Chapter 14
Chapter
Fourteen
Tate clutched the bouquet of flowers in his hand as he knocked on Cat’s door.
He was nervous, but he wasn’t exactly sure why.
It wasn’t as if they hadn’t been on a date before.
They’d been on hundreds. They’d kissed. They’d expressed their desire to start again.
There was no mystery, no wondering if she felt the same.
Maybe it was that it felt like there was a hell of a lot at stake tonight.
He’d planned the whole evening, but it might be a huge error on his part. He’d thought it would be fun to walk down memory lane. Pizza, a movie, and making out by the lake. She’d mentioned it, and he was going to make it happen.
He was wondering if he’d miscalculated. They weren’t those two kids anymore. They were adults with grown-up problems, not teenagers looking forward to the school dance.
The door flew open, and Cat stood there looking so goddamn gorgeous, he lost the ability to speak for a moment.
Had he ever looked at her? Really looked at her?
At this moment, he was lost in the softness of her stunning green and gold eyes, her peaches and cream skin, plump pink lips, and a body that would turn any man’s eye.
That body was currently encased in faded blue jeans and a red cotton sweater.
He immediately recognized the outfit, of course.
On the left thigh of the jeans, he’d playfully drawn a heart with a pen when they were sitting in the school courtyard about a million years ago.
He’d put their initials inside of it and a little arrow as well.
She’d giggled at his romantic gesture, sweetly kissing him just as the bell rang.
He’d assumed the ink would come out of the denim when it was washed, but that wasn’t the case. Surprisingly, her mom hadn’t come after him about that stunt. Maybe she’d thought it was romantic, too.
As for the red sweater, he’d bought it as a Valentine’s gift along with a box of chocolates and a gold bracelet with another heart that had a tiny chip of a diamond.
It had been all he could afford then. He certainly couldn’t have asked his old man for the money.
Joel Winslow hadn’t been a massive fan of Catherine Townsend.
To be honest, their father had never been a big fan of any of their girlfriends or boyfriends. The control freak that he was, he’d wanted to choose their life partners for them.
Fat chance of that happening.
“Are those for me?”
Her voice brought him out of his reverie and snapped him back to the present.
“Actually, these are for your mom.”
This might be another reason Grace Townsend hadn’t kicked his ass about Cat’s jeans being written on.
He’d made a point of trying to stay on her good side.
Cat’s father had liked him, as well, but he’d been more aware of what the average teenage boy thought about.
Tate was sure that the man wasn’t thrilled that Tate was thinking those thoughts, and possibly doing something about them, with his little girl.
Still, he’d been a nice man, and they’d gotten along pretty well.
“Mom, there’s an incredibly handsome man at the door with flowers for you,” Cat called over her shoulder.
She was smiling, so she must have remembered, too.
Grace came to the door and exclaimed happily about the flowers.
“You always were thoughtful,” she said, sniffing at the colorful blooms. “What do you two have planned for the evening?“
“It’s just a casual date, Mom,” Cat replied. “Pizza. Maybe a movie or something.”
“You kids have fun. I’m going to put my flowers in water. Thank you, Tate. It was very sweet of you to think of me.”
Cat grabbed her purse and pushed Tate toward the car.
“You are so shameless. Bribing my mother to like you. She’s a sucker for flowers, and you know it.”
“I do know it, and I am shameless. It helped back in high school, and I thought it couldn’t hurt now. Besides, your mom deserves flowers.”
Tate wished he had thought about giving gifts to his own mother more when he was younger. He hadn’t realized that he wouldn’t always have the opportunity. If anyone deserved flowers, it was Lily Winslow.
Joel certainly wasn’t giving them to his wife unless he’d fucked something up.
"She does,” Cat replied softly. “She’s been through so much.”
“Maybe we can all go out for Sunday brunch,” Tate suggested.
“I’d like that.”
Tate turned out of Cat’s neighborhood, heading away from town, which she noticed right away.
“Where are we going? I thought we were going to get pizza and see a movie?”
“We are.”
She looked out of the window, her brows drawn together.
“Are we going to another town?”
Tate had wanted to surprise Cat, especially after the morning she’d had with Josh’s incident. At least for tonight, he’d hoped they could put what was happening aside for a few hours and enjoy themselves.
“Do you trust me? I think you’re going to like this. If you don’t, it won’t hurt my feelings. We’ll just do something else. Anything you want.”
