Chapter 12 Liam #2
The restaurant was clearly at capacity, yet it didn’t feel crowded or noisy.
Their table almost felt private, even though there were other couples only a few feet away.
The place had a posh gastro-pub vibe to it, which was a description Liam would keep to himself.
The low light would make it a challenge to read the menu, but he’d manage without embarrassing Austin.
It wasn’t like he’d never eaten at expensive restaurants in London, especially with some of his clients.
He’d never done something like this on a date, though, and he felt a bit out of sorts, like he didn’t belong here.
“We’re having the chef’s tasting menu. It’s called fields and fireplaces,” said Austin.
Liam couldn’t help but snort and tried to cover it with a cough.
Austin grinned at him and gave a wink, which was humorous and hot at the same time.
He’d had a tasting menu before, which was usually delicious but always took ages.
That would mean a long wait before he got to kiss Austin again.
Thinking of that kiss made his body tingle.
He’d never had such a perfect kiss in his life.
It felt commanding, yet gentle and caring.
How the man did all those things at once was a mystery, and he suspected Austin would be the same in the bedroom.
Whatever had pressed against him couldn’t have been his cock.
It had felt like another limb. No, he had to believe it was something else.
If he didn’t, he'd probably combust with needy horniness before they’d finished dessert.
They spent the first ten minutes just talking about Austin’s customer drama he’d had to deal with, and what Maisie had been up to when Liam looked after her.
That little girl was amazing, and why wouldn’t she be with Austin as her dad.
Her mum must have been something special as well.
As Austin was driving, they both went with soft drinks – well, posh virgin cocktails.
“This is your amuse-bouche,” said the server. “A walk through the hedgerows. You have wild blackberry gel, whipped goat’s curd, a toasted hazelnut crumb, and a single thyme blossom. Enjoy, gentlemen.”
Liam suppressed a grin, but Austin had a twinkle in his eye as well. To be fair, it tasted delicious, but in two small bites it was gone. The flavour was sharp and sweet, which worked really well. The chef obviously knew what he was doing.
“Can I ask you something, Austin? You don’t have to answer.”
“You can ask me anything.”
“How did you meet Ellie?”
“You want me to talk about my dead wife on our date?” he said, looking amused.
“I know it might seem weird, but she’s such an important part of your history and Maisie’s. It’s important I should know about her.”
Austin took hold of Liam’s hand. “How did I get so lucky finding someone like you? Such a kind and caring man.”
Liam felt his heartbeat speed up.
“Am I being too much?”
“No,” Liam croaked.
“Sorry, but I’ve been wanting this night since I first saw you, and I know this is over the top, but I panicked about what to do as I wanted to impress you. So I listened to Tony, who suggested this and pulled a favour to get us a table at short notice.”
Liam chuckled. He loved how honest Austin was. “It’s perfect, but I’m paying for half.”
“No you’re not, Liam. We can split things on future dates, but tonight’s on me, okay?”
Liam wanted to protest. This dinner would cost a lot, and Austin was a single dad, but the look in Austin’s eyes was almost pleading, so he nodded his head.
“I’ll get the drinks at The Rainbow Tap.”
“Deal.”
The server brought their first course, which was homemade sourdough bread with two butters: smoked sea-salt and nettle with wild garlic, which was different but surprisingly delicious.
“I met Ellie online.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Dating apps weren’t a big thing then – well, not like now – so we’d write these long messages to each other, and you’d have to log in when you got home to read your reply. We did that for a couple of weeks, and then we met for dinner.”
“Where did you go?”
“A local pizza place.”
Liam looked at the chalk stream trout in front of him, accompanied by pickled cucumber ribbons, dill oil, and horseradish snow, and couldn’t help but smile.
“Yeah, yeah. I know I fucked up.”
Liam took Austin’s hand. “There’s no fuckup. It’ll be a fun story to tell our grandkids. I mean . . . fuck . . . sorry, what I mean is . . .”
“Liam, chill out. I wouldn’t have spent the best part of three months pining for you and waiting patiently if I didn’t think we had a chance at something long-term.”
“Sorry, I’m just not used to the whole romance thing. Guys usually just want to have fun until they get bored.”
Austin tensed. “Nobody’s ever hurt you, have they?”
