This is what I’ve been waiting for, what I’ve been missing my entire time. I can’t just let her go. Not until I know where things could lead.
“No?” she questions, her eyes wide.
I shake my head. “No. I won’t let you leave now. You’re clearly upset. You don’t need to be wandering around alone in the middle of the night…Why are you alone?”
She wipes her eyes, bowing her head. “I…I was out with a friend, but she ditched me. She left with some guy.”
My fists clench, my blunt nails digging into my palms. How could someone leave her like that? Why would anyone want to? She’s perfect…and now she’s crying in my backseat because someone hurt her, and it makes me want to protect her desperately. And destroy whoever did this to her.
Somehow in my mind, I’ve already claimed her as my own. And if she’s mine, then she’s mine to protect. She’s not going anywhere until I know she’s safe and sound.
“She should never have done that,” I clip. “But there’s no way I’m leaving you on your own now. Where do you need to go? I’ll make sure you get home safe.”
She shakes her head. “No, no, it’s okay. You don’t need to do that for me. I…you don’t even know me.”
“I don’t need to know you to be a good citizen,” I growl, even though I think she’s wrong. One look in her eyes and it feels like I’ve known her for a lifetime. Like we were always meant to meet like this.
I’ve never believed much in fate, but tonight, that’s changed. This moment right now feels like it was planned. I have to make sure she stays. Not just for her own sake, not just to get her home safe, but to make sure I get my shot with her.
“Well, if it’s not an inconvenience for you?” she asks, unconvinced I’m telling her the truth. “I just…I don’t want to put you out.”
“I’ll tell you what, you let me take you home, and then in return you let me take you out to dinner sometime,” I say with a smile. She stares at me in shock.
“But that doesn’t seem like an even trade. Shouldn’t it be me buying you dinner to pay you back?”
“Well, I’d never allow that. I know how to treat a woman well,” I tell her. “I don’t need you to pay me back. I’d like to enjoy your company. That’s all I could ask for in the world. What do you think?”
She’s blushing deeply and it makes me smile. I guess I’ve had an effect on her too. She looks at me, wondering if this is some kind of joke, but it’s absolutely not. The only thing I want in the world is for her to be mine. I don’t care how crazy that is. In all my time on this planet, I’ve realized that sometimes, you have to just let life sweep you up and take you where you’re meant to be. Tonight, right here, is one of those instances.
“Well, if you’re sure,” she whispers, offering me a sweet smile. I reach around the seat to wipe a tear from her face.
“I’m sure,” I say with conviction. “Hey, why don’t you come and sit up front with me and tell me what happened tonight?”
She looks uncertain for a moment, and I get why. Sitting up front seems so intimate when I’m just meant to get her from point A to point B. But I’m no Uber driver. I’m just a guy lucky enough to have this beautiful woman stumble into my car. And as she gets in the front seat, I feel my cock jerk in my pants. It knows what it wants. It knows the joy of having her next to me is going to make it even harder to resist her.
But the poor girl is clearly traumatized. It seems like she’s had a rough day, and I don’t want to be the kind of guy who preys on that. I’m here to listen to her and I’m here to drive, that’s all there is to it. For now.
She wipes at her face again, her face crumpling. It’s like she finally feels comfortable enough to let go of all the pent-up emotion inside her, and that’s how I know I’m right to feel this connection with her.
She feels it too.
I put a hand on her knee, wondering if I’m being too bold, but she doesn’t flinch away from me. As she quietly cries, I hand her a tissue from a pack in the side door of my car. She takes it gratefully with a smile.
“What’s your name?” I have to know.
“I’m…I’m Macy.”
“I’m Tate. It’s nice to meet you, Macy.”
She offers me a small smile. “It’s not often you meet kind strangers in the city,” she says, her eyes meeting mine. Her pouty lips look so kissable right now.