Chapter 11 #2
I simply melted. "Do you see them often?"
"They come to the city a few times a year, especially since Josie had Sophie."
"Oh, I met Josie. She's so lovely.”
“Josie isn’t training at the gym, though, right? I would have known."
"No. no. She came once after Isabelle finished her practice, but I think she might join us soon. She said she likes the idea of a personal trainer. She says it increases the odds of her showing up if she knows she has an appointment. I think that's why most people want a personal trainer."
Dylan chuckled. "Well, I didn't. I have no problem showing up. I just want a perfect excuse to spend time with you."
I blushed, looking at the table. Yeah, if I thought I was tongue-tied before, after that my mind was completely blank, but my pulse sped up. I felt it in my chest and my neck.
"So you were saying about your parents?" I said, trying to steer us back to a safe topic of discussion.
He smiled knowingly, clearly seeing through my ruse.
"Yes. I wish they came more often, but I honestly think if they weren't so set in their ways, they'd move here.
Especially since all their children live in New York.
They've always wanted grandchildren to spoil.
And now they have Sophie. She is going to be one spoiled little girl," he said.
"Josie keeps telling us all to stop buying stuff or they're going to need a bigger house. "
Well, well. For someone who had sworn off love, he adored children.
I'm telling myself what I want to hear, and that never leads anywhere good.
Luckily, before I could fantasize about what a little boy would look like with Dylan's eyes and my hair, the waiter came with our platter of sushi.
“This is why I like sushi so much. It’s so fast.”
He looked at the platter, nodding appreciatively. "This looks great. I haven’t eaten sushi in a while. Last time, I got food poisoning. I’ve been avoiding it since.”
"Why didn't you say any of that when I told you to come to a sushi place?" I asked, mystified.
"Again, because I wanted to spend time with you."
I didn’t say anything, just took a bite of the sushi. “How did you get the medicine?” I asked.
“I know a few people in the pharma industry and asked them for favors.”
“Hmm… I remember Isabelle told me once that you don’t like doing that.”
He looked at me in surprise. “It’s true. But you’re an exception. I can’t wait until Isabelle hears about it.”
“Why?”
“She’s already giving me so much shit about taking the puppy home.”
The corners of my mouth twitched. “Well, it was unexpected.”
“You make me do unexpected things.” His gaze was so intense that I couldn’t keep eye contact for too long, so I glanced at the sushi platter again. I asked him more about his family as we cleared the platter, and we ended up talking about Isabelle.
“When are they moving to the new place?” I asked.
“Next week or the one after that. They’re not sure.”
“Brayden’s still on tour now, right?”
“Yes. It’s a bit hard for Isabelle, coordinating everything by herself.” He sounded concerned.
“She’s got all of you, though.”
“True, but things will be easier for her once the tour is over. This past year has been very intense for her. We try to be there for her for anything she needs, but it’s not the same.”
I wondered what it must feel like to have such a big family that loved you unconditionally. I pouted at the empty plate. I wanted to hear more about him, and Sophie, and his parents, and anything else he wanted to tell me.
"They don't have a good dessert, but I do have some cheesecake at home.”
Holy shit, what did I just do? I was not myself around Dylan. Or rather, I was—a bolder, flirtier version of myself.
“The sun has already set, but if we go up on my balcony, we can still see the last rays," I added quickly.
He laughed at me in surprise, as if he weren’t expecting this. To be honest, I wasn't expecting it either. I was sure it wasn't a good idea to spend more time with him, especially in my apartment. But I wasn't ready for our evening to end.
"That sounds great," he said. "Let me get the check."
"No, no, I invited you, remember?"
"Mel, that's not going to happen." He burned me with his gaze. I crossed my legs under the table, accidentally touching his thigh. The look in his eyes turned almost feral.
"Hell yes it is. You bought Dad's medicine, which you’re not even letting me pay for, so I'm paying for dinner." You’d think I’d just told him something awful by the way his gaze studied mine, unflinching. He really liked doing things on his own terms—but so did I.
"Okay. Thank you for the invitation. The next dinner is on me."
I tried to hide my smile as I flagged down the waiter. I paid quickly, noticing a few couples were waiting for a table.
"How far is your place?" Dylan asked as we stepped into the evening air. It hadn't cooled at all. But then again, we'd only been inside for about forty minutes.
"It's five minutes away."
We walked side by side, and I pointed out the gingerbread house to him.
“They've been trying to sell it for a few years, but I guess the price is too high.”
"It looks exciting," he admitted. "Why don't they make it a museum?”
I shrugged. "I don't know. I would love to see the inside.”
I pointed to a few more buildings as we walked by them, right until we arrived in front of my townhouse.
"We're here," I said. "Come on, let's go up. I live on the second floor."
I walked in front of him as we climbed the stairs.
I could feel him right behind me. The heat of his body was turning my knees weak.
I was starting to have doubts. Had this been a crazy idea?
We could barely keep our hands off each other in public, and we’d failed inside his apartment.
I wasn’t sure we were going to fare any better in mine.