Chapter 3
BEAU
“Is there something on my face?”
At the unexpected question, I jerked back. “What?”
Sitting directly across from me, Jules smiled brightly.
We were on our first date. A date I realized I wanted to have about two minutes after I’d walked away from her yesterday afternoon, when I’d purchased the cookies at the bakery at Westwood’s.
I hadn’t stopped thinking about my encounter with her, even after my friends and I had returned to the amusement park.
So, I’d gone back before we left for the day.
Somehow, that second interaction with Jules was even better than the first. And now, we were out having dinner together.
But even though we hadn’t received our meals yet, Jules was concerned about food on her face.
“You’re giving me a strange look, and all I can think is that there’s something on my face that’s making you look at me like that.”
I hadn’t realized I was wearing a strange expression, but at least Jules was willing to point it out. “I’m sorry. There’s nothing on your face. I promise.”
She eyed me playfully. “Okay. So, care to reveal what was going through your mind just a few seconds ago?”
I figured honesty would be the best option. “You’re beautiful.”
Her brows pulled together. “Pardon?”
“I told you as much yesterday,” I reminded her, the smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. “From across the room, I thought you were gorgeous. Being up close and personal is even better. I apologize if I’m staring, and it feels creepy. Just tell me to knock it off if I do it again.”
This was so unusual.
It wasn’t as though I hadn’t ever taken a woman out on a date before. Plenty of women were pretty. But there was something about Jules that was on another level for me. And while I’d been honest with her about why I was staring, I guess I hadn’t given her the full truth.
From the moment I saw her in that dress tonight that hugged every sinful curve on her body perfectly, my mind went blank.
That lasted for only a few seconds before it was filled with wicked thoughts of what I wanted to do to that body.
The toned legs, trim waist, round ass, and perfect tits beckoned me.
It was an effort not to reach out and pull her close, to see if her skin was as soft as it looked. Not to bury my face against her neck to inhale the scent of her while wrapping that thick, shiny hair cascading down her back around my fist.
For all the things I wanted to do to her, I figured she at least deserved a nice meal at a decent restaurant.
So, I’d brought her out to Savor.
Sure, it was the kind of restaurant that might have led to misinterpretations, but I didn’t think taking her through the drive-through was going to score me any points.
Obviously, I wasn’t the kind of guy who was looking for a long-term relationship, but that didn’t mean I wanted nothing to do with her.
So far, between the flirting and desserts from yesterday and the dress she was wearing today, I really wanted to score points with Jules.
I’d probably need to have some decent conversation with her before I stood to gain any ground, though.
“Well, you’re not so bad to look at yourself,” Jules declared. “I’ll let you stare all you want as long as you don’t call me out if I do it, too.”
Laughter spilled out of me. “Fair enough. So, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure. Isn’t that why we’re here?”
Her response made me pause. This was a date.
And as flirty as she might have been, Jules had just made it clear that she believed there was a purpose to us being on this date.
Technically, I didn’t disagree. But I got the distinct feeling we had different ideas in our minds about what that purpose was.
I wondered if I should have stopped myself from asking what I had intended to and instead shared what my intentions were with her.
In the end, I decided against doing the right thing.
“I guess this goes back to me feeling like I can’t take my eyes off you,” I started. “You’re just the kind of woman I think I’d notice anywhere, so I’m wondering why I missed seeing you at Westwood’s the last time I was there.”
“Didn’t you say it’s been a few years since you last visited?” she countered.
I nodded. “Yeah. Why? Did you only recently start working there?”
“Not exactly. How long ago was your last trip there?”
“Oh, man, um… probably about eight years ago.”
Jules pressed her lips together to stifle a laugh, but her eyes were shining with amusement. “So, the answer is simple. You didn’t see me there, because I was still in high school at the time.”
Like I’d been doused with a bucket of ice water, my body froze. “Excuse me?”
Her eyes darted toward the ceiling as she nodded her head slowly. I could see her mind working. “Yeah. Yeah, eight years ago would’ve put me back in high school.”
High school?
She looked young, but I didn’t think she was that young.
I swallowed roughly. “Given that bit of information, I’m certain I can ask this question without being insulting. Exactly how old are you?”
While my stomach was a mess of knots, Jules didn’t seem to be the least bit concerned about anything. “I’ll be twenty-five later this month.”
