Page 14 of Birchwood Burn
Larissa’s eyes widen, and she watches the exchange. Jake laughs and wraps his arm around his wife. “Come on, let’s leave them to their date.”
Maitlyn grins and winks at Larissa before we all say goodbye.
“I’m so sorry.” I can’t even finish my apology before more people come over. It’s now getting a little annoying since we’re on a date and I want to get to know her better, and we’re unable to talk.
After another few people leave, I lean over. “How about we get our food and get out of here? I don’t want to be presumptuous, but we can go back to my place, and people will leave us alone.” This is why most of the firefighters don’t leave our houses much after an event like we just had. The town loves to show its appreciation, which is nice, but not when you’re trying to convince a woman to take a chance and be yours. All this makes me feel like I’m messing it up.
Larissa’s shoulders slump, and she sighs. “Yes, please. I’m sorry, this is all wonderful and you deserve it, but…”
She loses what to say, and I get it. “I agree. This is our time.” I wave over the server before somebody else comes over. “Can we get our order to go, please, and can you add one of each of the desserts also?” The server heads off to change our order.
Larissa laughs. “We can’t eat all that.”
“I didn’t know which one you would want, and we need to get out of here. We get to leave and sample a bit of everything.” I lean back and admire my date as her eyes darken a little when I mention sampling.
This woman is doing crazy things to me, and I realize she has no clue how much she does so. I can’t wait to show her exactly how much. Whether it’s here in Black Timber Peak or in New York, I’m ready to change my life to make sure she fits because it’s been dull until she lit her way into it.
Almost an hour later, with people stopping us as we leave and the longer drive to my cabin, I’m dishing up our meals onto some plates so we’re not eating out of plastic carriers. Larissa is drinking water as she walks around my place, looking at all my family pictures. My place isn’t much, just a small two-bedroom cabin on an acre of land, but it’s quiet, close to my family, and out of the way of the busybodies in town.
“You have such a lovely family. You can tell there’s a lot of love between you all.” She smiles and picks up a frame of me with my two siblings.
I move to the dining table and put the plates down, and she puts the frame away to join me.
“Yeah. I’m the middle child. My brother Davis is the oldest, by two years. He’s a loner and a lumberjack. He lives on the family property too, but he’s in a more isolated part of the land. My parents were both only children, so they inherited everything, which means the Barlow family has a lot of land up here. My sister Gina is your age. She was the surprise baby, but one of my favorite people. She lives here part-time, and the other time she lives in Hollywood with her husband.” I explain to her how my sister is a romance author, and I startle as she squeaks when she finds out my sister is Gina Sway.
“So I guess you’ve heard of her.”
She’s adorable as she blushes and realizes her brief outburst, and I laugh. “Don’t worry, she’s going to love you, too.”
Her blush deepens further, and as much as I love watching her get all red, it wreaks havoc on my mind as I imagine where the blush runs too. I shift the conversation fast, because I’m eager to learn about her.
“Do you have any siblings?”
“No. Only child. The closest siblings I have are my friends.” She takes a bite of her shrimp scampi, and moans. It goesstraight to my pants.Damn. I need to hear her moan like that with me on top of her.
I clear my throat. “What about your parents? Are you close with them?”
“Yeah. My parents had me later in life, so by the time I graduated high school, they could retire. So they did. They sold the family home, put the little belongings they had left in storage, and have been travelling the world ever since.”
I don’t know how to think about that. It’s awesome that they could do that and get to see everything, but then my curiosity gets the best of me. “What did you do during holiday breaks and stuff?”
“Oh, sometimes I’d stay at school and work, or I’d go to one of my friends’ homes. Often, though, my parents would send me a plane ticket and I’d meet up with them somewhere exotic. I’ve now been to six continents. My parents are trying to get to Antarctica so they can say they’ve been to all seven. I told them I’m good but have fun.” She chuckles as she twirls some noodles onto her fork.
How incredible would it be to experience so much? It makes sense why she appears to be so much older than she is. She’s seen more than the average person and has seen things other people shy away from.
“What’s your favorite place? And least favorite?”
She chews her food as she thinks it over. “My least favorite isn’t about the place. It’s about seeing what hunger and poverty do to people. It’s hard when you get off a plane and there are a bunch of children with their hands outstretched, hoping for something, anything they can take back to their families. It’s hard to handle, and why I make monthly donations to hunger organizations around the world. I pick a new one every month.”
If I didn’t believe I was falling in love with her before, I’m well aware of it now. She’s the complete package and is theperfect woman for me. It makes me hesitate.Am I the perfect man for her?
“Your favorite place?”
She smirks. “Still searching.”
For the next couple of hours, we finish our food and talk. I’ve never talked so much in my life or been so connected to somebody. We get comfortable on the couch, and some time after dinner, I grab all the different desserts and put them all on the dining table, and we taste test each.
“Oh. My. Word. Try the trifle.” She moans, and like before, it affects me enough to make me hot under the collar. Even more so with her lifting her spoon and wanting to feed me.
