Chapter 5
The aroma of freshly baked pizza emanating from inside the restaurant enveloped Oliver, and his mouth watered.
It was a Sunday evening, and he’d spent the day with his parents, taking advantage of being back in the same state as they were. Now, wanting to give Natalie and Leo more privacy, he’d stopped in the town where an upcoming security installation assignment would take him. Natalie had recommended a pizza joint, and he figured it was as good a time as any to check it out.
As soon as he opened the door, he knew he’d made the right decision. The pizzeria was bustling, but several tables were empty. He had almost got the pizza to go, but with the urge to enjoy the slices while hot and straight from the oven, he decided to eat in. A long opening in the wall between the kitchen and seating area allowed the patrons to see the pizzas moving in and out of the brick oven in the kitchen. The flames cast a warm glow over the chef, a man with an apron over a T-shirt with rolled-up sleeves exposing his arm tattoos. He called out the pizza orders as soon as they were boxed for takeout or slid onto the servers’ metal trays. Behind the hostess stand was a table with boxes of takeout orders stacked with their receipts taped to the side.
The man in front of him gave his name to the hostess, saying he had called in a takeout order. She turned, checked to make sure she had the correct box, ensured that he had paid online, and then handed him the pizza box.
As the man moved past Oliver to the door, Oliver stepped up to the stand. The perky hostess eyed him as hungrily as he was eyeing the pizzas being placed on a nearby table. “Are you eating in or carrying out?” she asked, a coy smile curving her lips.
“Eating in.”
“Mmm,” she cooed under her breath. “Will you be meeting anyone… um… special?”
His gaze swung back to her. “No. Just me.” He wondered if her question was in irritation of using a table for a single diner, but disappointment was not the expression on her face. Hunger would have more accurately described her appraising smile.
“Follow me, please,” she said, grabbing a menu and sashaying toward a table in the back. Leaning forward, she placed the menu on the table and tapped it with a long fingernail. “Let me know if you can’t find what you want on the menu. I get off in a couple of hours.”
“I’m sure I have everything I need here,” he said, taking a seat and picking up the menu, hoping she would leave him alone.
“Well, if you change your mind, here’s my number,” she said, biting her lip as her chin dipped while she kept her eyes on his. She slid a napkin toward him, and he glanced to see a phone number and her name written on it. She’d drawn a heart underneath, and it was all he could do to keep from rolling his eyes.
A shout from the window that led into the kitchen had the hostess glaring toward the cook before hurrying back to her station.
A soft chuckle met his ears through the vibrant hum of the restaurant noise. Looking up at the table in front of him, he observed a woman seeming to fight a smile. Her eyes met his before immediately dropping, and even from a distance, he could see a blush creep over her face illuminated by the light of the candle on her table. She captured his attention, but a server appeared, standing in his line of vision.
“Hey,” she greeted with enthusiasm. “Can I get you something to drink?”
He ordered a beer, but instead of moving to fill his order, she lingered. Her T-shirt wasn’t low-cut, but she bent forward, placing her chest in front of his face, saying, “Sorry, it’s so loud in here I need to get close.”
Even though he’d barely looked at the menu, he knew what he wanted. He ordered his meat-loaded pizza and pushed the menu across the table to her.
“Ooh, that’s a good one. Everyone likes a lot of meat,” she said, winking. “I’ll be right back with your beer.”
He scrubbed his hand over his face until a soft chuckle met his ears again. His gaze darted back to the attractive woman sitting alone, and her head jerked down. Even though her phone was in front of her, he could almost swear that she was laughing every time one of the servers flirted with him. He kept staring, but she didn’t lift her head again. Just as he decided he needed to get over himself, the server returned with his beer.
With another wink and a tap of her fingernail on the cocktail napkin set underneath the beer, he glanced down to see her phone number.
“Here’s my number if you’re interested. I get off at eight.”
Christ, that’s two phone numbers in five minutes from two women who I have no interest in and haven’t encouraged. Not to mention, they’re about a decade younger than me.Keeping his gaze steady, he said, “Thanks for the beer, but this and the pizza will be all I need.”
Unfettered, she kept her smile on her face. “Keep it. You never know when you might decide you want more than pizza from here.” She walked away with an extra swing in her step. The hostess passed the server, slamming her shoulder into her.
He sat back and took a long pull of his beer, crumpling the napkin underneath and moving it to the side. There was a time, many years ago, when he’d be all over that. Now, the numbers on a napkin only served to make him tired. He doubted he’d ever find a true relationship that started with an unsolicited number on a napkin.
He cast his gaze around the restaurant again. The other tables were filled with couples or families, except for her—the woman who appeared to find amusement in the numbers handed to him. Like him, she was at a table alone. She sipped water and appeared to be waiting for her dinner.
Thick blond hair was pulled back in a braid that fell over one shoulder. It was the color of wheat, and he wondered if it was as soft as it looked. She glanced up, but her gaze did not appear to land on him. The softness of her features painted a picture of someone appreciating the moment.
