Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
~DANNY~
That’s the one I’m going to be attending. But before that, I thought it might be fun to take her out. I send her a text and hope that she’s hungry.
Danny: Hey, pretty girl. Are you hungry?
I’m waiting in a dark corner of her building, hoping she replies yes. I want to take her on a date. I’m wearing a collared dress shirt and dark jeans.
Mac: I am. I’m hungry for you.
I smile at her flirtatious text, but I want more than that tonight.
Danny: Well, as much as I like that, how about you come and get some dinner with me? I know this great little seafood place by the water.
Mac: Ugh, I’m so tired. Do I have to dress like a person?
Danny: Just put on something and come on out. It’s not fancy. And you’ve gotta eat, right?
I hope she comes out and has dinner with me. We mentioned that last time we had a text exchange about getting dinner together. But I wasn’t sure if the plans were solidified. I was hoping they were, and if I showed up with the offer of a dinner, she’d just come out.
Danny: I’m out here at the corner of your lot. Come on out when you’re ready.
Mac: Roger that.
Sounds like she’s going to come out without a lot of prodding from me.
I wait in the car, turning my music down just a bit.
It’s a softer rock playlist with tunes from U2, Picture This, and other artists that sound like them.
I’m not sure if she’ll like it. I spy her coming from the direction of her building, wearing jeans and a black blouse.
She looks so pretty with her hair down and straight.
I smile at her as she approaches.
“What’s with you? You’re freaking me out,” she says when she enters the car.
“What do you mean?” I ask her.
“You’re being all cheerful and nice. I’m confused.” Her tone is teasing, so I give it right back.
“When am I not nice? I thought I was very nice the last time we were alone together,” I tell her, reminding her of the time when we were on the road, and I made love to her. I still remember the way her blue eyes watched me with wonder while I was inside her.
“Whatever. Why are you taking me out on a date all of a sudden?”
“I thought it might be nice. No pizza picnic or sitting in a diner while I ask you questions. Just you and me on a real date.” I maneuver the car out of the complex.
“Are you gonna hide my body in the sand or something?” she asks, a teasing smile on her face.
I laugh. “No, I’m not going to be doing that. Come on, I thought we could enjoy some dinner. Just relax and let me take care of you. You’ve been working so hard lately.”
“Normally when you’re taking care of me, there are a lot less clothes involved and a lot of moaning.”
“Not that all of that doesn't sound like fun. I thought it might be fun for you and me to just have some dinner and relax. With our clothes on.” I navigate us to the restaurant, thinking it’s going to be a lot harder to enjoy the evening than I thought.
Either she’s skeptical of my intentions or it’s starting to feel like a real date.
Either way, I try not to dwell on it too much and decide that this will be a fun night. And I’ll make sure she feels taken care of in other ways than sex. We pull into the restaurant, and she looks around at the quaint little spot by the beach.
“This looks a little fancier than I thought it would be.” She gestures to her top and jeans. “Maybe I’m a little underdressed for this.”
“You’ll be fine. I’m wearing jeans and a shirt too.” I get out of the car and walk around to take her hand. I lead her into the restaurant, and I don’t miss the way she checks me out more than once. “What’s wrong? Did I miss a stain or something?”
“N-no,” she stammers out.
“Then what is it?”
“Just admiring your forearms with your sleeves rolled up like that,” she admits, a flush covering her face.
I decide not to comment and put that in the win column.
“Hello, reservation for Taylor,” I tell the hostess when we enter.
“You have a reservation? Someone was sure I was going to say yes.” She shoots me a wink.
I just shake my head. “I took a chance.”
The hostess leads us to the table I reserved. It’s by a window that overlooks the ocean. It’s almost eight o’clock, which means the sun will be setting soon.
Once we’re settled, Mac looks up at me and says, “Thank you for bringing me here. I’m not sure what brought this on, but I like it.”
I smile at her. “I thought it might be nice for us to spend some time together.”
