Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
They made their way into the restaurant, pleasantly surprised by the lack of photographers at the front of the building.
“Mr. Vaughn,” the host said, lighting up at the sight of him. “We’ve prepared our best table for you tonight.”
“Thank you,” Reese replied, removing his coat. He reached for Sutton’s, and she turned, letting him help her out of it before he handed them off to the host.
“Right this way,” he said, handing them their coat tickets.
“This restaurant is really fancy,” Sutton leaned over to whisper. “Coat tickets? I don’t think I’ve ever had to use them.”
Reese chuckled, placing his hand on her back to guide her to their table. She did her best to suppress a shudder at the warmth that spread through her from his single touch.
“Here we are,” the host stated, Sutton’s jaw dropping at the sight.
She turned to look at him, unable to believe her eyes.
“Is this all for us?” she asked, setting her purse down as Reese pulled out her chair for her to sit.
He joined her at the table, tugging his napkin from the ring and setting it down in his lap.
“Of course,” he replied. “I wanted this night to be special, since it’s our first date.”
Champagne sat chilled in a bucket stand, and the table had a beautiful, but small, centerpiece of dark red roses, along with some long, tapered candles glowing brightly over the small space. The table was also placed farther from the others, creating an illusion of being alone together.
“Wow,” she said, thoroughly impressed. She had never been to such a fancy place before, although she thought it might be a bit much since they weren’t really dating.
“Isn’t this a bit much for a fake first date?” she asked, leaning over to whisper.
“I don’t think so,” Reese replied, trying to hide the irritation on his face.
He clearly put a lot of effort into this, and you’re ruining it.
She pursed her lips together and tried to refrain from saying anything else, not wanting to upset him. She dropped her napkin into her lap and picked up the menu, biting her lip to keep the shock from showing at the prices on the menu.
These are the most expensive prices I’ve ever seen.
Scouring the menu for the cheapest thing she could find, she decided it wasn’t for her, so she decided to find something else. It took her a few tries, but she finally landed on a lobster risotto with veggies on the side and a salad, making a note to ask for the vinaigrette as the dressing.
Peeking over the menu, she studied him in the candlelight—his brows furrowed as he decided what he wanted to eat. His hazel eyes darkened as they looked up at her, her cheeks flushing pink at being caught staring at him.
“Is there something on my face?” he asked, a grin coming to his perfect face.
It was round but tapered to the perfect point, the scruff on his face adding to the mystique of the man.
“No,” she replied with a shake of her head. “Your face is perfect.”
Her eyes rounded when she realized what she said. “I mean—”
He laughed and set down his menu. “I understand.”
She dipped back down behind the menu to hide, annoyed and unnerved by the whole situation.
Shouldn’t have agreed to go to dinner with him then.
She silently cursed at herself, acknowledging that yes, it was her own fault, but she could still be annoyed by it.
The waiter appeared and took their orders, removing the safety net of the menus from the table as he went to put in their food.
“Champagne?” Reese asked, motioning to the bottle.
“Please,” she replied, needing the liquid courage to get through the rest of this dinner with him.
Why are you so nervous? You were so confident the other night, and now here you are, acting like a twit.
She scowled and his brows shot up. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes,” she blurted out as she took a big drink of the champagne he set down in front of her. “I’m sorry, but I have no idea why I’m so nervous. I mean, we’ve already made out, so this shouldn’t be that big of a deal.”
Probably because before, you didn’t think it would go anywhere because he made it abundantly clear it wouldn’t go anywhere and look at you now.
“It’s okay,” he replied, setting his glass down in front of him. “I’m pretty nervous, too.”
She leaned forward. “Really?”
He nodded. “Really.”
She sat back in her chair, surprised and a little bit elated by that.
“What should we talk about?” she asked, looking around. “We should try to get to know one another a little bit if we’re going to be around one another for a while.”
“Well,” he said, taking a sip of his glass, “what about family?”
Seems like a safe enough topic.
“Would you like to go first?” he asked, setting his glass down.
“Sure,” she replied, taking a sip. “My parents live in Nashville, along with my older sister Megan and her wife Ashlin, who have adorable twins named Fern and Sloane. I moved to Georgia for college, and after graduation, I moved to Knoxville to work for the foundation, so I go visit them every few months, or they come down here. Since the twins were born two years ago, I’ve tried to visit them more often so I can see them and not miss a lot. They send me lots of pictures, though.”
She dug around for her phone in her bag, then pulled it out to show him a couple of pictures of the twins. “Their birthday is coming up, so I’m excited to go see them.”
He leaned over as she scrolled through the photos.
“That sounds amazing.” He tugged out his phone and opened up the gallery. “That is Ellie, my niece. She’s also two years old.”
She took his phone to look, an adorable cherub blonde looking back at her, the cute little girl sitting cuddled in his lap.
“She’s adorable!” she said, handing the phone back to him.
“Thanks. She’s my older brother Bryce’s little girl with his wife Lynsey.
” He locked the phone and set it on the table.
“I’ve lived in Knoxville my entire life, so my entire family lives here.
My mom was born in Virginia, though, so we do have some extended family up there, but my immediate family is here. ”
“What brought your mom to Tennessee?” she asked, shifting things around when the waiter brought out their salads.
