Page 73 of Coerced

Doing my best to brush off the thoughts and questions in my mind, I shook my head. “No, I haven’t been there yet, but I’m excited to go. It sounds wonderful.”

“Trust me, it is.”

If there was one thing I didn’t need him to demand, it was for me to trust him. Because I already did.

So, I settled into the comfort that gave me, smiled effortlessly, and looked forward to all this night had in store for us.

TWENTY

Aria

“Were you as excited about having dinner tonight that this whole day felt like it was dragging for you, or was that just me?”

Paxton’s question caught me by surprise, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t grateful for it. With all the nerves I felt about our dinner tonight, it was a relief that Paxton was able to lead the conversation and give me the opportunity to settle in.

I’d been attempting to do that since we arrived at the restaurant and had been seated, but it wasn’t coming easily. Initially, I’d focused on the menu, thankful to have something to occupy both of us. But once our server returned to take our orders, I found myself feeling unsure.

I liked Paxton, and he hadn’t done anything to make me feel uncomfortable. I just didn’t want to screw this up with him.

For the next several minutes after we’d made ourdinner selections, I’d focused my attention on anything and everything in the restaurant besides Paxton. I didn’t think it was terribly awkward, either, because he happily conversed with me about the place.

But now that our dinner salads had arrived, it seemed Paxton wasn’t holding anything back. And it meant everything to me that he wanted to not only take charge but also make me relax.

Best of all, along with taking the pressure off me to come up with something to discuss, he was content to come right out with how he was feeling. The admission in his question only served to put me at further ease.

I hadn’t expected he had been feeling the same as I had been all day long. It was reassuring to know I wasn’t alone. With a shy smile, I confessed, “I might have checked the clock a handful of times more than usual today.”

“Yeah? I was doing anything and everything I could to keep myself occupied.”

“That makes two of us,” I murmured. “And it started almost immediately this morning for me.”

When the corners of Paxton’s mouth tipped up with a smile, it became clear he had been experiencing a lot of the same nerves that I had been about this date. That wasn’t to say that Paxton was nervous around me—it was obvious he was comfortable being in my presence. But like me, he had questions lingering in his mind about where I was from an emotional standpoint. Paxton was curious if I was as invested in what was happening between us as he was.

It hit me that Paxton and I were a lot alike when it came to how we handled our emotions. Back when I’d been living in Birch Creek with my family, I’d been the oneto remain calm and collected, even if my insides were screaming at me about whatever was happening. I was the one who tried to set everyone at ease.

Paxton was being that person for me right now. Sure, I wasn’t outwardly panicking like my mom or sister might in just about any situation, but I had a feeling Paxton could sense I was feeling a bit flustered. Recognizing that made it even easier for me to just let go of the worries and focus on what was happening in front of me.

“If my dogs hadn’t needed to go out first thing this morning, I might have stayed in bed a little later just thinking about last night,” he confessed.

“I actually did do that,” I admitted, tucking my lips into my mouth and feigning innocence.

Laughter spilled out of him. “I’m beginning to think we should have just decided to spend the entire day together and saved ourselves the trouble.”

It wouldn’t have been a bad idea. Although, I wondered if we would have ever made it to dinner if we’d done that. He’d had his mouth on mine almost the exact second I opened the door to him tonight. We only left to make our dinner reservations on time. Had we gotten together earlier in the day without a plan to do something specific, it was likely that kissing might have turned into something else much sooner.

Suddenly, visions of Paxton and me being in the throes of passion flashed through my mind. I squirmed in my seat, pressing my thighs together to relieve the dull ache between them. My eyes met Paxton’s. He raised a brow suspiciously, as though he knew precisely what I was thinking about. And when he smirked at me, I had towonder if he was having some of the same naughty thoughts.

Figuring it was best not to focus on that and risk getting myself all hot and bothered just minutes after I’d relaxed, I reasoned, “You seemed to be occupied earlier this morning. After I had breakfast, I noticed you outside with a handful of kids.”

“Yeah, I wound up taking the dogs for a walk, and a bunch of the kids in the neighborhood spotted me and asked to come along. They wound up sticking with me until I was back at the house, but they were having so much fun with the dogs, they didn’t leave right away.”

“They seemed comfortable with you. Has this happened before?”

“A couple of times,” he replied the moment our server returned to check on us.

“How is everything so far?”

“Great,” Paxton answered, as I offered a nod of approval.