Chapter 20
Twenty
Poppy
I sat and stared at my phone for an enormous amount of time, waiting for more text messages that never came.
Finally, Patrick said it was enough and forced me to leave the house.
We went into town to grab a few things from the store before another big storm rolled through, but I was more surprised when he pulled into the parking lot of the local steakhouse and parked.
“What are you doing?” I asked, looking around as he studied my face.
“I’m taking you on a date,” he replied, swallowing hard and trying to smile, though I could tell his nerves were getting the better of him.
“A date?” My eyebrows rose almost as high as my voice before it cracked.
“Yes. A date.” He cleared his throat and looked around for a few seconds before he looked at me.
“I know that you have a lot going on right now, and I’m not trying to make anything harder for you.
I promise. But I can’t lie and say that I haven’t developed feelings for you, Poppy.
So, yes, I would like it if you’d allow me the honor of taking you on a date tonight. ”
I licked my lips and shifted in my seat so I could see him better. He was so freaking handsome.
“I have feelings for you, too,” I admitted, noticing the way my heart raced when I said it. “A lot of feelings.” I giggled, the whole idea of us doing this reminding me of high school kids admitting they have a crush on each other.
“I hope they’re good feelings,” he teased, raising an eyebrow.
“They’re the best.”
“So, I can take you on a date?”
I laughed at the tone of his voice and how uncertain he still seemed, even though I had just confirmed I liked him too.
“Yes, you can take me on a date. But I have to warn you, I don’t put out on the first date.”
He shook his head as he got out of the truck and rushed around to open my door for me. He extended his hand and helped me, making sure I didn’t slip on the slush beneath me.
“Do any of the previous meals that we’ve shared by chance count as dates?” he asked as I slid my arm into his and walked alongside him the short distance to the door of the steakhouse.
“Yeah, I guess we can count those.” I scrunched my nose and then laughed again when he jerked his arm in a yes motion.
We walked inside, and I was surprised by how fancy it was, given how small Silver Falls was. I was used to seeing them in bigger cities, but hadn’t ever seen one in the small towns I visited.
The room was dimly lit, with soft music playing over the speakers, as we followed the hostess to a booth in the back.
I took my seat and pulled the napkin from the plate, setting it in my lap as Patrick sat across from me and did the same.
Within a few seconds, a man approached the table, pouring fresh ice water into our glasses while another young kid delivered a basket of bread and some dipping oils.
“Wow,” I said after they left. “This is quite the service already.”
“It’s one of my favorite restaurants in Silver Falls,” Patrick said, smiling softly. “It reminds me of New York.”
“Do you miss living in the big city?”
“Sometimes.” He shrugged and let his shoulders fall. “I enjoy being close to family more.”
“I can see that. Daisy is such an amazing little girl, and her face lights up the second she sees you. I know your mother hasn’t stopped talking about how happy she is that her family is all in the same town again, and your dad, well...”
“He’s my dad,” Patrick replied with a laugh. “Always easy going and happy in general. But you should see him with Daisy. I thought I was her favorite, but when my dad is around, it’s like I don’t even exist.”
“I’m happy she has you guys. I love that for her.”
I looked off into the distance, forcing the thoughts of my childhood away from the surface. This was a nice night out with Patrick, and I didn’t want to taint it by thinking about how I longed to feel loved as a child and never did.
Just then, a woman appeared at our table wearing a crisp white button-down shirt and black dress pants.
“Hello, welcome to Rufigio’s. I’m Belle, and I’ll be taking care of you tonight. May I start you with some wine or perhaps a signature cocktail from the bar?”
I had no idea whether Patrick drank wine because he hadn’t drunk anything but water and coffee in the time I’d been staying with him.
“I’ll have an Old Fashioned, please,” Patrick said, looking at me instead of the waitress.
“I’ll have a Dirty Martini, please,” I replied, smiling at the waitress as she nodded and headed to the bar to place our order.
I knew she would be back shortly with the drinks and ready to take our order, so I picked up the menu and looked it over. There were only a few options, but they all looked delicious, so it was hard to choose.
“What do you get here?” I asked Patrick, glancing at him over the top of the menu.
“I like the ribeye with the roasted garlic mashed potatoes,” he replied, looking at his.
I nodded and looked over the menu again, debating whether to get what he was getting or to be more ladylike and order a smaller cut of meat instead. Before I could decide, the waitress appeared, setting our drinks on the table.
“Would you like a few more minutes to look over the menu?” she asked, clasping her hands in front of her.
I felt Patrick’s eyes on me as he waited to answer.
“I think I’ll do the ribeye with the roasted garlic mashed potatoes,” I answered, fighting a giggle when I saw the corners of his lips curl up into a smile.
I set the menu down on the table and looked at him, loving how incredibly sexy he was.
He had a laid-back charisma about him, but what was even more attractive was how he acknowledged the waitress and treated her with respect, all while looking at me like he wanted to spread me across the table and eat me.
It was a fine line that he seemed to have mastered perfectly.
“I’ll do the same,” he said, collecting both of our menus and handing them to the waitress.
“Perfect. I’ll put this in now. Would you like any appetizers to start with?” She looked between us, but the heat I felt from his gaze had me shaking my head no instead of verbally answering her.
She smiled, bowed her head, and walked off, leaving us alone.
