Page 33 of Served
He pulled me close. “Why didn’t you tell me? I would have gone with you.”
I shook my head, fighting back tears. “No, you didn’t need to be near the jail.” I took a deep breath a few times, blowing it out each time to calm myself. “Amy went with me. She kinda talked me into it anyway. But she was right.”
He held me tight for a few minutes as we stood near the door. Eventually I blew out another loud sigh and patted the tears from my face.
“Okay, sorry. You had plans for us. So, what are we doing?” I asked as I started breathing normally again.
He looked down at me, his eyes getting dark. “Lucy, I will never let anything else happen to you. I promise. Just let me be here for you.” He tucked some hair behind my ear.
“I know. I will, I’m sorry.” I pulled him to me, savoring a slow and sensual mingling of our tongues.
“Are you sure you’re up to going out? It wasn’t anything wild, but I did want to take you on a proper date.”
I nodded. “Yes, please.” I checked the mirror by the door and my face wasn’t horrible, so I grabbed my bag before grabbing his hand and yanked him out the front door with me.
We walked outside and he walked to a nice car parallel parked in front of the building. I looked around waiting for something to happen, not entirely sure what, when he opened the passenger door. I walked to the car and gave him a curious look as I stepped into the car. He walked around and got into the driver’s side and started the car.
“Wow, you have a car. Where are we going?” I asked like a kid.
“You’ll see.”
Again, I was reminded it’s only been a few days since this really became a thing. Whateverthisthing was. I’ve known him for a while but really didn’t know anything about him until the last few days. But everything I’ve uncovered had been great. The car and club stuff were good, but that wasn’t even the best of him.
A wave of regret was washing over me as I stared out the window on the drive. He reached over and grabbed my hand, so I squeezed back.
“Hey, don’t worry. I’ll explain over dinner, but you don’t need to worry about anything. It’s gonna work out.”
“No, I mean, I know. But it’s not that.” I turned to face him as he drove and squeezed his hand. “I’m really sorry it took me so long to get here.”
He pulled my hand to his lips and kissed it gently.
“Hey, none of that. That doesn’t matter. You’re here now.” He glanced briefly at me but long enough I could feel the sincerity in his words. My heart was ready to burst. I let out a sigh and we continued holding hands until we reached our destination. I still wasn’t used to the emotion I was feeling for him. With him.
We pulled up to my favorite steak house downtown and the valet took the car.
“I hope you’re hungry, they have the best steak,” he said. “Plus, I like how you share the sides here.”
He took my hand, and we went inside. I hadn’t been here in a while.
“You know this same restaurant is only a few miles from us?”
“Yeah, but driving downtown makes it seem more official. This is our real first date, ya know?” He leaned into my ear to say that and sent goosebumps over my arms. It was a little backwards how everything happened. But I didn’t care.
We were seated and sampled the wine selection the server brought over. I ordered a glass, but Jason passed.
“None for me. When you’re around alcohol all the time it loses it’s luster.”
We both ordered a ribeye and got the al a cart mushrooms and mashed potatoes. He nodded in approval when I ordered mine rare.
We were waiting for our food, so I decided to treat it like a date.
“So, tell me about yourself, Jason.” I swirled my wine around in the glass as I waited for his reply.
He grinned but played along. “Well, you know I own the club, where I live, and have a car now. What do you want to know?”
“How did you come to own the club? You’re kinda young.”
“That’s flattering. I’m 30.” He took a drink of sweet tea then continued, “I worked there in college, my dad owned it. But I got to keep tips and the hours were great for a student.” He paused and looked over to the side, like he saw someone. “But dad got sick, so I was there more and more. I inherited the club once he passed.”
