Page 39 of Uproot

It sounds amazing, and I can’t remember the last time that I even ate anything so decadent. Beckett’s lips curve into a charming smile, and I know that I can’t say no to him.

“That sounds delicious,” I agree quietly.

His smile grows wider and he hands the menu back to the waitress, keeping his eyes on me. “Wonderful. We will have that with two spoons please. Thank you.”

“It will be right out,” she responds, hurrying out of the dining room.

When she leaves, Beckett stands up, keeping his eyes locked with mine as he comes to take the seat next to mine.

His long arm drapes over the back of my seat, and I shiver as he gently runs his finger up and down the side of my arm. His leg brushes against mine under the table, and he dips his head down to my ear, “I figured this would be easier for us to share,” he whispers.

My pulse races as he pulls away, “Of course,” I whisper, my voice wavering as I turn to look at him.

He tilts his head, studying my face. “I’m so glad you came out with me tonight, Selah. I appreciate you giving me a chance to get to know you better,” he says, speaking gently.

“I’m g-glad too. It’s been really nice, Beckett,” I stutter, glancing down to where his leg is touching mine.

When I look back up at him, his eyes lower to my mouth. I wet my lips, my mind beginning to race as his eyes fill with heat. I see him slowly move towards me just as our waitress returns, disrupting our trance.

“Sir, and Madam, your cheesecake,” she announces, setting a plate down in front of Beckett. “With two spoons.”

“Thank you,” Beckett says, keeping his arm around me as he reaches for one of the spoons.

He dips it into the cheesecake, then lifts the first bite to my mouth for me to try. I smile before wrapping my mouth around the spoon, my eyes closing as I take in all of the delicious flavors dancing on my tongue.

When I open my eyes, he’s watching me intently. “You like it?”

“More than like it,” I respond, lifting the napkin in my lap to wipe my mouth. “Please, try some too.”

He drags his eyes away from me and nods. Despite him requesting that the waitress bring us two spoons, he uses the same spoon he fed me with to dig back into the cheesecake, taking a small bite himself.

“Mmhmm. You’re right,” he agrees. He continues to feed me more bites of the amazing dessert, not even eating anymore of it himself.

The waitress discreetly drops the check on the table while she takes our empty plate, and Beckett pulls his arm from around me. I reach for my purse to get my wallet. I don’t know how much any of what I ordered costs since this is one of those annoying restaurants that refuses to put prices on the menu.

I never understood why people wouldn’t want to know how much their dinner cost. But I guess if you are rich it doesn’t really matter to you anyway. There are plenty of people here wearing jewelry that I’m sure cost more than my car.

Beckett included.

“What are you doing, angel?”

Beckett startles me from my worrying, as I try to fish out my debit card.

“I-I’m just getting out my card so we can split up the bill,” I respond, wondering why he looks so mad all of a sudden. I was moving as fast as I could.

“Split up the bill?” He snatches my wallet from me, putting it back inside of my purse, then places my purse on the table next to him.

“Don’t insult me sweetheart,” he scolds, shaking his head. “What kind of losers did you date before me?”

I gape at him, watching as he sets a black card inside of the check holder and closes it.

“I just-wait,dating? This is a.. date?” I ask.

He raises a thick eyebrow at me, “What else would this be, Selah?” he asks, putting his arm back around me.

His fingers run along my arm again and my whole body awakens as he leans closer to me. “You said that you wanted to get dinner together. We just..” I trail off, realizing how dense I was being.

Why didn’t I realize that he wanted this to be a date?

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