Rafe let his hand rest on Frankie’s lower back as he guided her into the restaurant. He’d been lucky to get a reservation for not long after they’d got on the bus considering it was Friday night. At least something was going his way.
He looked down at Frankie. Maybe a bit more than something. He’d definitely gotten the vibe that she was interested in him. He’d seen those looks she’d shot him when she’d been texting her friend.
He gave his name to the hostess, and she did something on her tablet. “We’ve got a table ready for you. If you’d follow me?”
He probably should have just gone straight home after running into George. The news from the office sucked. His gut churned as he thought of the latest office gossip George had shared with him. There had been two more resignations in the last month, with three more in the rumor stage. His position was still waiting for him, but George had warned him that he’d probably be hearing from his boss about coming back early.
He still hadn’t decided if he wanted to go back. The last couple of months he’d had off to work on his dissertation had been a godsend. He hadn’t expected to be able to get them at all, but he and his boss had come to an arrangement. It was unpaid after his annual leave ran out, but he’d built up a savings over the last few years with exactly this in mind. He’d heard from enough colleagues that writing their dissertations had been hell. If anything, they’d underplayed it.
He’d thought he’d be racing back to the job after the break. But, now? He had no clue. All of the sleepless nights, the physical and near mental collapse after the oral portion of his comprehensive exam, let alone the night he’d gotten plastered after a particularly brutal meeting with his advisor? They seemed like a cakewalk compared to going back to work now.
The hostess led them to a table near the back of the restaurant and set menus down in front of them. “Your server will be with you in a moment.”
Once they had water and ordered drinks, Rafe rubbed a hand over his face, feeling the stubble he hadn’t bothered shaving off the last couple of days.
Frankie watched him, her gaze steady.
“You asked what I do earlier?”
Her brow furrowed and he realized she must have heard something in his voice. He let out a breath, trying to force the tension in his shoulders out with it.
“You don’t have to talk about it.”
“No. I should. I’m trying to figure out what to do.”
“Okay.”
She drew out the o so it sounded like ohhhhh-kay. Not the most encouraging. He waited while their server set their drinks down. He’d ordered a bottle of beer and Frankie had gotten another glass of wine.
“Have you made your decisions?”
“Not yet.”
“No problem. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Frankie sipped at her wine and watched him. “Go ahead.”
He tapped the bottle with his thumbnail. Having an audience willing to listen to him vomit out the jumble in his brain had his throat clamming up. It was one thing for him to think about this in the privacy of his head, but airing it out to another person?
He imagined the look of disappointment on his parents’ faces if he were to tell them. Yeah, that wasn’t something he wanted to face any time soon even if he was thirty.
“I’ve got all night.”
He let out a short laugh at her soft words. “Thanks. I work for the EPA. I’m currently on sabbatical essentially so I can finish writing my dissertation.” If he read her expression correctly, it was shock on her face. “Yeah, we don’t exactly have the best reputation right now.”
“What part do you work for?”
“I’m part of a group that works on watershed management and other stuff related to clean water.”
Yep, that look definitely was shock. She downed her entire glass of wine in one go. If he’d still been an undergrad, he’d have wanted her on his drinking team.
“You killed my grant.”
“What?”
“You killed my grant. I don’t have a job anymore thanks to you.”
His chest hurt with each word she hurled at him. He saw people at the nearby tables looking over their shoulders at them. Unsure of what was happening, he leaned in and forced his voice to stay calm.
“Frankie? What are you talking about? I haven’t been at work for three months.”
“You killed my job. We had a grant from the EPA to research effective water treatment methods. I was told today the grant’s gone and I don’t have a job when the semester ends. Clean water apparently is no longer a priority for the administration.”
She said the last with her fingers flicking in air quotes. Fuck. Things must be even worse than George let on.
“I honestly have no idea what’s going on. It isn’t me. Frankie. Look at me. That. Wasn’t. Me.”
At his words, she seemed to focus on him rather than his job. Her body slumped back in her seat. “I should go.” She grabbed her bag and started to stand.
He snaked out his hand and wrapped his fingers around her wrist in a light grip. She tugged, but he held on. “Wait, please. Just listen to me. If you want to go fine, but let me at least get you food. It’ll be late by the time you get back to College Park, and you didn’t eat anything at the presentation.”
For a heartbeat, he wasn’t sure if she’d listen, but she sat back in the chair. One woman nearby was eyeing him hard, but he removed his hand from Frankie’s wrist and nodded in the woman’s direction. “You’ve got a savior if you want one.”
“What?” She glanced over her shoulder and the woman mouthed the word “okay” at her. To Rafe’s relief, Frankie gave the woman the okay sign and turned back to him. “Talk.”
“I’m not at work right now. I had no idea they were cutting grants. I’m really sorry about that. Things have been crazy in the office and there’s been a lot happening.”
