Page 270 of A Matter of Time

“I don’t come here for the music.” I didn’t. It was a meat market, and that was why I was there. “I came to pick somebody up.”

“I see.”

“What are you doing here?” I asked quickly, my voice coming out sharper than I wanted.

“You’re here.”

“But we both know that this isn’t⁠—”

“Lemme drive you home.”

“Absolutely not.”

He leaned close to me, invading my personal space, his knee against mine. “Why not?”

“How did you even know I⁠—”

“Did you know I’m a police detective? You know I find people all the time, right?”

“Shit.”

He chuckled. “You can’t ditch me, J. Come home with me.”

“Sam, you shouldn’t waste your time.”

“I don’t consider any time spent with you a waste.”

“But, Sam, you⁠—”

“What, honey?” he said, looking at me, his eyes locked on my mouth.

“It’s doomed to fail, Sam.”

“I don’t accept that,” he said, slowly reaching for me, giving me time to move away if I wanted.

“You don’t really care, Sam. Not really.”

“I don’t?” He touched my chin lightly, tipping it up so he could run the backs of his fingers down my throat. “Because…I think I do.”

I lifted my head away, and he let me. “You just wanna fuck me.”

“Oh, I wanna do that too.” He chuckled warmly. “But that’s only part of it.”

“How can it be? Sam, you don’t even know me or⁠—”

“You have no idea about anything,” he said, searching my eyes. “I dream about you.”

I looked down at the bar.

“It’s killing me that you won’t just give in.”

I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead into my hand.

“And you’ll let some stranger take you home and fuck you, but me…me you won’t let near you. How does that make any fuckin’ sense at all?”

“A stranger won’t hurt me.”

“I won’t either.”