When they finished their meals, Raheem pulled out his wallet.
“What are you doing?” Katherine asked. “I invited you to dinner, so I’m paying for the meal.” When he opened his mouth to protest, she cut him off by saying, “I insist.”
He sighed and shoved his wallet back in his pocket. “I appreciate your generosity.”
Katherine handed the server her credit card. The young woman left.
“I think I want some ice cream,” Katherine said.
“Ice cream, after such a big meal?”
“Yes. There’s a place somewhere near here, and they serve great ice cream. I don’t often eat dessert. It’ll be a nice change.”
“You’re living dangerously tonight, huh?”
“You could say that.”
She let her knee brush his. He didn’t have a physical response, but she noted the spark in his eyes.
“Very dangerously,” he said.
His eyes lazily caressed her, gliding over her bare neck, her shoulders, and down to her tightening nipples. He calmly drained his glass of the last remnants of Coke, yet she sensed a certain energy vibrating from him.
The server returned and after she signed her name to the receipt, Katherine was surprised when Raheem took her hand in his and stood. He led the way through the tables, nodding at the staff who waved goodbye to them before they descended the stairs. While they walked down the stairs, he released her for a moment but reclaimed her hand once they were in the first floor dining room.
Outside, they strolled Ocean Drive with the rest of the pedestrians, the night breeze cooling her heated skin. But nothing could calm her racing heart. Holding Raheem’s hand made her long for more of these moments, where they could be open and normal like the couples around them.
They dodged two men leaning heavily on each other as they drunkenly sang “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall.”
“They’ve had a little too much to drink,” Raheem said.
Katherine laughed and tightened her fingers around his. “I think the parlor is down here. If I remember correctly.”
They turned left, down a quieter side street, and away from the busyness of Ocean Drive.
Katherine frowned, concentrating hard to make sure she hadn’t led him astray. “If I’m not mistaken, we have to turn right when we get to—”
Raheem stopped in the street and forced her to stop too. She turned to him and wanted to speak, wanted to ask him what was wrong, but she already knew. She felt the charge in the air and saw the way his eyes spoke volumes without him uttering a word.
He slowly backed toward the space between two buildings, pulling her with him into the darkness and away from the light.