Her eyes widened, and a delicate smile slipped over her face as a server placed a small pizza and salad in front of the woman. Her pensive expression morphed into anticipation. She cut a bite, then blew her breath across the hot pizza before nibbling an edge. When she decided it must have been cool enough, she took a bite and chewed.
Oliver wasn’t sure he’d ever seen anyone with pure ecstasy written on their face. His cock stirred, and he strangely felt jealous of the cause. He’d had a number of sexual partners over the years, but in truth, he couldn’t say he’d ever witnessed a truer sense of delight.
Her eyes were closed as she continued to chew and then take another bite. He couldn’t help but wonder what she would look like, giving herself over to passion. His musings were interrupted when his pizza was placed before him. Sniffing the baked crust, tomato sauce, and the multiple toppings he always asked for, he could now understand the woman’s look of pleasure.
Taking a bite, he also reveled in the taste that matched the look and scent of his dinner. He groaned, then snapped his eyes open, glancing around to make sure no one had heard him. The nearest tables were busy with their conversations, but when his gaze drifted back over to the woman, he found her light brown eyes staring back at him, her lips curved upward. He’d never blushed when gaining a woman’s attention before but could swear the tips of his ears heated as she smiled before dropping her gaze.
Her expression wasn’t one of lust but more of recognition that he seemed to enjoy his dinner as much as she did. He was tempted to pick up his plate and walk over to ask if she was dining alone and would like to have company. In his younger days, that would’ve been a common occurrence. But he was reticent to make that move… he didn’t want to make an erroneous assumption that a woman eating alone wanted to be with someone.
A large group walked up to the hostess stand, and as he glanced around, he realized the place was full. He was sitting at a table meant for four. Looking over, the woman who captured his attention was doing the same. And just like him, her gaze was dancing around the room, her lips now pulled down in a little frown, creating a crinkle between her brows.
As her gaze landed on him, he lifted his eyes and tipped his head in her direction. It was a silent movement, indicating a question if he could join her. It was also a self-serving gesture—if she ignored him, he wouldn’t be publicly shot down.
She lifted a brow, and her lips softened into a gentle smile. Emboldened, he stood and walked toward her with his plate in his hand. As she watched him approach, her lips continued to curve upward, and she nodded. The air seemed charged with a new energy, and anticipation flowed between them.
“I know this is presumptuous, but it appears they need table space. I was eating alone, but I didn’t know if you had others coming or if you, like me, wouldn’t mind a little company while we enjoyed this delicious pizza. Please don’t feel obligated.”
With a smile, she inclined her head toward the chair across from her. He set down his plate and drink, then turned to catch the eye of the server.
The server’s gaze shot from him to the woman and back to him, a scowl now replacing the smile she’d given him.
“She doesn’t appear to be very happy with you.”
As he sat down, he looked up at the woman across from him. “I’d ensure she received the tip even if this wasn’t her table. But since she’s also the server for this table, she’ll get everything due to her.”
The woman raised her brows and appeared to fight a grin. “I’m not sure she’ll get everything she wants. After all, she’s probably assuming that now she wasted a phone number on you.”
Unable to keep from laughing, he tried to play off the embarrassment even though his face felt hot. “I assure you the napkin she left me is crumpled and left behind to go into the trash.”
She shook her head as she laughed. “I’m sorry. It’s certainly none of my business, but I couldn’t help but notice that you’d barely sat down and already had two women’s phone numbers. That’s rather impressive.”
He winced and shook his head, having no idea what to say to that. She looked down as she took another bite of her salad, once again chewing as though she thoroughly enjoyed the simple fare. A drop of dressing hung tenaciously on her bottom lip until her pink tongue slipped out to catch it. The breath caught in his lungs as he watched, his cock stirring at the innocent movement.
Desperate not to seem like a creeper, he blurted, “To be honest, I got the feeling it was more of a competition between those two women than anything to do with me.” Wanting to move the subject on, he waved his hand toward the pizza. “I couldn’t help but notice how much you enjoyed the dinner. I’ve never been here before.”
“It’s incredibly good.”
They ate silently for a few minutes while the pizza was still hot and the flavors were at their peak. He hadn’t learned her name, and since she hadn’t asked for his, he hesitated to do so. If this had been a date, even a blind date, he would have asked the typical questions: Where do you work? What do you do? How long have you been in the city?
When his companion was nothing more than a bar hookup, the only questions usually asked were even more simple: What is your name, and do you want to get out of here?
But since this was neither a date nor a bar hookup, he floundered, wanting to know more yet uncertain about the propriety of asking too many questions. Considering the insecurity a woman might feel at having just been forced to share a table with a man she didn’t know made the situation even more tenuous. How the fuck do I show interest without making her uncomfortable? And does she feel the same? The ease he always felt when around women was now steeped in uncertainty.
Her gaze lifted from her plate, and she dabbed the corners of her mouth with her napkin. “So what do you think?”
