Chapter 4 #2
“You should know me better than that. I want to shout it from the rooftops that I’m going to be a dad. Don’t worry about me,” I assured her.
Her smile made me grin. “Then bring that bag and let’s go to the breakroom. We’ll let anyone else in there be envious. Man, they should bottle that scent and sell it.”
“So if they did, and I sprayed it on me, would you eat me up?” I teased as I took her arm and walked out the door.
“Oh, would I,” she murmured.
It was our mutual laughter that preceded us and announced our arrival at a small break area about twenty feet from her office. There were two others in there. Their gazes landed on us and stayed.
“Hi. We’re joining you,” Danae said pleasantly enough, but I got the impression they weren’t her favorite people.
I pulled out a chair at an empty table. As she sat, I removed the bottles of water from the inner pockets of my jacket, then started unloading the bags.
Parisian Plates made sure they provided everything you needed, including plates, silverware, and napkins.
As I set them on the table, Danae opened the silverware, divided our plates, and then opened the cartons.
Her moan sounded rather sexual. I had to concentrate on not getting hard.
Once it was all out, I sat down, and we began loading our plates.
A Frisée salad was first with bacon and a soft-poached egg.
The next one was coq au vin, a rich, hearty chicken stew.
To go with it was a flat-iron steak au poivre, just a fancy way of saying the steak was covered in cracked black pepper and a shallot sauce.
And for dessert was tarte tatin, an upside-down apple dessert.
“Heath, you didn’t need to get all this,” she said.
“But we need a variety, and these are some of our favorites. If you don’t want them, I can take them b—” My offer was stopped cold by her baring her teeth and growling.
I laughed deeply. “That’s what I thought.”
She giggled. I waited for her to take the first bite. She went for the salad. As she hummed in approval, I took a bite. We barely got those chewed and swallowed before we were interrupted.
“Something smells so good. What is that, Danae?” the lady with short dark hair asked.
“It’s French cuisine from a place called Parisian Plates. Have you ever been there?” my woman asked.
“No, I haven’t,” the lady answered.
“You should try it, Holly,” Danae replied.
There was about three or four minutes of silence from them, during which we tried the other items and remarked on how good they were. The next to speak was the redhead.
“Who’s your lunch companion? I don’t recall seeing him around before.” There was a hint of disbelief in her voice. She disliked not knowing who I was or what my relationship to Danae was.
“The name is Heath. This is my first time having lunch with her here.”
“Are you a relative? Or a boyfriend?” Holly asked.
“We’re not related,” I replied. I wasn’t sure what Danae wanted me to say or not say.
“You’re awfully quiet. Danae. You haven’t said. Is he your boyfriend? Or a family friend? Yeah, I bet that’s what he is. You don’t have time to date,” the redhead said in a condescending tone.
I was about to tell her she should shut up when I was beaten to it.
“Julie, you seem awfully interested in my life. Why? We’re not friends.
And since we’re not, how would you know who I date, or if I have time to do it?
Heath and I have been dating for over six months, if you must know.
He doesn’t usually have time to come for lunch with me because of his work.
Does that answer all your questions? Oh, and yes, this restaurant is a favorite of ours. You should try it too.”
The bite in Danae’s voice was clear, yet she never raised her voice, said a swear word, or even gave Julie a dirty look.
“There’s no need to get bitchy. We were just making conversation,” Holly smarted off.
“No, you were trying to be offensive and wondering how far you could push it,” Danae replied in a bored tone.
Both women rose to their feet and stomped to the trash can, where they discarded their microwave dinner trays. As they walked by us, they sneered. At the door, both paused.
Julie spat out, “You think you’re so much better than all of us. You’re not. No wonder no one likes you. And if he’s dated you for six months, he’ll soon be running away. No one could stand you long-term.”
They rushed out the door, not allowing her a chance to respond. When I glanced over at my lady, she was calmly eating without a care in the world.
“Baby, don’t let them bother you,” I said, in case she was skillfully trying to hide her upset.
“Those two have to work decades to get to the level they can upset me. Those two catty women talk about everyone, and they make up gossip. I can’t wait until I hear what they have to say about us. It’ll be entertaining.”
Her matter-of-fact attitude made me chuckle. “It takes a lot to get you riled up.”
“No, in certain circumstances, it takes very little. But when it comes to stupid shit like those women, I’ve learned not to give them what they want.
In some cases, it makes them stop. In others, it motivates them to try harder.
From what I’ve seen, Julie and Holly will try harder. But it’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“Do you have to put up with more like them here?” I asked.
“Most people here are nice. Sure, they can sometimes be a tiny bit nosy, but nothing terrible. Those two are the worst. Let’s forget about them and enjoy this amazing lunch you brought me. I’ve got to get back to work in twelve minutes. I love it, thank you.”
“I’ll take as many minutes as I can get, and I’m glad you’re enjoying it. Is there a certain time I should be at the house tonight?”
I had to wait for her to finish chewing a bite.
“If I can wrap things up here on time, I’ll be there by five forty-five. But if someone comes in at the last minute, it can be seven or later.”
“Alright, why don’t you text me when it’s almost time for you to leave, and I’ll be able to time it?” I suggested.
“That works for me.”
???
It was six forty. She hadn’t gotten out on time due to a late patient.
I’d barely contained my eagerness to be with her after I had lunch with her.
