Chapter 21
Hank
I pulled into Jamie’s drive a quarter after eight Monday night.
There’d been an agonizing two-day wait because of his catering schedule.
It gave me a lot of time to think, to imagine, to…
jerk off. Any doubts I had about wanting a guy had vanished when I came over my stomach, his name on my lips, the memory of that kiss burning through my mind.
Judging by the texts we’d exchanged over these two days, though, Jamie was less certain than I was.
He’d given me a chance to cancel the date, to say I was just drunk and confused.
But I wasn’t going to take the out. I wanted this, and I wanted Jamie to know it, so I had to pull out all the stops tonight.
That had started with going to the Rainbow Garden and embarrassing myself again by throwing myself on Maverick’s mercy to help me choose the perfect flowers.
I gathered the bouquet off my front seat, opened my door, and strolled up Jamie’s sidewalk.
He opened the door before I could ring the bell, looking gorgeous in a fitted Paisley button-down, maroon jeans that molded to his slim waist and legs, and coffee-colored Oxfords. His brown curls, usually wild but charming, were smoothed into tamer waves and swept to one side.
“Wow,” I said. “You clean up nice.”
He smiled shyly. “Silas helped me. I called him in a panic when you told me you’d made reservations. I figured we’d have our first date at the dog park or something.” He chuckled nervously, eyes dropping to the bouquet I held. “Is that for me?”
“Oh, yes!” I thrust it forward—nearly taking out his eye in the process. “Shit, sorry. Too much eagerness.”
Jamie laughed as he gazed at the flowers. “Roses, huh? Bold choice.”
I tucked my hands into my pockets, unsure what to do with them now that I wasn’t holding the bouquet. “Maverick said, um, they were appropriate in this case, even though it’s a first date because…”
Jamie peeked up at me through his eyelashes, looking so much like he did that first day at the park that I wanted to kick my ass for being so stupid. I could have had this, him, this whole time.
I reached out and cupped his face. “Because, he said, I’m already head over heels for you.”
I swallowed Jamie’s gasp right off his lips, unable to resist kissing him again. He tasted like sunshine and sweet crisp apples and everything good in the world.
I tightened my grip, then sprang back when a thorn poked me in the chest. Jamie, too, was wincing from the bouquet crushed between us.
“I should put these in some water.”
I stepped inside, following him toward the kitchen. “Where are the dogs?”
“I asked Silas to take them for a walk.” He blushed prettily. “He helped me get ready. I’m not really that great with all of this.” He waved a hand toward his hair and outfit.
“Ah, that explains why you look so polished.”
He took a vase down from a cabinet, filled it with water, and arranged the flowers in it. The long-stem roses were a bit much, but Maverick had sold me pink ones the color of the blush in Jamie’s cheeks, and that did seem appropriate.
“Is it bad?” Jamie asked. “It looks like I’m trying too hard, right? I knew it!” He whirled from the counter. “I can go change—”
“Jamie, no.” I caught his arm, stopping him, the fabric of his sleeve slick under my fingertips. “I just brought you roses. If anyone is trying too hard, it’s me. I just… I want tonight to be perfect.”
“Me too,” he whispered.
“Good. You look perfect for where we’re going. I only meant to say that I like classic Jamie just as much.”
He smiled, relaxing a fraction. “Well, good, because classic Jamie is what you’re getting after tonight.”
“As long as you like classic Hank?”
“Are you kidding?” he blurted. “I’m obsessed with classic Hank.”
He clapped a hand over his mouth as soon as he’d said it, but I was loving the honesty. I pulled his hand down, then linked our fingers between us, and led him toward the door.
“We better go, or we’ll miss the reservations.”
He swallowed. “Okay, so where are we going? Not very many places require reservations in Granville.”
“I guess you’ll find out,” I teased.
“Unless we’re going to Riverton?” he tried again as we went out the front door and he closed and locked it.
“You can keep guessing, but I won’t tell you.”
He huffed, looking pouty, and it was so adorable I wanted to die. How had I missed the attraction that sparked so easily to life between us?
The minute we’d met at that park, I’d put him in a friend box, so sure that I could never be interested in a guy.
