Chapter 38
“So where are we going?” June asked for the hundredth time as they walked down the street toward the restaurant. He and the guys had eaten here several times. They had great food, and it wasn’t overly pricey.
It was perfect for a casual date, and yet, he could still kind of spoil June.
She had dressed up for their date, wearing a spaghetti strap dress that hugged all of her curves and showed off her bountiful breasts. They almost hadn’t left the house, but he had made a promise to take her out and show her a good time, and he was a man of his word.
“It’s a surprise.”
“I don’t like surprises,” she pouted.
Rob kissed her well because one, he wanted to and couldn’t resist and two, she looked so adorable when she pouted. “You’ll like this one.”
“How did I let you talk me into this?” she asked more to herself than to him, but he answered anyway.
“Because you love me?” he posed as a question, though he already knew the answer.
“True,” she mused and looked off at nothing, appearing thoughtful. “Mores the fool.”
“Are you saying you regret loving me?” Rob knew that couldn’t be true. She couldn’t feel trapped in loving him as if it wasn’t of her own choosing, right?
“Never,” she responded quickly and looked up at him with love radiating in her eyes.
“Good.” He relaxed. June was his first serious relationship, and Rob had some misgivings. Not about her, but his being worthy of her. “We’re here.”
Rob pulled them inside the building. It was dark and rustic, full of old movie icon posters and memorabilia.
The seating hostess looked up at them from her table at their entrance. She grabbed two menus and headed into the seating area. “This way.”
“What was that about?” June leaned close to whisper to him.
Rob just shrugged. He had made a call ahead so they could have a secluded corner booth. “Nothing, just good service.”
“So, what’s so special about this place?” June asked as she took her seat.
“It’s where the guys and I hang out a lot. It’s where some of us met. The owner is a veteran and a friend.”
“You mean a contact?” she whispered so no one overheard.
Rob was startled that she had made that connection. “That too.” He wasn’t going to tell her more than that. She didn’t need to know too much about his profession.
“I like this place. It’s like it’s in a time warp. Even the booths look like they are from the twenties or something,” she observed, looking around the space appreciatively.
“I thought you might like it.”
“I do, so what’s good here?”
“Everything. Matteo, the owner, has an incredible chef that people keep trying to steal from him.”
“That they’ll never get,” an older man in a black suit walking up to them said. June looked up at him with her eyes wide. Rob wondered what was going through her mind seeing him.
“Matteo.” Rob held his hand out for Matteo to shake.
“Good to see you, Rob. I have to say, I was shocked when you made reservations and did not show up with the guys, but now, I see why.” Matteo looked warmly at June.
If Matteo wasn’t several decades older than him and knew June’s heart belonged to him, Rob would be having choice words with the sly glances he was giving her.
“You two enjoy your evening.” Matteo gave him a wink as he sauntered away.
“Sorry about him.” Rob felt he should apologize for Matteo.
“He’s sweet.”
“That man has been accused of many things. Sweet isn’t one of them.”
“He reminds me of the godfather like some Italian mafia boss or something.” Rob kept a straight face lest he give something away. She wasn’t far from the truth.
“Are you two ready to order?” a waiter asked, coming up to them and saving Rob from a lie.
Rob always got the same thing, so he hadn’t bothered to look at the menu. “Junem are you ready, or do you need a minute?” Matteo’s place served a little bit of everything, but they were considered an Italian restaurant.
June glanced down at the menu, her eyes quickly scanning it. “I’ll have the chicken parmesan.” She handed over her menu.
“And to drink?”
“A glass of the house prosecco.”
“Excellent,” the waiter said, jotting down her order. “And for you, sir, the usual?”
“Yes, but I’ll have a glass of wine as well.” Why not; they were celebrating.
“So, what is the usual?” June inquired when the waiter left.
“A grilled sirloin with a side of risotto.”
“That sounds good.”
“I had it once when I was on assignment in Italy, and it’s all I order now.” The meat had been so tender and flavorful, he had never bothered trying anything different after that. Rob had been happy to find someone else who could cook it as well as the chef in Italy.
“Italy; I bet you’ve been almost everywhere in the world,” she remarked, sounding wistful.
“Not quite, but several places.” Many he could never tell her about. It wasn’t like he had been sightseeing when he was on assignment. Most of the time, they were covert operations, and he was in and out. Every once in a while, he had some time to scope out the area. “What about you?”
“I’m not much of a traveler. Besides growing up on the east coast, California and here are all I’ve been to.”
“Do you want to travel?” Some people didn’t like going on vacations to different places. They were happy camping or staying close to home versus traveling around the world.
“I’d love to.”
“What’s top of your bucket list?” He would make sure they went someday.
“Australia, Italy, and France.”
“We’ll go,” he assured her. He had been to those places, but again, they had been for assignments and not for pleasure.
“We?” She cocked her head to the side in surprise.
“Too soon to be planning couple vacations?” He didn’t know what the rules were. They’d already said I love you; was this moving too fast?
“No, just surprising. Other people I’ve dated never talked about a future.”
“I’m not other people.” Rob wanted to make it clear that he was nothing like the idiots who had come before him. June was a treasure that he never wanted to let go of.
June looked at him thoughtfully. “No, you’re not. Vacations will have to wait until another PT is found though. I couldn’t do that to my coworkers. How would that even work with your schedule?” she added almost as an afterthought.
It wasn’t the easiest, but he could make it work. “I can put in a vacation request. Not all assignments require all of us, and some timelines can be moved around so it’s not impossible.”
The waiter returned with their wines.
“To new beginnings,” Rob toasted, raising his glass. June held her own aloft and toasted with him.