Page 23 of Back to You
To my surprise, Dane took my hand. “You nervous, Hols?” He dropped his voice real low. It rasped over my nerve endings and I couldn’t suppress a shiver. Even his voice was sexy.
“Nope.” We both knew I was lying.
He chuckled. “Don’t be. It’s me, remember?”
“Oh, I remember.”
“Good.” We held hands all the way to the restaurant. I liked it. A lot.
He pulled into the tightly-packed lot of a fancypants steakhouse with some French name I couldn’t even begin to pronounce. “What?” he asked when he caught me staring. “Were you expecting anything less than stellar? You wound me.” His eyes twinkled with mirth and the butterflies in my stomach burst to life.
Oh lord.
We went inside. Dane went up to the front desk. “Reservations for Fisher?”
A freckled waitress smiled politely at him. “Of course, sir. Right this way.” Taking two menus from behind the counter, she folded them to her chest and led us down a couple of burgundy-carpeted steps, and to the right. We stopped at a table for two, with a crystalline centerpiece that looked as if it’d been carved from ice. Had he thought of everything? “What would you like to drink?”
“I’ll go with your apple ale,” Dane told her. “Hollister?”
“Do you have Coke?”
“Of course.” She jotted it down on her notepad. “I’ll be right back.”
“I take it you’ve been here before?” I asked.
“Once or twice, with my ex. He was sort of high maintenance.” He rolled his eyes. “But the food is wonderful, so I wanted to share this experience with you.” He flipped open his menu and started to browse. I did the same, but I glanced up again when I felt him staring at me.
“What? Do I have something in my teeth? I swear I brushed them.”
“No, it’s nothing. You look good. Really good. It’s so nice to see you smiling like that,” he murmured. I could feel the heat creeping up my neck, and Dane must’ve seen it, because he laughed. “Oh my god, Hols, are you blushing?”
I kicked him beneath the table. “Shut up.”
His grin was decidedly wicked. “You’re so sexy when you’re flustered.”
“Isaidshut up,” I grumbled, giving another kick for good measure. I busied myself with the menu while waiting for my racing heart to slow down.Breathe,I reminded myself. I peeked at him from over the top of my menu. He was still looking at me.
This time my lip twitched. “I never thought this could happen. I guess I figured going on a date with you was little more than a fantasy. It seems kind of unreal to be sitting here,” I admitted.
“Honestly? I feel the same way. I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too.”
Dane was right, of course. The meal was to die for. Our baked potatoes were perfectly cooked and loaded with butter, sour cream and chives. My ribeye was tender and juicy, and seasoned so well that I didn’t even bother with the steak sauce. By the time our waitress came back with the bill, I was full and totally satisfied.
Well, maybe nottotally, but we weren’t going there. Not tonight.
Dane picked up the tab while I finished my soda. I didn’t want our night to end. Apparently Dane felt the same way, because we spent the next hour driving aimlessly through town and talking. I was like a sponge, soaking up all the information I’d missed out on these past few years. I wanted to know everything.
“Here we are,” Dane announced when he pulled into my drive. “Your humble abode.”
The house was dark, save for the dim glow of Grandma Gin’s bedside lamp. She was probably reading a couple of chapters before bed. The curtains were drawn, but there was the silhouette of a cat in the window. Not surprising in the least, since most of them slept with her.
“Thanks for tonight,” I said, turning to him. “It was really—”
Like a heat-seeking missile, Dane’s lips crushed against mine. I groaned.His hand found the back of my neck. Mine were already fisted in his leather jacket. Dragging him closer, I inhaled the spicy mint aroma on Dane’s breath, then parted my lips to welcome him in. We weren’t clueless kids anymore. That much was obvious by the way his mouth plundered mine.
Yes, yes, yes.
