"So what are we going to tell the people at the rental place?" she asked once we had finally made it back onto the path, both of us soaked to the bone and dripping water everywhere.
"We're not going to tell them anything," I said. "There's not a chance I'm going back there."
"I think they're going to charge you for the boat," she said, raising an eyebrow with a smile, and I shrugged.
"If they can find me. I'm not supposed to share my identity in public, I didn't give them my real name," I said, and she put a hand on her chest with a mock gasp.
"You fraud!" she cried, before giggling at her own joke. It was cute how she did that, how it made her cheeks turn a sweet shade of bubblegum pink, how it made her smile seem more real, how it made her eyes brighter.
"Come on, come back to my place. I don't live too far, you can borrow a change of clothes. I'll behave, I promise," I said, holding out a hand, and to my relief she laced her fingers through mine without hesitation.
"I'll need a change of clothes, this outfit is ruined," she said with a sigh. "But I won't hold it against you. Much."
"Ruined? How so? Won't it dry?" I asked in confusion as we cut through the park, and she tossed her head back and laughed, sending little water droplets flying everywhere.
"Sure, but it's patent leather. It'll crack once it dries. You really don't know anything about fashion."
"Should've picked a better boat then," I said, giving her hand a squeeze. "I mean come on, green is Peter's color. You're with me, you should've gone with red."
"Well Mr. Smarty pants, there were only green and blue boats. What do you have to say about that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, and I frowned, trying to think of whether I'd trust Ace or Peter more in a boat before deciding I wouldn't trust either.
"I have to say that I think I should pick the next date idea," I said, hailing us a cab and apologizing to the cab driver for soaking the backseat as I gave him my address.
I tipped him a few extra soggy dollar bills by the time we made it to my flat before hooking my arm through Beatrice's and walking with her up the stairs. Water squished out of my shoes with every step and I tipped out my shoes outside my front door before turning to Bea.
"You mind dumping the water out of your shoes too?" I asked, and she gave me a sheepish smile.
"I can't really get them off. Can you help?" she asked, and I nodded, sitting her on the top step before kneeling in front of her, grabbing the first boot and starting to tug.
It took everything in me to just focus on taking off her boot and not admire how smooth the skin of her leg was against my fingers, and it took even more to resist the desire to look up her skirt as she lifted her leg higher to give me more leverage. I couldn't bring myself to, not with Bea. There was something about her that made me, for one of the first times in my life, treat her as so much more than just an object. Which, to be fair, was exactly how any woman deserved to be treated. It just wasn't how I usually treated them.
Between my pulling and her bracing I managed to free her from the boots, able to even better admire the slenderness of her legs, the delicate shapeliness of her calves, extending a hand and helping her to her feet after tipping out the water from her shoes.
"You're more than welcome to take a shower if you'd like," I said. "There's a bathrobe hanging in there, I can get you some fresh clothes and you can hang yours up to dry in the bathroom if it can't go in the dryer. I'll get changed myself and make us some dinner."
"Oh, you cook?" she asked as I led her to the bathroom, and I grinned.
"I'd do anything for you. What are you in the mood for?" I asked, and a thoughtful frown wrinkled her delicate features for just a moment before she shrugged.
"Surprise me," she said simply, before ducking into the bathroom and shutting the door in my face.
I let out a sigh, wishing I could have been able to help her shower, before getting changed into dry clothes, wringing my hair out as best I could before shoving the bundle of damp clothing into the dryer. The noise of the shower was audible through the door, and I could hear Beatrice begin to sing, her voice warbling over the water. It was just ever so slightly offkey but rich and full, in a way that told she could sing like an angel if she could be damned to put in the effort.
"She walks by moonlight, no one really knows, enchanted starlight, never going home~"
I smiled, wanting to linger by the door to listen, or join my voice with hers, but I knew I had to get dinner. Since I couldn't really cook to save my life, I called in an order for some Thai food, getting one serving vegetarian and one with chicken on the off chance Bea was a pescatarian. I had gotten the food and was just finishing putting it on plates when she walked out of the bathroom, bare feet padding softly on my hardwood flooring.
A towel was wrapped around her hair, keeping it out of her face, my bathrobe draped over her body, showing just enough of her to drive me wild while still leaving most to the imagination.
"I knew you couldn't cook," she said, sitting across from me at the table, and I shrugged.
"Who knows how this food got here?" I said, gesturing at the pad thai on the table, and she pointed a chopstick at the takeout boxes.
"I'm going to assume it got here in those," she teased, and I shrugged again.
"Who knows?" I repeated, happy to be making her laugh.
We chatted as we ate, both of us starving from the workout of having to swim fully clothed, and pretty soon both servings were gone. There was a pause as we looked at the empty plates, neither of us exactly sure what to do next, before I smiled.
"It's late and no offense but you don't seem to be in much shape to go home, want to just crash here? I'll take the couch and you take the bed?" I suggested, crossing my fingers beneath the table.
Her mouth parted into a faint 'o', eyes growing a little wider, before she blinked, a soft smile settling across her face. "That would be nice. You did send me home at 1:30 in the morning on our last date though, don't try saying it's too late for a young woman to be off on her own in the big scary city," she said, and I grinned.
"That was when I was sending a fully clothed young woman home, not a young woman in a bathrobe that's going to reveal her tits the next time she sneezes," I teased, and her face went red as she yanked the bathrobe tighter around herself.
"You said you'd behave," she snapped, and I grinned, walking her to my bedroom.
"I have been behaving," I said. "You need anything else?"
"Oh, I do actually," she said, turning to look up at me. She was even shorter than I was now that she was barefoot instead of in heels, and I absentmindedly noted that she had to be at least four inches shorter than I was. Maybe even more.
"What did you--" I started, but the question died on my lips, replaced by her lips pressing delicately against them instead.