“Are you trying to see how this would work if it was you and me in a normal relationship?”
She’s got me there. Yes, I am. But I don’t want to admit to it. I shrug. “I thought since you’re such a beautiful, classy woman, you deserve a little bit of romance. Might be a good thing for you since you’ve had a long week.”
“Oh boy, have I ever. Watts was so pissed off that we lost to the Pride. I mean, I didn’t actually think we could win, but he did, apparently.” It’s like she just steps over the part about me thinking she deserves romance and goes straight to the safer topics.
I let it slide.
“You didn’t think you were going to win there, Captain?”
“Come on, did you think we could beat them?” she asks.
I chuckle. “I don’t really follow any of the other teams. Just you,” I admit to her. The waitress comes over and I order a bottle of wine for us. “We’ll take the Robert Mondavi Sauvito Sauvignon Blanc, please.”
She nods. “Excellent choice.”
“Making it fancy over here, huh?” She teases me. “So, you don’t follow any other teams. What sports do you cover other than us?”
“I usually cover college football in the fall and then some college basketball too.” I shrug. “Whatever it is they assign me.”
“Just college sports? How did you end up at our game?”
“It’s a funny story, actually. I wasn’t supposed to be there.
But Martin, my editor, was going on and on about the new team.
I was asked if I would want to check it out since there isn’t much to cover right now other than baseball.
So, I went. Then Cromwell talked to Martin and now I’m there all the time. ”
“What about when college football starts back up?” she asks.
The waitress returns and offers me the wine. I taste it and nod, so she pours the glasses. “Would you all like to place your orders now?”
“Oh, we haven’t even looked yet. I’m sorry,” I tell her. “Please give us another moment or two.”
She nods and leaves us.
“What’s good here?” Mac asks me.
“I like the steamed seafood bake. Kind of reminds me of the ones my grandma used to host on the Fourth of July.”
She looks up from her menu. “That’s sweet.”
I shrug, not really sure what else to add. “The pastas are really great too. They have an amazing seafood linguine. The sauce is a bit rich, but I think you might like it. You could carb load for tomorrow and all.”
“Sounds yummy. I think I’ll go with that.” She closes her menu and looks over at me. “You’re being awfully thoughtful tonight. Thank you. It’s nice to have someone taking care of me.”
“You don’t have much of that, do you?”
“No, but neither do you,” she reminds me.
“I’m not in season.”
“True. Do you ever miss being in season?” She puts quotes around in season.
“Hold that thought,” I tell her as the waitress approaches.
I order the steamed seafood bake, and Mac goes with my pasta recommendation.
“You were saying.” She gestures for me to continue.
I hate being asked this question, but for once, I’m being asked it by someone who might understand. “I do sometimes. It was such a big part of my life. I still see the guys I swam with every once in a while. We head to the golf course, or we’ll run a marathon together. But it’s not the same.”
“Oh, you’ll run a marathon together.” She laughs. “I like how you threw that out real casual like.”
“I was a distance swimmer, remember? And I like to keep in shape. It helps them too.”
She nods. “So, what will happen when college football season rolls around? Will you stop coming to see me play?”
I don’t miss the way she words that. I like that she’s worried about me not making it to her games.
“I don’t know. We haven’t really talked about that. It’s only May, and the college season is a little ways away.” I reach across the table and squeeze her hand. “Plus, someone is making me quite the soccer fan. I seem to have acquired a lot of Tampa Bay Blaze apparel.”
She giggles. “I think that’s because of August.”
“True.”
“What do you think he’ll do if he figures out there’s something happening here?” she asks.
“Is there something happening here?”
We’ve never really talked about it, but we’ve danced around it. The malice in her voice seems to have died down. That could be because I’ve stopped working so hard to push her buttons. Now I’m more focused on pushing other buttons that turn her on.