That wasn’t the whole truth. It would kind of hurt his feelings, but he’d get over it.
“Are you asking me to be adventurous? Okay, I’m in. I trust you. Up to a point.”
“That’s wise. Just relax and leave the evening to me.”
She smiled when he turned down the road to the lake. They’d had many happy times out here with their friends…and alone.
“Tate Winslow, you sly dog. Did you bring me out here to kiss in the moonlight?”
The sun was setting, and it would soon be dark. A fact he’d counted on. But it wasn’t quite like she was thinking. Normally, he’d turn left toward the public area of the lake, but this time he turned right down a twisty road to the far side of the water, where he hoped everything would be ready.
There were lights on in the small cabin next to the lake.
Cooper had purchased this plot of land and the cabin so he could “go fishing” whenever he wanted.
What it really meant was he needed a place to go for a few days when he had writer’s block.
Jane said that she was happy to get him out of her hair when he was like that because otherwise, he’d drive her crazy.
There was already another car there, and Tate sighed inwardly in relief. He’d given Sam and Cooper a homework assignment, and he was depending on them to deliver.
“I’ve never been to this side of the lake before. Is it a party? Who all is going to be here?”
“There are only private homes on this side of the lake. And it’s not a party. They’re just helping me out a bit.”
He’d cashed in a few favors to make this happen, but he hoped Cat would like what he’d planned. He’d wanted to do something he was positive no one else had ever done for her.
He parked the car off to the side, his gaze sweeping the circular clearing next to the lake where his brothers had set everything up.
Movie screen? Check.
Comfortable lounge chairs? Check.
Outdoor heater? Check.
Piping hot pizza and cold wine? Double check.
“What on earth…?”
Cat was also taking it all in, her eyes round with amazement. He’d definitely surprised her. The only question that remained was whether it was a good surprise.
“Movie and pizza,” Tate said. “Under the stars and next to the lake. Hopefully, a little more comfortable than when we were kids.”
“Just call us and we’ll come clean up when you’re done,” Sam said. “Don’t worry about anything. Oh, and here’s the remote for the movie screen. It’s all cued up. Is it your favorite movie? Interesting choice.”
The movie was Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. Cat’s mother had introduced her daughter to the film, and since then it had been a firm favorite. Tate liked it, too, although not nearly as much as Cat did.
“Fuck you,” Tate replied under his breath. “It’s Cat’s favorite.”
“That explains it. Chick movie.”
“It’s not a chick movie,” Tate denied, although it was a tad half-hearted.
“It’s a chick movie. But I get it. Sometimes, a guy just has to go with it. Anyway, have fun. Shoot us a text when you’re leaving.”
“What will you do while we’re here?” Tate asked.
“Sit in your bar, watch television, eat food, and have a beer with Cooper and Jane.”
“We might be very late,” Tate warned his brother.
“Not a big deal. I don’t have anywhere to be in the morning. I’m unemployed, remember? The world’s my oyster. I can stay up all night and sleep all day.”
Sam didn’t look the least bit unhappy about being jobless. Their father, on the other hand, was still mighty pissed about his son’s departure from the family firm.
“Sit down and eat while the food’s hot,” Cooper said, opening the door to his vehicle. “And you’re welcome. The extra touches were my idea.”
Extra touches? Just what had Cooper done?
“You don’t need to be in a hurry to leave,” Cooper went on. “Stay the night or the weekend, if you want.”
“This is amazing,” Cat breathed in as his brothers drove away. “I’ve seen those movie screens on social media, but I’ve never known anyone who actually had one.”
When Sam had said he could hook Tate up with something impressive, he hadn’t been kidding. The outdoor movie screen was about ten feet wide, and from what Tate could see, it was firmly attached to the ground with spikes through the base of its legs.
The screen’s amazing backdrop was the lake and the setting sun.
Facing the screen was a lounge chair made for two, already unfolded and covered with a few blankets they could use as the temperature dropped later.
They had an outdoor heater, but cuddling together during a romantic movie wouldn’t be a hardship.
On the little side table, someone, probably Cooper, had placed a vase of flowers and a box of fancy chocolates. Tate’s brother would deny it, but he was the most romantic of them all. Leave it to Cooper to think of those extra touches.
