterly so.
“It is gorgeous,” she said.
“I knew you’d love the milkshakes here. If you remember the hotel never could get them right.”
The memory of their stay at the hotel where she’d given herself to him made her blush. She had loved and hated her time in their room. They’d sent down a request for several milkshakes, and when they came to the room, she and Chris had proceeded to get messy and lick the drink from their bodies.
She smiled and drank some more.
“What do you want to eat?” he asked, picking up another menu. “A burger?”
“I don’t suppose fried chicken and salad are on the menu?”
“They are.” He signalled the waiter. “We’ll have five fried chicken breasts with salad and dressing. I’ll have steak with chips and all the side orders.”
Erica waited until he disappeared before talking. “Five pieces of fried chicken? That guy is going to think I’m a cow.”
“No, he won’t. I ordered some for myself, and if anything you’ve lost some weight rather than put any on.”
She blushed and took some more of her milkshake.
“So, Ben is not your boyfriend?” he asked.
“He wanted to be. I think for a little while we were dating, but it didn’t work out.” She twirled her fingers together. “He asked me to marry him.”
The glass of beer Chris was holding shattered. Erica jumped, and the waiters surrounded him with clothes.
“I’m all right.” She saw the blood drip from a few cuts.
“Do we need to take you to the hospital?” she asked.
“Hand me that bloody towel.” Chris moved away from the table while the waiters cleaned away all the mess. In no time at all they were seated again, and a first aider was checking his hand. “I’m fine.”
“Sir, we would prefer for you to go to the hospital.” Chris shot the man a glare, and soon they were left alone. The towel was wrapped around his hand.
“Chris, if you need to go to the hospital then we need to go,” she said.
“I haven’t waited the last three years to get you alone on a date for it to go to waste in a hospital.” He sounded angry.
She raised her hands in surrender. “Three years to get me on a date and if you get gangrene and die on me, three years would seem like a waste of time.”
He stared at her for a few seconds before letting out a sigh. “I’m not ending our night like this.”
“Who says it has to end? We’ll get the food to go and then on to the hospital to make sure. Depending on what they say we can eat anywhere.” Why couldn’t she keep her mouth shut? Chris must be some kind of magician with the power he held over her.
“You promise to stay with me at the hospital? Not leave me hanging around?” he asked.
“I promise. You’re paying for dinner, so the least I can do is stick around.” She smiled at him, feeling a happiness building inside her that she hadn’t felt in a long time.
“Give me a second,” he said.
Erica watched him walk away from the table and approach the bar where the waiter stood. She admired Chris’s fine ass from where she sat. Chris might be a bastard on a lot of scales, but at least his body was something to look at. Feeling the heat of her blush staining her cheeks, she gazed down at her hands. Ben never made her feel like this, wild and uninhibited, free for the whole world to see. Ben gave her the safety net that she’d worked so hard to achieve. He left her feeling secure whereas Chris was the total opposite. Could she live a life always feeling safe? The feelings evoked by Ben were mediocre. How could she force Ben into a relationship where she would feel no passion or love?