I lean back in my seat, taking a small sip of wine. Watching her. Waiting to see if she’ll answer this question for us. When she doesn’t, I speak. “I’d like to think there’s something beyond our professional relationship. What do you think?”
“I think we passed professional when you put your mouth on me.” She giggles and takes a sip from her wine glass.
“Yeah, well, you weren’t complaining.”
“Never said I was.” She winks at me, and I laugh. I love this little playful side of her that’s come out to play. I don’t see it that often.
“Touché.”
The food arrives and we dig in. I have to stop myself from staring at her. She looks so beautiful in the dimly lit restaurant with the sun setting beside us. Her moans as she enjoys her pasta are not lost on me either.
“Here I thought I was the only one who could make you make those sounds,” I tease her.
She looks up and flushes. “Sometimes a really good plate of pasta can do it too.”
“Noted.” I return to my food but catch her still watching me. “What?”
“Thank you for this. I know I’m tired and was a little moody about coming out. But this is a nice night. Almost feels like it’s a date.” She watches me carefully, waiting for my response to that.
“I feel like this might be a date too. You deserve to be wined and dined. I should have done it sooner and I’m sorry for that. I do know better.”
“Your mama raised you right,” she teases.
“Are you diverting away from the actual topic at hand? If so, you’re doing an excellent job of it.”
“Am I that transparent?”
“Just a tad. But we don’t have to talk about this if you’re not comfortable.” I try to hide my disappointment, but I’m pretty sure she can see right through it.
“You were kind of hoping to talk about this tonight, huh?”
“Not entirely the reason for our dinner, but I thought maybe if you were open to it, we could discuss it.”
“I’m stuffed,” she says, leaning back and placing a hand on her stomach.
I nod. “We can get ready to head out if you’d like.”
“We don’t have to go. I’m just full.”
We sit in awkward silence for a bit until the waitress, sensing that our date is over, comes back with the check. I take it and pay the bill while Mac’s leftovers are boxed up and taken home with her.
“Do you want to sit out on the beach?” I ask her. “I think I have a blanket in the car.”
“Sure,” she says.
I deposit her leftovers on her seat and grab a blanket from the trunk. Once we’re situated on the beach, she cuddles up to me.
“This is nice, listening to the waves crash in the dark.”
“There’s a streetlamp back there somewhere,” I tease her. “We’re not entirely in the dark.”
She laughs at me. “I think we could be something, Danny. I really do.”
I realize then that it’s easier for her to talk to me if I’m not sitting there staring at her. I put my arm around her and pull her close. “I think we could be too. But why do I get the feeling there’s a but coming?”
“Because I don’t know how you feel about me or any of this.” She gestures her hand between the two of us.
“I want you. All of you,” I tell her.
“Good. Because I do too,” she replies, running a hand on my thigh. “So, we’re done pretending this is nothing?”
“Oh, I think we’re far past pretending.”
“Good,” she replies with a yawn.
Mac leans into me and we listen to the waves crash.
It doesn’t take long for me to realize she fell asleep on me.
I carry her back to the car and fasten her in.
She stirs just a bit, but I do my best to soothe her back to sleep.
I’m not sure that it works. Her eyes flutter open when I give her a kiss on the forehead before driving her back to her apartment.
“Mac, we’re back at your place.” I shake her gently and watch her stir.
“I thought you would take me to your place,” she says as she struggles to regain her bearings.
“Nah, I thought I would take you home tonight since you have a game tomorrow and need your rest.”
“Thank you.” Her face lights up, and I can’t get over how adorable she looks when she’s just woken up.
“Sleep well, beautiful girl. I had a great night with you.”
“I did too, Danny. Thank you for this and everything else.”
“I’d do anything for you,” I tell her.
“I hope so, because this could cost both of us everything,” she reminds me.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
After a chaste kiss, I watch her walk back to her apartment, wondering what it’ll be like if we’re ever found out. And how we’ll weather the storm. Hopefully, we will be together.