The bitter edge to her laugh sliced him. “I wouldn’t want to imagine working there.”
“It’s better if you don’t.”
She scrubbed her hands across her face.
The server chose that moment to come up. “Do you need more time?”
Frankie shook her head. “No.” She picked up her menu and ordered patatas bravas and a steak dish. When the server asked if she wanted a refill, she nodded.
Rafe ordered his usual and the server left with the menus. He took a long drag of the beer and watched Frankie. Her focus was on the little light in the middle of the table, and she seemed to be debating with herself over something.
When the server returned with the new glass of wine, she murmured her thanks and sipped.
Figuring he’d find out soon enough what she was thinking, he let the silence stretch. It wasn’t uncomfortable or annoying. Finding out his office had been responsible for her soon-to-be unemployment wasn’t the best way to start out a date or whatever it was they were doing.
He should have asked her out before. She’d caught his eye with the short dark hair, with streaks of purple and blue. Her questions in the lectures they’d both attended had been incisive and to the point. The only problem was they’d barely crossed paths when they were on campus, and when they had, he’d been distracted by questions from colleagues and she was gone by the time he’d extracted himself.
Finally, she let out a sigh. She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath and let it back out. When she opened her eyes again, he wondered if this was what the deer his dad hunted must have felt when they realized a hunter was staring them down.
The decision to take him home—his, hers, it didn’t matter—settled into Frankie’s bones. He didn’t have to know she was extracting a little revenge even if he’d been completely unaware of what was going on in his office. She’d seen the remorse on his face and it rang true.
She could imagine what Rose would say. Find the closest drug store and stock up on condoms. Springing that on him right now might not be the best idea, though.
“You okay?”
The same words he’d said to her earlier, but so different now that she knew what she did.
“I will be. Eventually.” He frowned, but before he could say anything, their first dishes arrived. He must have realized she didn’t particularly want to talk about his revelations, so he asked about research going on in her department he’d heard about. The topic wasn’t completely neutral, but it was better than her accusing him of ruining her career. Not the sexiest talk when she was trying to seduce someone.
As she ate her dinner, she watched him. His movements were economical, but he seemed to savor his food. She enjoyed watching the muscles in his hands work as he cut through his food and lifted it to his mouth. He was lean as if he ran on a regular basis. Dark hair and eyes completed the package.
Red stained his cheeks. She realized she’d been staring at his mouth for the last few minutes.
“Frankie?”
“Later.”
He grabbed his bottle of beer and finished it. The curl of power in her stomach gave her a sense of satisfaction she hadn’t had before. If she’d been wearing any shoes other than her Chucks, she would have toed them off and played with him. But she was wearing her Chucks, and they’d be a bitch to get off in a discreet manner. Besides, the tables didn’t have tablecloths to hide what might be happening between couples.
When they were done and the server asked if they wanted dessert, Rafe looked at her, but she shook her head and just said, “Not here.”
He swallowed as he broke eye contact with her and asked for the check. As soon as he signed the slip and had his card back in his wallet, she was standing, waiting for him.
She wanted to pout when he didn’t put his arm around her to lead her out, but she enjoyed the view of his very nice ass as she followed him. When they were outside, he paused by the door and looked up at the clear sky.
He closed his eyes for a moment, then looked at her. “Where would you like to have dessert?”
She grinned at him, enjoying the licks of heat coursing through her. “Your place. It’s closer.”
His laugh was scratchy, but he nodded. “A few blocks away.”
She held out her hand to him, and he took it. “Do we need to stop for supplies?”
He shook his head. “I try to keep a fresh box just in case.”
There was a brief tug of war between annoyance and appreciation, but she decided to give the win to appreciation. It wasn’t as if she were a virgin or expecting to get one.
She leaned into his arm as they walked. It had gotten busier on the street while they were at dinner. Many of the people out and about were around her and Rafe’s age. She wondered what they were feeling with what was going on only a mile or so away from where they were partying in the bars and eating sumptuous dinners. Did they care? Did they work for the new administration? Were they plotting what they could do to undermine it? To counter the gross abuse of power?
DC was a town where power shifted on a regular basis. Even more so when you had a leader who thrived on creating a chaotic environment. She’d never considered staying in the area after she got her degree, but now she wondered. She didn’t think she could work for the feds, not now, but maybe for a nonprofit. What she could do for a nonprofit with engineering degrees, she had no idea, but she could find out.
She shook her head. These were non-sexy thoughts to have later. After she’d had her way with Rafe. As she thought ahead to what she wanted to do with him, she let the power she’d felt earlier build. She had never considered herself to be a kinky person, but everyone probably was with the right person in the right circumstances.
He led her into one of the newer buildings in the area. While they were in the elevator, he looked down at her. “You sure?”
She let the heat she felt fill her eyes and smile. “Very.”