The Beauty of Us (Fusion #4)

“Well, I guess you’re taking me out on a date tomorrow, so we’ll see what happens.”

“This is a lot of pressure to perform well on said date.”

“You’re the one who suggested it,” she says with a smirk. “Poor sucker.”

She makes me laugh. She’s dry and witty, and I never know what’s going to come out of her mouth. Spending time with her, away from work and on an actual date, is going to be fun.

And I’m going to do my best to keep my hands off her. It’s a first date, after all.



We left the restaurant ten minutes ago, and my whole fucking body is on high alert. Apparently, “casual” means wearing black capris with red heels and a white-and-black polka-dot blouse.

The shoes are going to kill me. Dead. I didn’t realize before that I had a foot or shoe fetish, but the way Riley wears them makes me want to strip her bare, aside from the shoes, wrap her legs around my shoulders, and go to town on her.

But we can’t do that today.

Not that we should do that any day.

I park in underground parking and escort Riley up to the Portland Art Museum.

“I haven’t been here in years,” she says with a smile.

“And I’ve never been, so it should be fun.”

She nods and joins me as I pay for our tickets and gather a brochure with a map of the place. I take her hand in mine as we walk inside.

“Where should we start?” I ask.

“Modern art?”

“Done.” We walk into the exhibit, staring at works of art on the walls, quietly moving from one display to the next.

“I don’t get this one,” Riley says, tilting her head to the side. “I mean, did they hang it wrong?”

“Probably not,” I reply with a smile.

“It looks like boobs,” she says at last. I read the plaque beneath it.

“It says Tulips in Spring.”

She shrugs. “Still looks like boobs.”

“Maybe modern art isn’t our favorite,” I suggest, and pull out the map. “European art?”

“Well, at least I can actually tell the difference between boobs and tulips in that exhibit,” she says, so we head that way. For the next two hours, we make our way through the museum, studying pieces that interest us and walking past others that don’t.

“I don’t know how you’re doing this in those shoes,” I finally say.

“I live in heels,” she says. “It’s no biggie. I’ll take them off when I get home and I’ll be fine.”

“Are they bothering you now?”

“Like I said, I’m fine.” She pats my arm and glides her hand down to link her fingers with mine. “Thanks for checking, though.”

“I’ll carry them, if you want to go barefoot.”

Her smile is bright. “That’s sweet. But no, I don’t mind.”

A foot rub is on my list of things to see to later. Her face lights up when she sees a photography exhibit and she leads us over to check it out.

Throughout our time here, we’ve seen hundreds of pieces of art, but she’s the only thing I can’t stop staring at.

“I know it’s early, but this is a really fun date,” Riley says, taking me by surprise.

“I’m glad,” I reply, and lean in to kiss her forehead. She’s warm and smells like heaven.

I may not have plans to get her naked later, but there will be kissing.

This is a date.

“Are you hungry?” I ask.

“Yes.”

“Good. Let’s go eat. Unless there’s something else you want to check out?”

“I think we’ve seen just about everything here,” she says with smile. “I’m ready when you are.”

“Let’s go, then.”



“So, this was a good date,” Riley says later as I drive her home. She rode to work with Addie so I could take her home after our date.

“I’m glad you approve,” I reply, and kiss the back of her hand. “Now, I won’t be calling or texting for three days.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s how it’s done.” I sigh and shrug, as if to say, What can I do? Riley chuckles.

“Well, then I’ll text the girls ‘I hate this guy,’ and then you’ll text and I’ll be all, ‘Never mind. He just texted.’”

“Yes, I believe you’re familiar with how this works.”

“Well,” she says. “I’m not really much of a drama girl. You should just go ahead and call or text whenever you want to.”

“Really? You’re not one for drama? I seem to remember someone barging into my apartment last night, yelling at me, because her date didn’t go well.”

“I’m only human, Trevor,” she says with a smile. “I never claimed to be perfect.”

I laugh as she points out her driveway and I pull in, then escort her up to her door.

“I had fun,” she says.

“You sound surprised.”

“Pleasantly surprised,” she says. “Do you want to come in?”

“Yes,” I reply, and cage her in against the door. “But I’m not going to.”

She swallows hard. “You aren’t?”

“No.” I kiss her forehead.

“Why not?” It’s a whisper now.

“Because this is the first date,” I remind her, and kiss her cheek. “So I’m going to be a gentleman and say good night right here on your porch.”

“Well, damn.”

I grin and nudge her face up to mine, and let myself sink into her, our lips tangled. She fists her hands in my shirt at my sides, holding on tight, and giving back as good as she gets. She lifts up higher on her toes and presses her breasts to my chest, and fuck me, it’s all I can do not to scoop her up, take her inside, and fuck her into the mattress.

Instead, I pull back gently, regretfully.

“Thank you for tonight,” I murmur, and watch with humor as she struggles to open her eyes. The attraction is definitely not one-sided.

“Okay,” she says, and touches her lips with her fingertips. “I mean, you’re welcome. And thank you.” She smiles, opens her door, and slips inside.

And just like that, she’s gone.

But I can faintly hear her say, “Holy shit,” on the other side of the door.

No, she’s not immune to me either.

I whistle my way back to my car, already anticipating seeing Riley at work tomorrow.

Wait. I’m seeing Riley at work tomorrow. Since when have I thrown my morals out the window?

When I get home, I log into the Xbox and see Scott is already online.

“Hey, man,” I say in greeting.

“How did it go?” he asks.

“It was fun.”

“And?”

“I already knew that I enjoyed being with her, we’ve hung out before.”

“Right,” he says. “But I can tell that something’s not right.”

“This is the problem with knowing each other so long. You know everything.”

He laughs. “What’s up?”

“I’m more attracted to Riley than I’ve been to anyone in a very long time.”

“That doesn’t sound bad.”

“I work with her.”

“Well, there’s that.”

“If I end up pissing her off, we still have to work with each other. This is why it’s a bad idea to date colleagues.”

“But you’re only there for a few weeks.”

“And that’s strike two,” I reply.

“Well, you could just get naked with her while you’re there. There’s no need for you to be a monk.”

“I don’t know, man.” I shake my head. Fucking her and leaving doesn’t sit well with me.

“Maybe you’re falling in love with her,” he suggests, and I roll my eyes.

“I barely know her.”

“So?”