“We should eat before it gets cold,” Tate said. “I’ll pour the wine.”
The portable heater, the kind often used for outdoor seating at restaurants, had already been turned on by his brothers.
Tate opened the wine and poured two glasses while they settled on the lounge chair, cuddling together as they dug into their pizza with double cheese.
It was from his own tavern kitchen, and kept hot in the warm oven inside of the cabin.
“Are those flowers for me?” Cat asked again, licking her fingers after polishing off her first slice of pizza. “Or are they for Mom, too?”
The erotic sight of Cat licking her fingers had temporarily fogged up Tate’s brain, and it took him a minute to register that she’d asked him a question.
“They’re for you,” he finally replied. “The chocolates, too.”
“Don’t even pretend,” she scoffed. “You’re going to want some of those chocolates, Tate Winslow. I know you.”
Chocolate was his favorite, and she did know him well. Yes, they’d changed over the years, but some things were still the same.
Like the way she felt all snuggled and warm against him. Her scent mixed with the aroma of the pizza and the sharp, fresh smell of the outdoors, weaved a spell around him that made it hard to think or breathe normally.
He wanted to rub her silky hair between his fingers, or press his nose to the curve of her neck. He wanted to run his fingers over her satin skin and then nibble on a tempting earlobe.
But he wasn’t going to do any of those things. He was going to sit here and eat his pizza while watching Christopher Reeve time-travel to romance Jane Seymore on Mackinac Island.
Note to self - book a getaway for the two of us to Mackinac Island.
“I love this movie,” Cat sighed, resting her head on his shoulder when they were done eating.
The sun had already set long before, as the climax of the musical score played during the credits on the screen. Cat sniffled a bit and wiped at a few tears that had slid down her cheeks.
“It always tears me up a bit,” she admitted. “But I love it every time I see it. It’s Mom’s favorite, too.”
“I guess we could have brought her, but there might not have been enough pizza,” Tate joked. “And you’d have to share the chocolates with her, too.”
“Mom and I can watch it another time. Speaking of chocolates, hand the box over,” Cat said, her fingers wiggling in a beckoning motion. “We need dessert.”
He handed over the gold box and watched as she gleefully dug into it, popping a dark chocolate caramel into her mouth before selecting another chocolate for him. He opened obediently as she playfully made airplane sounds before placing it in his mouth.
“Your favorite,” she said with a bright smile. “Hazelnut and milk chocolate.”
If they were going to give this relationship a fresh try, it might be time to be honest. He hadn’t before because it hadn’t seemed that important, and he wanted to make her happy.
“Actually, I prefer dark chocolate, and I’m so-so with hazelnut.”
“What do you mean?” Her brows were pinched together in puzzlement. “I thought it was your favorite. Am I remembering wrong?”
“No, you’re remembering right. But I just told you that because your favorites are mine, too. I wanted you to get them, so I pretended to like the stuff you didn’t like.”
It sounded dysfunctional when he said it out loud, but he’d been a teenage boy who wanted his girlfriend to get what she liked.
If that meant he had to eat hazelnuts, then he’d eat hazelnuts.
He wasn’t allergic or anything. They simply weren’t his preference.
He would have chosen the caramel filling or perhaps the ganache.
Both of which were her faves.
“You did what? Why on earth would you do that?”
“Because I wanted you to have the ones you liked the most. It wasn’t a big deal,” Tate explained. “It’s still not a big deal.”
“But you told me tonight,” Cat argued. “Have you harbored a grudge all of these years?”
“I told you tonight because we said we were starting again, and I wanted to start from a place of honesty, especially as this was not a big thing. Cat, I was a teenage boy with insane hormones. I wanted you to like me and want to spend time with me. I didn’t think we’d be sitting here fifteen years later debating our favorite chocolates.
It’s not that deep. But now I’m pissed at Cooper for getting these chocolates because it’s started an argument that I didn’t want to have tonight. I wanted this to be a romantic date.”
“You thought it was romantic to admit that you’ve been lying to me all of these years?”
Cat jumped up from the lounge chair, the blanket spilling onto the grass, and marched toward the cabin, leaving Tate sitting there like an idiot.
He’d never seen her fly off the handle like that over such a small thing.
Normally, she’d laugh about it, and they’d move on.
Tate would give her a few minutes to cool off and then go find her.
What just happened here? What’s going on? Something is not right.