“No, nothing like that. I’ve caught feelings quickly a few times in the past, but that’s on me, not the guys.”
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting something more than a quick release.”
“I know, although that isn’t all bad either.”
“I’m well aware, Liam. I took advantage of the full university experience.”
Liam snorted. He’d done the same thing, but then never really broken out of the cycle.
“How long were you with Ellie before you got married?”
“Two years. Maisie came along a year later.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through what you did. I can’t imagine what it must be like for Maisie to lose her mum so young.”
“Thank you. She’s a strong little girl – although I don’t feel like I can call her that for much longer. It’s why I encouraged her with the unicorn thing. I know many girls her age are over that phase, but it makes her happy, so I ignore what people say.”
“Who’s been saying stuff?” said Liam, feeling protective of Austin’s adorable little girl. What the fuck was wrong with loving unicorns?
“Nobody here, but at her old school one teacher mentioned it not being a mature interest.”
“A teacher said that? Within a year of her mum dying?”
Austin chuckled.
“What’s funny?”
“I love how growly you just got. I’ll never give you the teacher’s name; I’m worried about what you might do.”
Liam smiled. He couldn’t help but feel protective of Maisie.
“I think Maisie might have a little crush on you,” said Austin. “Should be an interesting conversation when I tell her about us.”
“You want to tell your daughter about us?”
“Of course. I don’t want her hearing it at the school gate from one of the gossips.”
“Does she even know you like guys?”
“Not yet, but that won’t be an issue.”
Austin seemed confident, but Liam could understand it. Between him and Ellie, they’d raised a very caring young lady. She was always thoughtful, asking questions in order to understand things. Liam’s dad had doted on her when she’d stayed at the bakery earlier.
They chatted about Maisie, how she was doing at school and her interests, as they enjoyed the next two courses – the first being four varieties of carrot. The pesto carrot was a highlight, which was something they debated whilst trying not to laugh at the pretentiousness of it all.
The main course, or whatever they called it, was venison loin.
Liam had always felt uncomfortable with venison, and never really liked the taste, but he must have had it prepared wrong in the past. The venison loin was seared, and the jus was blackberry and red wine.
Parsnip silk and crispy sage accompanied it, because of course it did.
Despite the hilarity of the descriptions, it all worked.
“What are you thinking about?” asked Austin once their plates were cleared.
“How am I going to top this for our second date?”
“Second date, eh?”
“I don’t think acting coy really suits the whole cowboy left his hat at home vibe.”
Austin cracked up laughing before lowering his voice. “Do you want me to wear a cowboy hat for our next date?”
“You can save that for . . .” He trailed off.
“Ah, noted. I’ll buy one for our fifth date.”
“Fifth date?”
“I said I wanted to woo you, Liam, so I thought the fifth date seemed like the right time to . . .”
“Be intimate?”
“I was going to say fuck your brains out, but intimate works as well.”
“You can’t say things like that in a restaurant. I won’t be able to stand up.”
Austin chuckled and took Liam’s hand again. The man couldn’t go long without touching him, but Liam wouldn’t complain.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” asked Liam.
“Nothing planned, why?”
“We could get onto date number two.”
Austin chuckled.
“Maybe I should have given a timeframe instead of the number of dates.”
“No, you can’t take it back now. Five dates until you fulfil your promise.”
“Is that what you want, Liam? I didn’t want to make assumptions about your preferences.”
“Well, your assumptions are correct,” he said, not knowing how he’d become so brazen about what he wanted.
Liam could be vers if needed, but he loved nothing better than being pinned down and fucked into a mattress.
“I promise to make it so good for you, Liam.” The look in Austin’s eyes made it clear that the man would overdeliver on that promise.
“Okay, we really need to change the subject because this is just edging now.”
Their cheese course arrived next – a mix of local flavours, with pear chutney and rosemary crackers – and Liam was grateful the conversation moved on to less horny territory so he could get his cock under control.
The dessert was a vanilla poached pear with ginger crumble and honey crème fra?che.
It was divine, and he couldn’t help but let out a moan when he took his first bite.
“You need to play fair as well, Liam.”
“Huh?”
“Making noises like that.”
“Oh.” He blushed. “Sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry about. I look forward to making you moan and blush like that for hours.”
And he was hard again!