He blinked at her question, having been sneaking looks at her as she continued to enjoy her food. Now, having caught him off guard, he had no idea what she was talking about.
“Um…?” He covered his confusion by taking a sip of drink and wiping his mouth.
She laughed and was even more beautiful while obliterating any possibility that he might discern what her question was about.
“The pizza?” she prompted. “What do you think about it?”
Recovering quickly, he nodded. “It’s great. I can see why this place gets crowded.” Relaxing, he decided to throw out one of his lines to compliment her appearance. “Sorry to have spaced out on you. It’s just that you?—”
“Oh, it’s okay.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Believe me, I get it. The pizza really is delicious. I’m hardly a pizza connoisseur, but I’ve been here a few times. Well, I should say that I’ve gotten their takeout several times. This was the first time I decided I would eat in.”
“Yeah… uh… I thought about doing takeout also, then decided I wanted to sit down and eat instead of shoving pizza in my face as I drove.”
She laughed, shaking her head. “Driving while operating a phone is illegal, but driving and eating can be just as difficult! I’ve seen some people driving dangerously while shoving in a hamburger.”
“Oh, guilty of that many times!”
“I was once on my way to a job interview. I craved a hot apple pie turnover from a fast food place and ignored the warning about it being hot. I bit into it, burned my mouth, and a big blob of apple pie filling landed on my blouse! I was so angry with myself.”
Laughing, he asked, “Did you skip your interview?”
Her eyes widened. “Of course not! I had a sweater in the back seat. I pulled it over the blouse and went in.” She sighed and added, “It was about a hundred degrees outside, and I looked like a fool. But I needed the job!”
It was on the tip of his tongue to ask what kind of work she did, but she still hadn’t offered anything specific nor asked him personal questions. Wanting to keep her talking, he said, “I was once so hungry when I was driving, I started eating a piece of fried fish from a takeout fish joint.”
“Weren’t your fingers a greasy mess?”
“Yes, but I was going home. And I was too hungry to care.”
They laughed together, and the moment stretched between them as the evening light filtered through the restaurant window and the flicker of the candlelight.
The people from the table behind her were leaving, and as they stood, one of the men bumped into her chair without apologizing. A flash of protectiveness hit Oliver, and he rose from his seat to ensure the man didn’t bump her again.
She shook her head and made a slight motion with her hand as she whispered, “I’m fine. They have the tables rather squished in here to get more people inside. I think the next time I’m craving pizza, I might opt for the takeout again. It’s getting so loud in here I can barely hear myself think!”
Suddenly, her attention was diverted to the window next to her, and when his gaze followed her line of vision, he could see a couple of teenagers across the street. One appeared much smaller than the other, both dressed in blue jeans with oversized hoodies and knit caps. They were lost in their animated exchange, arms gesticulating.
When he glanced back to his table companion, her reaction to the scenario across the street captivated him. She was still staring out the window, a crinkle now marring the smooth skin of her forehead.
He decided to take the plunge and ask her name when the server interrupted as she plopped the checks on the table. His table partner swung her head around, looked up, and said, “I’m ready to pay. And I’ll need a to-go box, please.”
Taking the credit card, the server huffed as though getting a to-go box was a huge task. Oliver frowned, having wanted to offer to pay for the woman’s meal. By the time he pulled his card out, the server returned with the woman’s card and set a box on the table. She then took his card and flounced away.
He watched while the woman quickly scooped her pizza into one box and the leftover breadsticks into another before placing them in the tote she produced from the seat next to her.
He glanced around to see the server talking animatedly at another table and growled, wanting his card back so he could leave at the same time as the woman sitting across from him. Glancing back at her, he realized her attention was once again diverted out the window. The two teenagers were still across the street. She didn’t appear afraid of them, but there was definitely recognition in her eyes.
Grappling with a sense of urgency, he blurted, “By the way, my name is?—”
Before he could finish, a large group of people came into the restaurant, boisterous as they approached the hostess stand, interrupting his comment.
The woman across from him stood quickly and tossed a small smile his way as she nodded. “Thank you for the dinner conversation.” She grabbed her coat, purse, and tote with the leftovers, quickly darted through the crowd, and slipped outside.
Frustration spread through him as he hurried but was thwarted by the large group. He could not push past them in the small area without appearing rude. He stood to the side as the hostess gathered the menus and called for one of the servers to push two tables together.
Waiting, he thought of the woman and hoped he would be able to see her again. He had no idea what it was about the pretty woman who captured his imagination. She was beautiful in a girl-next-door way. He’d had his share of bar hookups over the years with attractive women in teeny dresses who understood the score– one night of horizontal fun, and that was all. He’d seen enough marriages fail while in the Army to figure love wasn’t in the cards for him as a Ranger. But now? He was kicking himself that the woman who’d held his attention had slipped outside before he’d worked up the courage to find out her name.
Still waiting to reach the door, it dawned on him that she’d mentioned coming here before. He decided this pizza shop might become his newest place to visit. Suddenly, a scream jarred him from his thoughts, and shuffling feet met his ears.