Free Before You: Standalone Contemporary Romance by Eve Cates

the table at me.
    “I’m not finished my pie.”
    “That doesn’t answer my question.”
    I put down my fork. “Yes. I would.”
    His grin broadened, and he held his hand out to me. For a moment, I hesitated. Then, with my heart beating firmly in my chest, I slid my hand into the warmth of his.
    “Ready?” he asked.
    I wasn’t. But I nodded anyway.

- 8 -
    ––––––––
    “T he Skydeck?” I asked as we entered Willis Tower. I didn’t know much about Chicago, but I assumed we were about to travel up very high.
    “I’ve lived here for a long time. I’d like to see the sun set over the city one last time. I thought you’d like to see it too.”
    He’d let my hand go not long after we left the diner, and I’d kind of wished he’d take hold of it again ever since then, but when he placed his hand on the small of my back and led me to the elevators, I was kind of glad he hadn’t been holding my hand. This felt so much nicer. So much more intimate. I don’t know what it was I was looking for with André. He was so up and down with his personality, and the way that he treated me that my own feelings toward him were up and down too. I was seriously running the risk of becoming a doormat – one of those girls that allowed a guy to come and go as he pleased and treat her however he chose. But, I really liked it when André was nice to me, and if I was aware of what was going on, did that really make me a doormat?
    “How high are we going?” I asked as we waited with a few other people for an elevator to arrive.
    It took seconds and as he guided me inside, he answered, “One hundred and three stories.”
    My eyes widened and as the doors closed, a monitor above us began to play an information video about how the building was the tallest in the western hemisphere. The elevator trip was so fast that I had to pop my ears several times. We were rocketed a thousand feet into the air in less than a minute, and it seemed strange that we were really as high as we were.
    “Wow,” I said as we walked toward the floor to ceiling viewing windows to look out over the city.
    “Nice, huh?” he said from beside me, looking content as he took in the expanse of the city he’d spent the better part of a decade in.
    “I never realized Lake Michigan was quite so huge. It almost looks like the ocean from here.”
    He pressed his finger against the window. “That’s the Planetarium, right there. And over here is Millennium Park where they have that big silver bean...” I listened as he led me around and pointed out various things, sharing his knowledge of the city without adding any personal details. Not that I expected any, he was a perfect tour guide and all, but it would have been nice to hear a story or two about a night out with friends – something more than geographical facts. He’d told me so much about his work and his travels during our meal conversations, and it would have been nice to hear something personal that connected him to this place as his home.
    “And which building or landmark is your favorite?” I asked as we stood amongst a group of others, looking out as far as we could see.
    He twisted his lips in thought as his eyes scanned the many buildings below. “Right there,” he said, pressing his finger to the glass again.
    I leaned toward him to try and get the right angle folk so I could see what he was pointing out. “What’s right there?” I asked, not sure what I was seeing.
    “It’s where I met you.”
    Surprised by his answer, I looked at him for a moment, my heart thumping solidly against my chest. I didn’t know what to say in return. I was truly speechless.
    He took my hand and smiled. “Come over here, you should see this.”
    Electricity crackled over my skin via the connection of our palms as he led me across the room to where the crowd was the thickest. Finding space, he stepped onto a glass viewing platform that allowed you to see all the way down to the street.
    I stopped