“Thank you,” he said to the waiter, before turning back to her.
“My dad actually went on vacation with his family to Virginia and met my mom there. He asked her if he could write her letters, and she said yes. Two years later, he asked her family to come visit Tennessee, he proposed, and they’ve been together ever since. ”
Sutton put her hand on her heart. “That is beautiful!”
“It’s my mom’s favorite story to tell.” He took a big bite of his food. “If you ever meet her, she will tell you the story, so act surprised.”
“Noted,” she replied, trying to ignore the excitement at the thought of meeting his family.
She had done a little snooping on social media, especially since Reese followed all of them.
Lynsey mainly posted pictures of herself and Bryce, and some with Ellie but always with her facing away from the camera, which Sutton thought was pretty smart.
His mom posted mainly family photos of her and her kids but not that often, so there weren’t any recent ones but a lot from when Reese was younger.
He was definitely cute in high school, and I probably would have wanted to date him then. He might not have dated me, though.
“I do have to say, though, that my mom will lose her mind when she finds out you went to Georgia. Bulldogs aren’t welcome in the Vaughn household.”
Sutton set down her silverware. “I could say the same about the Vols in the Cooke household.”
His brows shot high. “Your parents are Georgia fans too? In Nashville?”
“They are. My parents actually met at the University of Georgia their sophomore year of college. They started dating not long after that, then moved to Nashville after they got married when my dad got a job here. They’ve lived in Nashville my entire life, but red was always the color we wore.”
He put his head in his hands. “A travesty. I meet a beautiful woman, but she wears red.”
Sutton rolled her eyes, the compliment rolling off her as she replied, “Red is the best color there is.”
“Now that’s where you’ve crossed the line. Tennessee orange is best.”
“We’ll just have to agree to disagree on that one.”
He chuckled and held up his hands. “All right. We’ll call a truce. How is your salad?”
She looked down at the food, then back at him. “Delicious, of course. Yours?”
“The same. I can’t wait for our dinner, though.”
“How did you know about this place?” Sutton asked, taking the final couple of bites to clear her salad plate. “I didn’t even know it was around here.”
“I know the owner, so it’s a nice connection to have if I need a nice reservation somewhere.”
“That’s a great connection to have, for sure,” Sutton replied, taking another sip of her champagne as the waiter brought out their dinner. “That looks amazing.”
Her mouth watered as he set the plate down in front of her, the scent of lobster filling her nostrils. “Thank you for this. It’s truly divine.”
“You’re welcome.” Reese’s eyes warmed at her enjoyment, and he looked away as a hint of desire sparked in his eyes.
Her cheeks warmed at his perusal of her, and she looked down at the risotto, her stomach flip-flopping again.
All this from a smile? I’m in trouble here.
She took a few bites of her food and closed her eyes with a small sound of pleasure, his laughter drawing her eyes back to his. He covered his mouth with his fork as he chuckled at her, taking a bite of his steak.
Popping a veggie into her mouth, her eyes rounded. “These are perfect, too. I need the chef at home to cook for me, because my food never tastes this good.”
He leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, “I think all food that is cooked by someone else always tastes better.”
She tapped her finger on her chin for a moment before she agreed. “I think so, too. No one makes food like your mom, though.”
He nodded. “Agreed.”
She sighed, all this talk of family causing her to miss hers unexpectedly. “I think I need to take a weekend to go visit my family soon.”
“Once the season is over, I’ll be able to spend a lot more time with mine.” He took another drink. “The football season gets so busy, so it’s hard to keep up with them. I’m grateful for the opportunity, and the travel is fun, but it keeps me busy.”
“Family is everything, that’s for sure,” Sutton replied. “I’ve been so busy lately with events, that I haven’t had a break to go see them. And with the potential event for Reboot, that’s added another thing to the list.”
Guilt flashed over his face, but Sutton caught it before it disappeared.
“Don’t worry, I’m okay with it,” she reassured him. “I love planning things, and this is another great opportunity for the league and the foundation to get together on something good.”
“As long as it isn’t too much,” he said.
She shook her head. “I promise, the foundation needs this as much as you want it, so even if I have to work overtime, I will make it happen.”
He looked doubtful, but Sutton had pulled events together in shorter amounts of time and didn’t have league or Reboot money to do it. This time, she did.
It’ll come together in no time.
“So, are you excited about Sunday?” she asked, drawing his attention away from the event.
“I am, but man, it’s going to be tough. The Fortune are no joke.”
“Well, if you play as good this game as you’ve been playing this year, you should be fine. There have been a lot of good teams to get knocked out this year, but they didn’t have running backs like you on their teams.”
“Been reading up on me?”
She shrugged. “I know a lot of running backs, but you’re the best one I’ve seen this year.”
“Well, thanks,” he said. “I hope I don’t disappoint you.”
They fell into a companionable silence, finishing their food without much conversation after that, the ride home just as quiet.
Reese walked her up to her empty and now-clean apartment, telling her he would see her on Sunday before he left the building.
Heading to her window, she watched Reese take a last look at the building before he got into the Tahoe, the large SUV disappearing into the night as she plopped onto her couch with a sigh.