Cul de Sac

It then occurred to her that he probably knew about some of her family history. When she had gone digging it up near the end of her training, she was well aware that it had made the rounds of the academy grapevine.

“Yeah, I heard bits and pieces about that…”

He let the comment hang. Chloe took that to mean that if she wanted to tell him about it, he would listen. But if she’d rather not go there, he was fine with that, too. And at the moment, with everything that was on her mind, she figured it was now or never. No sense in waiting, she thought.

“While I’ll spare you the details for some later day, I guess I should let you know that I saw my father today.”

“So he’s out now?”

“Yes. And I think it’s mostly because of discoveries I made about my mother’s death over the last several months.”

It took Moulton a while to figure out where to go from there. He, too, used sipping from his beer as a method of taking his time. When he had a large gulp of it down, he replied with the best answer he could have.

“Are you okay?”

“I think so. It was just very unexpected.”

“Chloe, we didn’t have to go out tonight. I would have understood if you called it off.”

“I almost did. But I didn’t see the point in giving him control over yet another part of my life.”

He nodded and they both took the silence that followed as a time to look over their menus. The silence remained between them until the same waitress came back to take their orders. When she was gone, Moulton leaned across the table a bit and asked: “Do you want to talk about it, or are we ignoring it?”

“You know, I think I’d rather just ignore it for now. Just be aware that there might be times tonight where I might be distracted.”

He smiled and slowly got up from his chair. “That’s fair. But let me try something, if that’s okay.”

“What?…”

He took a large step toward her, bent down a bit, and kissed her. She jerked back at first, unsure of what he was doing. But when she realized his intent, she let it happen. Not only that, but she kissed him back. It was soft but with just enough urgency to give her the idea that he had been thinking about this probably as long as she had.

He broke the kiss before it started to get uncomfortable; they were, after all, sitting in a restaurant surrounded by other people. And Chloe had never been one for public displays of affection.

“Not that I’m complaining,” she said, “but what was that for?”

“Two things. It was me being brave…something I am rarely able to do with a woman. And it was also me giving you another distraction…hopefully one that can outweigh the distraction of your father.”

With her head swimming a bit and warmth radiating through her entire body, she sighed. “Yeah, I think that might just have done it.”

“Good,” he said. “Also, I suppose it negates the whole are we supposed to kiss at the end of this date nonsense that I always screw up.”

“Oh, after that one, we better,” she said.

And, as Moulton had hoped, thoughts of her father’s sudden appearance seemed very distant.

***

Dinner went much better than she could have hoped. Once they wrestled around the topic of her father showing up and then continued onward after Moulton’s unexpected kiss, it went very smoothly. They talked about learning the ins and outs of the bureau, music, movies, acquaintances and stories from their time at the academy, their interests and hobbies. It felt natural in a way she had not been expecting.

Sadly, it made her wish she’d gotten rid of Steven sooner. If this was what she had missed out on by taking herself off of the dating scene for him, she had missed out on a lot.

They’d finished eating but stuck around for a few more drinks. It was another opportunity for Moulton to display his care and affection as he stopped at two drinks while Chloe had a third. He even asked if she’d feel more comfortable taking a cab if she was uncomfortable with him getting behind the wheel.

He took her back to her apartment, pulling up to the curb a little after ten o’clock. She was far from drunk but had a nice enough buzz going to wonder about things she might not otherwise entertain.

“I had a great time,” Moulton said. “I’d like to do it again very soon if you don’t think it will get in the way of work.”

“Me, too. Thanks for finally asking me.”

“Thanks for saying yes.”

Never one to claim she was a master at the art of seduction, she responded to that comment by leaning in and kissing him. Like the kiss in the restaurant, it started slow but then started to build. His hand was suddenly on the side of her face, slipping down to the back of her neck to pull her closer. The armrest was between them and she found herself tilting her body to allow her hand to find his chest.

She wasn’t sure how long the kiss went on. It was slow and wildly romantic. When they parted, Chloe found herself slightly out of breath.

“So, we’ve already covered the fact that I never really got to date,” she said. “So if I do this next part wrong, you’ll have to forgive me.”

“What part?”

She hesitated a moment but the three drinks urged her on. “I want to invite you in. I’d make the claim that it’s for coffee or another drink, but that would be a lie.”

Moulton looked genuinely surprised. It was a look that made her wonder if he had misread her. “Are you sure?” he asked.

“That sounded bad,” she said, embarrassed. “What I meant was…I’d like to do this without an armrest between us. But I’m not…I’m not going to sleep with you.”

Even in the dim light, she could see his face redden at this comment. “I never would have expected you to.”

She nodded, a little embarrassed herself. “So…do you want to come in?”

“I really, really do.”

With that, he kissed her. This time, it was a bit more playful. In the midst of it, he elbowed the armrest in jest.

She broke away from him and opened her door. As they walked to the stoop of her building, she could not remember the last time she’d felt herself so…so floaty.

Floaty, she thought with a smile. It was a word Danielle had once used in explaining what it felt like to come down off of the physical high of an orgasm. The memory suddenly had Chloe feeling warm all over, reaching out and taking Moulton’s hand as they entered the building.

They took the elevator and when the doors closed, Chloe surprised herself by pressing him against the elevator wall and kissing him. Now able to properly place her hands on him, she grabbed him by his waist and pulled him to her. This kiss was a bit more passionate, hinting at so much more she wanted to do to him in that moment.

He was just as eager, his hands finding the small of her back. When he pressed her closer to him and their bodies met, she let out the tiniest of gasps. It was a little embarrassing.

The elevator came to a stop and she pulled away. She could only imagine the looks on the faces of the people she shared the building with if they caught her making out in an elevator. She was relieved to find that Moulton looked a little out of sorts and was breathing a little heavily.

She led him down the hallway, four doors down to her apartment. It then occurred to her that other than Danielle, Moulton would be the only person to have visited her apartment.

It’s a shame I don’t plan on wasting time with a tour, she thought.

It was yet another thought that made her feel a little embarrassed. She had never felt quite this physically needy when it came to a man. After a while, sex had become this formulaic, expected thing with Steven. And if she was being honest with herself, the times she had been left satisfied had been few and far between. And because of that, she hadn’t really had much of a desire for any sort of intimacy with him.