Page 30 of Embraced at Seaside
“Because unless I want to wait tables my whole life, I have to play the game until I figure something else out.”
Jana closed the notebook as a knock sounded at the door, making her instantly on edge. “I gotta go.”
“Why so fast?”
“I have a date. I’ll call you soon. I don’t want to keep him waiting.” She blew a kiss into the phone and ended the call before Sky could ask any more questions. Sky would probably get excited if she knew she was going out on a real date with Hunter, and she didn’t want to give her false hope for something more, even though she couldn’t deny that she’d toyed with the meaning of the date all afternoon.
Hunter had texted her once midmorning to tell her to dress up, and when she’d asked why, he’d replied,Do you have to question everything?She thought of that now as she glanced down at the dress she’d chosen. A midthigh, coral tank dress with a sheer strip along the waist and a lace overlay. Four inches of jagged-edged lace gave it a sexy hemline. She’d taken extra time to weave together a headband made of white flowers from the garden out back. She wore several shell necklaces of varying lengths and colors and a few silver bracelets on her wrist. Her sandals were flat, and she’d worn a piece of jewelry that wrapped around her middle toe and connected with beaded jewels up the center of her foot to an anklet. She felt sexy and cute, perfectly dressed for a night out. But when Hunter knocked again, her nerves came alive, making her acutely aware of exactly how different tonight was going to be.
She inhaled deeply, hoping to calm her racing heart, and finally opened the door.
Hunter’s eyes widened, and he made no attempt to hide his visual inspection as his eyes moved to her painted lips, lingering for a moment before moving to her cleavage, then hovering again at the flash of skin at her waist. His eyes trailed down her legs, all the way to her toes. When he finally met her gaze again, she saw his Adam’s apple move as he swallowed, as if it were hard for him to find his voice, which made her feel sexy, and even more nervous.
“Hi,” she said as he reached for her hand.
“Hi. You look…” He laced his fingers with hers, and with his other hand he lifted a lock of her hair, which she’d worn loose and tousled. The appreciation in his eyes was all the proof she needed that she’d made the right choice for everything.
“Incredibly sexy,” he finally said. “And those flowers in your hair?Man…” He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles.
The sweetness of that kiss made her cheeks flush.
“You look really handsome, too.” Hunter in jeans was enough to make her head spin, but Hunter in a pair of dark slacks, loafers, and a black button-down shirt could make her melt.
He slid a hand around her waist and leaned in for a kiss. It wasn’t anything like the hungry kisses they usually shared. This kiss was tender and soft and held the promise of more. And by more, she didn’t think it was a promise of anything sexual. No, this kiss, coupled with the way he was holding her hand and keeping his body a safe distance from hers, told her that this was a promise of something important. Her emotions whirled around her, delighting and scaring her at once.
Jana was so nervous on the way to the restaurant that she had to use the old calming technique she hadn’t used since she taught her very first dance class when she was nineteen. She closed her eyes and imagined the song “Let Me Down Easy” by Billy Currington. It was her go-to song for calming down when she was nervous, and now, as she sang the lyrics in her head, lyrics that were clearly not about dance but about love, she opened her eyes and stole a glance at Hunter, who reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, careening her nerves to life again.
Twenty minutes later they were seated at a corner table at the Wicked Oyster restaurant.
“You didn’t have to take me someplace so expensive, Hunter. I would have been happy at Mac’s or PJ’s.” The Wicked Oyster was probably the most expensive restaurant in Wellfleet.
Hunter was seated across from her, and before responding, he got up and moved to the seat beside her, making her feel even more special, and nervous again. He reached for her hand and laced their fingers together.
“I wanted to take you someplace we could talk. I know you love to dance, so I thought we could hit someplace else afterward. Your choice. This way I have you all to myself, without distractions, at least for a little while.”
This type of attention was so different from what she was used to with Hunter that for a moment she couldn’t respond. Luckily, the waitress came over to take their drink order. Her eyes lingered a moment too long on Hunter, whose eyes never left Jana. The waitress appeared to be in her late twenties, with creamy white skin that made her blue eyes pop and shoulder-length black hair. She was breathtakingly beautiful.
Hunter ordered their drinks, glancing only momentarily at the waitress.
When she walked away, Jana said, “She was gorgeous.”
“I didn’t notice.” Hunter opened the menu and handed it to Jana.
Jana had the urge to roll her eyes and call him on laying it on too thick, but she bit her tongue, realizing that she’d looked at the waitress longer than he had. Everything about Hunter was different tonight. His shoulders weren’t raised with tension, and his facial features weren’t tight.
He was still holding her hand, and as he lifted his eyes, he caught her staring and smiled. “What?”
She lowered her eyes, suddenly feeling nervous again.
“What is it? You were looking at me funny.”
“It’s just…I don’t know what to make of this.” Honesty came easy with Hunter, even if she felt funny admitting the truth to him.
His brows knitted. “Our date?”
“Our date. You. This. Being here with you.” She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “You’re different tonight. Like, totally different.”
Worry snuck into his eyes. “I’m trying not to be my typical jerky self.”