She was twenty-four.
I was on a date with a twenty-four-year-old woman.
Eight years ago, when she was seventeen and in high school, I was still older than she is right now.
I was so surprised by this information, unsure what to do with it. My heartbeat kicked up a notch, and tingles ran over my skin.
Twenty-four.
An adult, yes. But barely.
“Beau?” Jules’ sweet and curious voice broke through the thoughts swirling in my head. I blinked to clear away the lingering fog.
“Yeah?”
“Is everything okay?”
I barely jerked my chin down. “You’re twenty-four.”
Nodding, she confirmed, “Yes. What’s wrong with that?”
“The last time I was at Westwood’s, I was older than you are right now.”
Her breath hitched as her head jerked back. For several moments, Jules didn’t say a word. She merely allowed her eyes to roam over my face, searching for answers to the questions she clearly had. Finally, with a hint of a smile playing at her lips, she said, “So, you’re an old man?”
Humor.
She was finding humor in this.
“I don’t know if I’d say I’m an old man, but I’m significantly older than you.”
Jules leaned forward, propped her chin on her hand, and asked, “Can I guess?”
And now she was turning it into a game. “How old do you think I am?”
Squinting, she considered her answer. “Forty?”
“Are you trying to insult me?”
“So, younger?”
I gave her a nod. “Yeah. Much younger.”
“For the record, you don’t look old. Not at all.” Her eyes drifted down from my face to my shoulders, chest, and arms. If I’d been standing in front of her, I didn’t doubt her gaze would’ve journeyed much lower. “Alright, I’m going to go with thirty-five.”
“Close. I’ll be thirty-five next January.”
Jules ran her fingers along the front of her throat. “Wow. That is old.”
My eyes rounded. “What?”
“I’m surprised you don’t have a cane to help you get around, or something to put your dentures in.” Her eyes were dancing, her fingertips covering the smile on her face.
She was teasing me.
I cocked a brow. “You are not funny.”
Jules tossed her head back, laughing hysterically in the middle of an upscale restaurant. I didn’t try to stop her, glad she was enjoying herself so much. When she got her laughter under control, Jules said, “It’s only a nine-year age gap between us, Beau. I don’t think it’s a big deal.”
“You don’t?”
She shook her head. “Do you?”
I honestly didn’t know. All the women I’d ever hooked up with were younger than me, but Jules was easily the youngest. Was it a problem?
Should it have been? It wasn’t as though she was eighteen and still fresh out of high school.
And the reality was that I wasn’t looking for something that would last a lifetime. This was casual for me. Fun.
I smiled at her. “I don’t think it’s a big deal, either.”
“For a minute there, I was starting to reconsider my stance.”
“Oh?”
She shrugged, her lips twitching. “It took you so long to respond, I thought your mind was already going and you forgot the question.”
With that statement, it was me who couldn’t contain my laughter. Maybe a younger woman would be just what I needed.
JULES
I was having the best time.
Coming into this date with Beau, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Sure, we’d had a bit of teasing and flirtation between us at the bakery yesterday, but I didn’t know if any of that would carry through to dinner tonight.
But it was.
And I loved everything about it.
Because if I was honest, there was some small part of me that thought I might be taking too many risks.
It was one thing to agree to go on a date with a handsome guy who’d approached and flirted with me.
But it was something else entirely not to tell anyone about it.
Of course, Birdie knew, and by default, Serena, too.
But nobody else. Hell, it wasn’t until Beau picked me up that I even knew where he was taking me for dinner.
He’d only told me what time to be ready and what the dress code was.
Now that we were here, and we’d both spent a good deal of time laughing, I felt such relief and joy and excitement.
If I were honest, it kind of made me want to be just a touch more reckless when it came to Beau. If this man wanted a kiss when he took me home tonight, I’d already decided I’d allow it.
And deep down, I sort of liked the idea of keeping him to myself for a little while.
Perhaps, if and when things progressed between us, I’d consider sharing the news of his existence with my family.
There was Birdie and Serena, too. And based on needing them to cover me at work tonight, they knew about a simple date. Nothing more, nothing less.
At this point, there was still so much to learn about Beau, but I wondered if it was possible he could get any better. He was already checking so many boxes for me.
Handsome. Check.
Tattoos. Check.