Hot Ink by Ranae Rose

as solidly as they had been half a moment before the picture on the first poster had been taken. The thought released a swarm of butterflies in her stomach.
     
    He began moving again. “Let’s try the whole coffee thing again.” His clear blue eyes met hers and one corner of his mouth turned up in a smile. “What do you say?”
     
    “All right.” How could she say no to coffee? It was innocent, even if her secret thoughts weren’t.
     
    They went to the same café they had the first time, and Mina ordered the same thing, vowing not to leave it behind this time. “I don’t think there are any open seats,” she said, clutching her vanilla latte and turning to scan the shop’s small interior. Most of the tables were occupied by people with laptops, their bags and coats filling the seats they didn’t. Here and there, couples sat together, and the sight of them made Mina glance toward Eric, wondering if he’d reach across the table to touch her hand or kiss her lightly with lips that had been warmed by coffee. She shouldn’t have been thinking about it, as if they were a real couple like the others scattered around the shop, but she couldn’t help it.
     
    “There are a few tables outside,” Eric said, frowning as he glanced at a man whose computer and accessories took up every inch of a table made to seat four.
     
    Mina nodded as she glanced out the window. All three of the outdoor tables were empty, their umbrellas closed and bound shut. No one wanted to sit outside in the cold fall wind, but it didn’t look like she and Eric had much of a choice.
     
    “So how’s Jess?” Eric asked, settling into his seat across from Mina as he opened his coffee’s lid, letting the steam rise to be blown away by another harsh rush of wind. “Does she still have those stitches?”
     
    Mina shook her head, inwardly pleased that he’d remembered Jess’s injury and cared enough to ask. “The doctor removed them yesterday. The wound has healed nicely. He says it shouldn’t leave too bad of a scar.”
     
    “Great.” Even his short hair was visibly moved by the next gust.
     
    “Yeah.” Mina took a sip of her latte, wondering exactly how red her nose was from the cold. Eric might think she looked as beautiful as her professionally made-up and edited image, but she suspected that she looked more like Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer than the girl on the poster. She lowered her cup onto the table, wrapping her hands around it for warmth as she tried to keep her teeth from chattering.
     
    The knowing look that passed through Eric’s eyes was unmissable. “Look, it’s freezing out here. Would you rather finish your coffee at my place? It’s just a few blocks away.”
     
    Her surprise must have shown on her face, because he reached out to touch one of her hands, just like the guy in the coffee shop had done to his girlfriend. “You don’t have anything to worry about. I just can’t sit here and watch you turn into an icicle.”
     
    Another blast of biting air sent her hair flying backwards, as if she were standing in a wind tunnel instead of sitting outside a café. “OK.”
     
    Their chairs scraped against the cement as they rose, and Eric walked close beside her, leading her to his place. The butterflies in Mina’s stomach maintained a state of unrest as she imagined his home and what it would be like to be with him inside it – alone. The idea was both unnerving and slightly intoxicating, but at least it took her mind off what she’d have to say to him once they arrived. After all, she’d agreed to tell him what had upset her during their date, and she wasn’t looking forward to confessing.
     

Chapter 6
     
     
     
    “Here we are.” The brick apartment building was thoroughly ordinary, and a rush of relief swept through Mina as they stepped inside, safely ensconced in the narrow hallway, away from the cold wind. Eric led her to the third floor, and her heart beat as if they’d run all the way up the