"Home."

In her wine soaked haze, Beth paid little attention to the passing scenery, mostly enjoying the cool night air and the feeling of Derek's hand on her knee, which he had not withdrawn. {if MastrosAttire = 1
}In fact, he was softly massaging her leg in a most pleasant way. {endif
}That should bother her, she thought, but the reason why was like smoke she couldn't hold on to.
"...should think about going to law school yourself..." Derek's voice drifted in and out of understanding.
"It's so expensive. Right now...need all the money we can make..." she mumbled. "Wedding..."
"...should support you..."
"What?"
"I said..." Derek raised his voice. "A good man should support you in your career."
"He's good..." she looked over at Derek, "besides...it's not my career. I've never even thought about it."
"You'd be a natural. I've seen you work. You know the law better than half the lawyers at the firm." {if MastrosAttire = 1
}Did his hand inch further up her leg? the thought skittered away. {else
} Beth opened her blouse's buttons all the way to the bottom, trying to let the cool sea breezes in. {endif
}
"I don't know..." it was a neat idea, and she couldn't say it hadn't crossed her mind. She didn't want to be a clerk forever. Brian wouldn't... Brian... she couldn't keep that train of thought running.
A few minutes later the car stopped, and Derek was helping her towards the door of a building. An unfamiliar building. "Hey... I thought you were taking me home." She mumbled in confusion. This condominium building was much nicer than her apartment complex.
"I did. This is my home." Derek was almost carrying her now.
"Derek..... that's not...you said...."
"Hey, if I drop you off at your place, for all I know you'll go inside, pass out and **** on your own vomit and I'm not having that. This way, you can dry out and I can make sure you don't hurt yourself, and then I can take you back to get your car when you sober up." The sun was still above the treetops, and Beth vaguely recalled the clock in the car reading 7:48 pm. Brian won't be home until at least 10:30.
Derek's condo was four sprawling rooms across a single floor with an expansive balcony looking out over an inner courtyard. His furniture was not flashy, but everything was well made and comfortable. Beth sank luxuriantly into the couch while Derek brought her ice water. Her stomach was settled, if full, but her head was still swimming. His condo smelled nice, with a soft undertone of incense.
When he returned from the kitchen, he put on some soft jazz and took a seat across from her, leaving the sweating glass of water on the end table between them.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine...in fact... I'm great. I haven't felt this good in a while. I had a good time tonight." It hurt a little to say it; she realized how long it had been since she and Brian had had a great night out. She blinked hard and put on a smile to avoid bursting into tears. Keep it together... there's no sense in drunk crying in front of Derek.