I had a faint memory of thinking that his features were cute, that he was the sweetest guy I’d ever met, and yet, it just hadn’t hit home that I wasn’t seeing him the way I saw most other men.
It wasn’t because he was pocket-sized, or because his features were a bit more delicate.
There’d been plenty of cute little twinks at the gay clubs I’d visited with Fox.
No, there was something about Jamie’s sweetness and warmth that was more authentic.
He was genuine, and I’d liked his personality from the start.
Maybe that’s all it took. Getting to know someone, deep down, had fired up an attraction fiercer than I’d ever felt before.
I’d been with women. It was casual and easy to meet them, to hook up, to even start dating. But not even in my most serious relationship had I felt a fraction of what I felt in that first kiss with Jamie.
This was different.
I drove northeast, and it didn’t take Jamie long to guess where we were headed. Granville wasn’t large enough to keep the secret long.
“The Dinner Bell,” he said, shocked. “But Hank…”
Had I overstepped? I cast a sidelong glance his way, watching the way he nibbled his bottom lip, the corners tugging into a shy smile.
“I know it’s only a first date,” I said, “but I need you to know how serious I am about you.”
“This is all so new for you.”
“It is, but that makes it less confusing,” I said. At his bewildered look, I added, “I’ve never felt this way before, Jamie. Not for anyone.”
His eyes slipped closed, his expression almost pained. “Really?”
I lowered my hand onto his thigh, squeezing. “Really.”
“But you’ve never been with a guy,” he said tentatively as I pulled into a parking spot in front of the schoolhouse turned restaurant.
“Not like this.”
“You might not like it,” he whispered.
I lifted my hand to stroke my thumb over his full bottom lip. “You don’t see, Jamie?”
“See what?” he asked, the tip of his tongue swiping my thumb and making me shudder.
“How much I’m dying for you already?”
He looked shocked. I took the opportunity to lean in and kiss his cheek. “You’ll see. First, we need to have a proper date.”
I got out of the car, and Jamie met me on the sidewalk. I reached for his hand, lacing our fingers again, and walked into the most romantic hotspot in the whole dang town.
“Good evening.” The hostess smiled when she saw us. “Do you have a reservation?”
“Dinner for two, under Hank Reeves.”
“I see it here.” She tapped a button on the tablet on the hostess stand, then waved toward the chalkboard behind her. It was covered in couples’ names and little doodles. “Would you like to add your names to the board and ring the bell tonight?”
“Yes,” I said, glancing at Jamie. “As long as you’re okay with everyone knowing we’re together?”
“Me?” He laughed. “Um, yeah. That’s fine.”
We each wrote our names in a big heart, then posed for a photo the hostess was nice enough to take for us. She was a cute blonde with the perfect personality to play hostess, but her long hair hid her nametag from view.
A bell rang out over the dining room as we entered, and everyone turned in their seats, watching us as we followed the hostess to a table by the window.
There were appraising looks, whispers, smiles and giggles. Sammi had told me about the place when she’d offered me some dating advice, but dang, she hadn’t been exaggerating. The gossip that Jamie and I were a couple was already spreading.
“My name’s Jamie,” the hostess said with a bright smile as we sat down and she handed us each menus. “Your server, Marco, will be right over, but let me know if you need anything.”
Jamie and I exchanged a shocked look as she walked away.
“Is that—” Jamie started.
“I think so.”
He glanced after the hostess, watching her long legs, curvy waist, and blonde hair sway its way toward the front. “Should I be worried?”
“Hey,” I said firmly.
He raised his gaze to me. I met his eyes, hoping to convey everything I felt in a single look.
“You’re the only Jamie I see.”
His smile was like a sunrise after a storm, wild and free and a little bit awe-inspiring.
“Keep it up, and this is going to be my best first date ever.”
I reached for his hand on the tabletop. “That’s a record I’d love to set. I think we could knock a few other firsts off the list, too, what do you say?”
His eyes widened. “I’d say you’re getting fresh with me. What kind of a boy do you take me for?”
I laughed. “The best kind.”
“Well,” he said, stroking the length of my index finger with two fingers, sending fiery arousal through me as he gave me the most faux-innocent look I’d ever seen, “I guess we’ll see where the night goes.”
“I can’t wait.”