Page 38 of Forever Only Once
“That was good timing. You know, because being on time is nearly being late,” she said and then grinned.
“I feel the same way. Sometimes, I get someplace so early, that if I don’t feel comfortable enough sitting at the bar and getting something to drink while waiting, I’ll just sit in my car and wait.”
“I had to hold myself back from being early enough to sit in my car,” she said honestly, and I shook my head, grinning.
“After you,” I said, leading her toward the hostess stand. “I already think that this date thing is working out pretty well.”
She smiled at me, and I could have slapped myself. I really wasn’t good at this whole dating thing. For being so good with human interaction most of the time, I couldn’t figure this out. Maybe it was just with her? Perhaps because she made me feel awkward, not that I knew why.
“Hi, party of two?” the hostess asked, her gaze on mine. She didn’t even look at Hazel, and I frowned. I reached around and put my hand on the small of Hazel’s back, and she didn’t startle. Instead, she sank into my touch, and I held back a satisfied smile. The hostess noticed the movement as I’d intended, but she didn’t seem to care. Instead, she raked me with that hungry gaze of hers, and I nodded.
“Yes, for two.”
“Right this way,” she said and turned on her heels before sashaying towards the table.
I did my best not to let my gaze move down to her ass, considering that it swayed back and forth. Seriously? What would this woman think if she had seen me with socks and sandals? For some reason, I had a feeling that while Hazel would look shocked for a minute, and probably make fun of me, she wouldn’t run away screaming like I thought maybe this woman would.
Or maybe I was just thinking a little too hard about that.
We took our seats, and I raised a brow when the hostess handed me both menus before walking away, her hips rolling all the while.
“It’s good to know I exist,” Hazel said and then snorted. I handed her a menu, shaking my head.
“I’ve never actually had someone be that obvious before.”
“Really? You see yourself in the mirror. You’re not ugly. And you have that whole…thing about you.” She waved her hand in front of me, and I grinned.
“Thing?”
“Oh, shush. You know that you’re handsome, and you have that smile. And you just seem like a nice guy. Maybe a little dangerous with that beard and ink, but these days, that’s almost the norm.”
“Thanks,” I said dryly.
She winced. “Sorry. I didn’t mean anything by that. I’m just saying that there’s that whole meme going around, you know, where tattooed men used to mean bikers and murderers, and now, it’s baristas that like a nice Bearnaise sauce or something like that.”
“I think it was a balsamic reduction,” I said, and we both laughed.
“Sorry, all I’m saying is that I don’t really like being ignored like that. Not that I like the attention focused on me completely, I get enough of that while teaching, but that was kind of rude.”
“I could say something,” I said honestly.
“Please don’t. Complaining that a hot woman finds you hot is a little much.”
“Then I will be honest and say that I didn’t really notice if she was hot or not,” I said.
She snorted again. “Really?”
“No, and this is going to sound like a line, but it’s not. I was too busy thinking about you. And this is why I’m not good at this whole dating thing, I say the cheesiest shit.”
But she grinned, her eyes warm and clear.
“It might’ve been really cheesy, but thank you for that. Now, I’m starving, so if I happen to eat like two meals of food, just pretend that I’m dainty and sweet.”
“I’m starving, too. I kind of skipped most of my meals today, trying to get some work done.” My stomach took that moment to growl, loud enough for both of us to notice, and she grinned.
“What if we order a few things to share? I don’t know if I’m going about this dating thing correctly by not eating a small salad and pretending that I’m not going to want to steal what’s left on your plate, but I’ve been nervous all day. And I’m going to be honest about that. So, I didn’t eat.”
“I’ve been a little nervous, too. I think it’s because of the whole non-accidental thing.”