Chapter 30
KELSEY
I don’t know what I expected his reaction to that story to be, but it wasn’t this.
That charming smile is gone, replaced by a look that I can only describe as a combination of both defeat and amusement.
I still remember that night like it was yesterday, even if I tried my best to block it out of my mind.
It was enough to make him my own personal punching bag for turning my grandma's house into a restaurant, but even now thinking he had moved on hurt. But if that wasn’t a date, what was it?
He shakes his head and finally looks at me. “Is that why you stayed mad at me for so long? Because you thought I was on a date?” He arches a brow at me and smirks. “I didn’t think you’d be the jealous type.”
I glare back at him playfully, tapping my wine glass to let him know that I could use a refill.
He raises his hand toward someone behind the counter and points a finger down at my glass, but never looks away from me.
Something about the way he so casually does that is hot and makes my current level of desire for him even stronger.
I still barely know him, but I also feel so comfortable around him in a way I can’t explain.
“I believed you the other night when you said you hadn’t been with anyone else. But if that wasn’t a date, who was she? You two looked really happy to see each other.”
He huffs a laugh. “To be clear, I meant what I said the other night. I haven’t been with anyone else since you, but I can see how you would have thought I was on a date in hindsight."
He neatly stacks our empty entree plates and sets them back behind the counter. I notice that all night he’s tried to make life for his staff easier, even clearing plates for the bussers.
He already said he has dessert 'taken care of’. I'm not sure if he means another ice cream sampler served on me or an actual plan to consume food, but I’m not going to ask because either option is a winning proposition.
He turns on his stool to face me and our knees rest against each others’. I might have given him a hard time for taking me on a date to his own restaurant where we’ve both worked this week, but I love the intimacy of this.
“That was my sister, Sisi.” His warm smile returns. “She had just gotten engaged and that was the first time I had seen her since then.”
My lips part into an O shape. I’m not sure what to say to that because suddenly I feel like an idiot. He must sense my embarrassment because he rests a hand on my knee.
“Easy mistake. We were really happy to see each other. It was a big night.”
Our eyes turn to Rich when he comes by and tops off my wine. He tosses us both a wink before heading back to the other end of the bar.
Sutton rubs my thigh just below the hem of my dress, sending sparks skittering over my skin and up to my core. I might have been mixed on what I wanted for dessert before, but now I know that it’s him.
“What I remember most about that night was constantly looking at the front door to see if you had shown up.”
My mind doesn’t know what to do with that information.
I settle for a simple reply. “I’m sorry.”
His eyes darken at my words. “Do I have to remind you how I feel about you apologizing to me?”
I grin back at him. “Maybe I’m counting on it.”
I notice the way his throat bobs and I set down my wine glass.
I haven’t exactly been on many dates, but I can’t imagine one going better than this.
It started off fantastic, but the conversation all night has been so easy and natural.
Light but heavy at the right moments. He was right.
It’s easier to get to know someone when the pressure is off and there’s good food.
As ready as I am to go back to either of our apartments upstairs, I still want to keep learning more about him.
“You mentioned your sister’s wedding and the caterer fiasco earlier. Are you excited to cater her wedding?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know if excited is the right word. It’s going to be a ton of work. I’m doing a welcome dinner, the wedding dinner, and drinks both nights. Actually, you know that rum cocktail you’ve been making on our menu?”
I nod.
“Yeah. That’s going to be one of her signature wedding cocktails. Sisi’s the reason it’s on the menu—that night, a year ago, she tried it and loved it, insisting we put it on the menu permanently.”
I think back to that night, when I saw his sister get out of that black SUV. I don’t remember anyone getting out with her, which might partially explain why I jumped to the conclusion that she was his date. “Did her fiancé not come with her?”
“No.” He says with a shrug.
I take a sip of wine and notice the way his eyes track my tongue when I lick the last drop off my lips. “Really? He didn’t come to celebrate their engagement?”
He shakes his head. “I actually don’t really like him.
I’ve only met him a couple times, when I’ve been back in Sterling Springs.
He works in sales and travels a lot. He’s in Santa Fe and Albuquerque most of the week, and travels on the weekends too.
Sisi is excited and really likes him though.
I just never pictured her with someone like that. ”
His eyes drop to his wine glass and he traces his finger over the rim of it. The way the chorded muscles in his forearm tick under his tattoos with each movement makes my mouth go dry.
I lean toward him, brushing my fingers across his knee. “So, I have to as—”
“Ask me anything you want.” His eyes flit to mine and he grins, so eagerly. “Always.”
I smile back, knowing he genuinely means it.
He’s been an open book since we cleared the air about the whole house thing.
I look down at his thigh where I run the backs of my fingers over his worn denim.
“The night after we met, when we were supposed to go on a date. Would it have looked anything like this?”
“The restaurant was a construction zone and my apartment upstairs was a mess.” His lips pull into a smile, flashing those dimples before he shakes his head.
“No. I would have packed you a picnic with all of my favorite things and found the perfect spot to share it with you. I would have let you tell me everything about this town until we fell asleep on our picnic blanket under the stars.”
His answer tells me everything. I can’t wait for our next date because this man is anything but terrible at planning a date.