I’d left the clinic and run a couple of errands before ending up at home.
I did everything I could to kill time. I wasn’t a guy who was ever still for long. I had to stay busy.
What I did do was tell her not to worry about dinner, that I had it handled. When Danae asked what it was, I told her it was a surprise. She told me she’d cook after she got home. There was no way I’d allow that.
Pulling into Johann’s driveway, there was nothing parked there.
Had I beaten her home? The house had several lights on, but those could be on a timer.
With the garage doors closed, it was hard to tell.
I parked in the driveway and got out of the car with my load.
My boots barely touched the porch before the door was opened.
Standing there was my divine one. It had been seven hours since I'd seen her, but it felt much longer.
She stepped back to give me room to enter.
“Heath, glad you made it. What in the world do you have in that box?”
“I’ve missed you. And this is dinner as promised.”
As I passed her, I took a chance and leaned down to kiss her cheek.
She moved her head suddenly, which allowed my lips to graze hers.
She gasped. I held in my moan. God, I wanted to kiss her for real, to have my tongue inside her mouth, my teeth nibbling on her lips.
Shit, I needed to stop. My cock was twitching.
I chose not to draw attention to the kiss.
Danae shut and locked the door behind me.
“Is Johann home?” I casually asked.
“No, he’s staying late. Some briefing on an upcoming mission. He said not to wait up for him. They’ve got him immersed on the first day back.”
There was no anger in her voice, just acceptance.
“That sounds about right. I never knew when to expect it. The prep work was tedious most of the time, but I looked forward to the missions, even if they were less than ideal. It was the need for action that I got off on. Even today, I have to stay busy.”
I took the box to the kitchen and set it on the small island. I looked over at her. She was dressed in a pair of cotton pants and a long, loose T-shirt. Her hair was in a braid. Her face was free of the makeup she had worn earlier at the clinic. It didn’t matter. To me, she was always gorgeous.
“God, you’re so beautiful,” I said, the words escaping.
Her eyes widened, and then I saw a faint blush enter her cheeks.
“Heath, I’m dressed in plain old comfy clothing without any makeup or my hair fixed. You need to get your vision checked,” she teased.
“Baby, my vision is 20/20. And it doesn’t matter what you wear or put on your face, you are breathtaking, Danae. I can’t wait to see you with a tummy sticking out.”
A pleased expression appeared on her face. “Well, you won’t have long to wait for the tummy part. As for the rest, I’ll take your word for it. You might be a little crazy.” She snickered.
“Crazy for you. Okay, you need to eat. I hope you like what I brought.”
“It smells heavenly. Where did you get it? You didn’t go back to Parisian Plates, did you?”
“No, I didn’t hit up Parisian again. I hope you think it tastes as good as it smells. I’m nervous having you try it,” I confessed as I finished removing the covered dishes.
“Why would you be nervous? You know I eat almost anything.”
She went to a cabinet and pulled out plates and drinking glasses.
“I’ll wait until you have a chance to taste it,” I replied.
Working together, we poured drinks, set out plates and silverware, and set out serving spoons. Then I removed the lids. I waited to see what she said. Danae studied and sniffed each dish. She was making appreciative sounds.
“It smells and looks delicious. Tell me what it is. I recognize some things, but not exactly what dish they are.”
“My family’s roots are Germanic, so I ate a lot of German-inspired food as a kid. These are some recipes that I used to love. These are potato dumplings. They’re simple to make, just mashed potatoes, flour, egg, and bread crumbs. This is a brown butter sauce to dip them in.
“The green beans are sautéed to al dente in bacon and onion. For your protein, we have veal schnitzel with sour cream and dill sauce. Then, for dessert, there is raspberry kuchen. Kuchen is a mash-up of cake and pie. We Germans couldn’t make up our minds which to make, I guess.
The butter crust is topped with custard, and fresh raspberries rest on top.
You bake it. I hope you find at least a couple of these you like. ”
“I have no doubt I’ll like all of it. Hurry. Let’s eat,” she gushed.
Laughing, we filled our plates. She took her plate away when I tried to add more to what she had put on it. We took our seats at the kitchen table and dug in. I watched her to see her reactions. Her moans, muttering, “So good” and “Amazing,” made me relax and eat my own food.
“Heath, this all tastes wonderful. I’m a potato-holic. I’ve never met a potato I didn’t like. Wow, Johann doesn’t know what he’s missing out on. Where did you find a restaurant that makes these?”
“These are homemade, not from a restaurant.”
She stopped eating. “Do you have a little old neighbor lady who cooks for you? You never told me that.”
“No, not a neighbor. There’s something I never told you when we were dating.”
Wariness flashed across her face before disappearing. “Oh, what was that?”
I leaned closer and whispered dramatically, “The secret is that your man…he can cook. I made these. Shh, don’t tell anyone.”
Her surprise lasted several seconds, then she grinned. “That is a point in your favor in the pro column.”
“Pro column?”
“Yeah, I’m rating attributes as a pro, con, or neutral. It’s to help me decide whether to forgive you and take you back. Cooking is a definite pro.”
I let what she said sink in, then I responded, “Well, then I’ll pull out all the stops so the pro side far overshadows the cons. Just you wait.”
With the challenge accepted, we settled into a relaxing meal. She told me about her day at work. I told her about my meeting with my bosses. It was cozy and made me think of us as a married couple. I’d take this every night for the rest of my life.