“This is a really nice place,” I said as I reached across the table and wrapped my fingers in his.
He lifted our hands and brushed a kiss against my knuckles, sending a shiver through me.
“I’m glad you like it.”
We stayed staring at each other for a few seconds before I looked away, desperate for some relief from the ache that was building between my thighs from the thoughts of what I knew he could do to my body.
Patrick leaned against the plush leather of the booth and adjusted himself under the table while I took a sip of my martini.
It had been a long time since I’d had a drink, mainly because I didn’t trust myself to be even slightly inebriated around Dale.
After getting drunk and married in Las Vegas, I stopped drinking immediately after that.
But the difference now was that I felt safe with Patrick, which let me lower my walls and let him in. It had been so long since I’d felt even slightly this comfortable with someone that I was still a little nervous to let him all the way in.
Soon, our dinner arrived, and we made idle conversation about Christmas and what gifts he wanted to get for Daisy while we ate.
The food was incredible, but the company was better than anything I’d ever experienced.
While Patrick limited himself to one drink because he was driving, I decided to allow myself a little freedom and had a second martini while we finished dinner.
I had been so caught up in our conversation that I hadn’t noticed the man sitting across the room at another table, staring at me, until Patrick had gone to the restroom.
A glass of water sat in front of him beside a basket of bread that didn’t appear to be touched.
There was something about him, the way he was looking at me, that sent a shiver through me and made my blood turn to ice.
I tried to get a better look at him, but it was too dark to see him from so far away. The sound of blood rushing through my ears kept me from hearing Patrick as he returned, startling me as my eyes shot up to him as he slid into the booth and then froze.
I looked from him back to the table where the man had been sitting, my stomach dropping when it was suddenly empty.
“What’s wrong?” Patrick asked, leaning forward as he turned to look past the tall wall that divided our booth from the one behind him.
“There was... there... a man... I...” I pressed my lips together and shook my head. I needed to get it together and stop letting fear overcome me. “There was a man sitting in that booth, and he was watching me.”
“Where?”
I pointed to where he had been sitting, the full glass of ice water and bread on the table untouched.
“What did he look like?”
“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug, trying to remember as much as I could. “It was really hard to see anything with the dim lights and how far away he was. He seemed thin, but I couldn’t tell you anything else.”
“Did you see what he was wearing?”
I shook my head, trying to remember as Patrick got up from the booth and waited.
“I think maybe a solid, dark colored button-down shirt and jeans. I don’t know, Pat. It was hard to see anything.”
Before I could say anything else, he sprinted off, nearly knocking a server over on his way.
I leaned back in the booth and tried to regulate my breathing as our waitress approached, concern on her face as she looked from me to the direction Patrick had run off.
“Is everything okay?” she asked, standing beside the table.
“Yeah. Just a little mix-up,” I lied, forcing a smile.
“I’ll leave this here for when you guys are ready. No rush,” she replied as she set the check down on Patrick’s side of the table.
Shit. She probably thought he was trying to run out on paying the bill.
I grabbed my purse, pulled out my wallet, and took out a credit card just as Patrick returned. His face was red from the cold, and he was slightly out of breath.
“Are you okay?” I asked, reaching for the check holder on the table.
He sat down and grabbed it before I could, and pulled out his wallet.
“I’m fine. Are you okay?”
I nodded, extending my credit card to him.
“I don’t think so,” he replied, smiling as the waitress returned and took it from him after he slid his credit card inside. “I didn’t bring you to dinner to have you pay for it.”
“I seriously don’t care about that,” I insisted. “I’m happy to pay.”
“And I would hate for you to pay on our date, Poppy. I wanted to take you out and have a nice dinner together, my treat.”
“Did you find the guy?”
He shook his head no and then smiled again as the waitress returned and set the check holder down beside him so he could sign the receipt.
“I was asked to give this to you,” the waitress said, handing me a folded-up piece of paper.
My eyes widened as Patrick’s brows furrowed. I reached out a shaky hand and took it, waiting to open it until she left.
“Do you know the person who gave it to you?” Patrick asked her.
“No, unfortunately, it was given to the hostess who asked if I could deliver it since she had a new party that needed to be seated. I didn’t see the person who left it with her.”
“Thank you,” Patrick said, dismissing her.
“Thank you for joining us tonight. I hope you have a wonderful evening.” She gave both of us a smile and walked off to greet her new table.
“What does it say?” Patrick asked, his body as tense as mine was.
My fingers trembled as I unfolded it and stared at the neat black ink on the paper.
“Found you,” I said, my lips quivering as I tossed the paper down and stared at it.
“We need to go. Now.” Patrick’s energy changed as he got up and looked at the note on the table. He went to reach for it when I held my hand out and stopped him.
“It could have fingerprints on it,” I explained, stopping for a second before I opened my purse and pulled out a tissue from the pocket-sized pack I kept in there.
I grabbed the end of the note with the tissue, then folded it around it, hoping I didn’t wipe off any fingerprints.
It wasn’t like we had any other options and I wasn’t willing to wait around for law enforcement to show up, just because I got a creepy note.
I tucked it into my purse, then zipped it shut and accepted his hand as he helped me out of the booth.
My legs were shaky as we made our way outside, his hand protectively on my lower back the entire time.
We got in the truck, and I barely had time to get my seatbelt buckled before he was putting it in drive and getting us the hell out of there.