Four

A gentle blush rose to his cheeks as the words left his lips. "My job is very demanding, and one day, I want to leave it and settle down. For now, I just have to hope that when I find the right girl, she will wait for me, whether I'm gone for three days or three months. It can be hard, but everyone comes with baggage nowadays."

She could picture it. She has always been able to.

Sitting on a porch swing with a baby bump as she rocked back and forth. Her hair blowing softly in the spring air as she rubbed her hand up and down on her rounded belly, watching her husband pull up to the house with a new crib in the back seat, and a smile on his face.

She wanted that life one day, but at twenty-seven, she knew that day would need to happen in the next few years, or it might not happen at all.

Still, she knew the prospect of having it was not worth settling for being with someone that she couldn't fully love.

She wanted to find her other half, her partner in crime, to settle down with and create a family of their own.

Looking up at Matthew, she questioned her future with him. Sure he was attractive, and they made each other laugh, but she knew nothing about him in person. Only what he wanted her to see through text messages. Without being in person, one couldn't read facial expressions to look for lies in their words, nor could they truly see if both personalities would blend well together. When everything was just the written word, she couldn't fully trust it. No matter how much she wanted to.

She created short stories for a living and knew just how easy it was to dive into a false world with each stroke of her keyboard. Some could refer to them as fictional creations; others may call them lies.

She wanted to believe he was as good as his words and as honest as his laugh.

He was a beautiful creature, and Juliet was sure she would never meet anyone like him again.

They talked for hours, never moving away from each other, but stayed far enough away that their skin contact was limited to her knee against his thigh and his fingers that traced circles on her back.

He was respectful and checked in with her periodically to ask if he could get her anything to eat or if she was okay with her drink.

It wasn't until the bar started to empty that Juliet felt the exhaustion seep back into her body as her adrenaline abandoned her. She relaxed with him, and her body betrayed her as her eyelids started to feel heavy.

He stood from his chair as he tossed down enough cash to cover their tab, grabbed her purse from its hook under the counter in one hand, and then held his other palm toward her.

Juliet timidly grabbed it as she stood from her stool, and he pulled her in close. She placed her other hand around his bicep as they began to walk towards the exit.

The warmth radiated off of him, and she wrapped around his arm tighter as the chilled midnight air swirled around them.

She had expected him to part with her at the doorway.

She had expected the two of them to walk to their respective vehicles separately, like so many dates she had before.

So, it was a pleasant surprise when his hand tightened around hers as she started to pull away, and he brought her back to him. The giddy feeling she had earlier in the evening came back, and she focused on keeping her breathing steady as she directed him to her car.

Unlocking her driver's side door, she pulled it open. Blood pumped loudly in her ears, and she turned around to meet his gaze. He was no more than a foot away from her, and she watched as his Adam's apple bobbed before his hand moved forward to grab hers again, intertwining their fingers. The warmth that ran up her arm from his touch made her forget about the chill of the night. She had done the goodbye after several first dates before, but somehow, with Matthew, it felt different.

She wanted it to be different.

"Can I kiss you?" He asked. His right eyebrow moved slightly higher as he spoke tentatively.

The zoo stampeding in her stomach did nothing to help as she reached for the one word she so desperately wanted to say.

Juliet's mind betrayed her as she stared at his smooth pink lips, at a loss for words.

Hers parted, and her tongue swiftly slid out to wet her lips. She could see that his eyes darkened slightly as his pupils grew. His intense stare bounced between her mouth and her green eyes, waiting for confirmation.

The second her head started to bob up and down, he pulled her into his chest. Their bodies melded together as their mouths met.

Sparks erupted everywhere he touched, and as his hand wrapped around the back of her head to pull her in closer, she let out a small moan of appreciation. It was gentle and sweet, but her body lit up like there was a fire rolling through it, and she pressed herself closer to him.

He was the first to pull away, and while Juliet appreciated how respectful he was, she couldn't help the disappointment that flooded her when their lips parted.

She had never felt anything like it before. It was thrilling and, at the same time, terrifying. Panic filled her at the new feeling brought on by the man before her.

She broke away from him, dove into her car, and brought it to life.

She was halfway out of the empty parking lot before she looked in her rearview mirror and saw him standing in the same place, with his hands interlaced behind his head. His eyebrows were raised in surprise, and she could see the whites of his teeth as he smiled at her retreating vehicle.