Page 11 of Perfect Date
“Why’s that?” I ask, staring at his chiseled jaw, then his defined cheekbones and strong nose before realizing what I’m doing, stop, and quickly look up to meet his eyes.
“Well, considering how… interesting it went for you the last time, I figured I may not see you again. At least not for a while.”
“Thinking about me, are you?” I ask and almost choke at my brazen comment. But fair is fair. When he only stares at me, an even larger smirk on those full kissable lips, my bravado falls down a couple notches. “Besides, it takes more than what happened last time to make me throw in the towel,” I boast lying through my teeth and making myself sound more unaffected than I actually am.
He nods and stares at me intently and I wonder what he’s thinking. “So… Charlotte, but goes by Charlie,” Justin taps his knuckles against the table, “are you alone tonight or expecting someone?”
“How do you know my name?”
He shrugs, “I have my ways.” My eyes narrow and he smiles again, with teeth this time. “Relax. Your full name is on the card you’ve used to pay your bill and I heard the dude with the kiddie cars call you Charlie.”
“Oh. Yeah. I prefer Charlie.”
“And? Someone coming to meet you tonight?”
“Apparently not,” I reply honestly, hoping the trace of insecurity I feel at being stood up isn’t evident in my tone. Especially given the confidence I was just trying to display.
“Ah, another first date. And he hasn’t shown up?”
“Nope.”
“He will. Unless he’s really stupid.”
“Well, if my last date was anything to go by…” I smile because itispretty funny - at least now that there’s been a little distance from the experience.
He grins, “She has a sense of humor, I like it.”
“You’d have to be emotionally dead not to see the humor in that. He had baby cars,” I giggle and he laughs. I like the way it sounds.
“I see a lot of stuff in here, hear a lot of things, as you can imagine. But that… that was a first for even me. Some would say you’re really brave for coming back out,” he teases.
“Oh, I thought long and hard about it. Believe me. But I made a promise.”
“A promise?”
“Yeah, I promised my best friend – well, and myself - I wouldn’t give up on dating yet. She insists I have to go out a few times before I’ll have the perfect date.”
“The perfect date?”
“Yes.”
“And what, my new friend Charlie, is a perfect date to you?”
“New friend? That’s a little presumptuous of you, isn’t it?”
“Is it?” he asks with a look that can only be described as both secretive and promising.
“Look…” he begins and leans in closer which I find myself mirroring, “I was wondering if- “
“Charlie?” A voice says making me jump and Justin leans back in his seat immediately frowning at being interrupted. As he straightens his back against the chair, it briefly dawns on me how far we were leaning into each other.
“Yeah?” I ask of the person standing there.
“Hi, sorry I’m late, I’m Eric.”
“Oh! Eric!” I nearly forgot all about him. “Hi. You made it.”
“Yeah, he made it,” Justin glares at Eric and sounds anything but delighted at his appearance. “Not cool being late, man,” Justin says and my mouth falls open and I just barely catch a giggle of surprise before it escapes.
