Page 29 of Reserved for Him
“Your waitress should be with you shortly.” She smiled, then walked away.
Junicia and I picked up our menus and looked them over. I picked a steakhouse that I hadn’t been to in a long time. I had never dined there on a date, but I came occasionally after work a few times when I didn’t feel like cooking but wanted steak.
After a minute or two, Junicia put her menu down and looked around the restaurant.
“This is nice. I came here before for a work function. Have you been here?”
“Oh, y’all doing it like that at your job,” I teased. “I’ve been here a time or two.” A weird look crossed her face, and I had a feeling I knew what she thought it was. “By myself,” I reassured her.
“I didn’t say anything.” The corner of her mouth turned up into a teasing smile.
“You didn’t, but I could see the question dancing in your eyes.”
She dropped her head and pushed a strand behind her ear. I saw the moment her cheeks flushed.
“You think you know me.”
“A little, but I’m trying to learn more.”
Before she could respond, the waitress came over and took our orders. Junicia ordered a steak with mashed potatoes andasparagus, while I had the same thing but with a baked potato instead. I also told the waitress to bring us a bottle of wine. This restaurant sold wine by the bottle, and if it wasn’t finished by the time you left, they would let you take it home. I liked that because I could never finish the bottle in one sitting, but they were the only place in the area that sold Peach Pastel Wine. It was a wine that was made in a brewery in North Valley. North Valley was only a couple of hours away, but I wasn’t trying to drive there all the time for some wine. It was worth it, though. I was familiar with the CEO of the company, and occasionally he would send me a bottle.
“Speaking of learning more,” Junicia said when the waitress walked away. “I want to know more about you. You know my fears, but I don’t know any of yours.”
I had to sit with that for a second because the only thing I was afraid of was my past coming back to haunt me, but I couldn’t tell her that. We weren’t there yet. I knew I had to give her something, though, so I told her a small thing I was afraid of, but it was honest.
“I’m afraid of being with someone who couldn’t accept me for who I was.”
“I don’t see how they wouldn’t because so far you have shown me that you are a nice guy that was protective. You may not talk a lot like some of these other men, but you know how to hold a conversation. To me, you’re like the threat no one saw coming.”
I didn’t know how to feel about the threat part, but she was right. It wasn’t like I went around boasting and bragging, so if people ever did see the other side of me, they would be surprised.
I must have been taking too long to respond because she said, “It’s not a bad thing,” before I could say anything.
“I didn’t think so. I was just processing what you said because nobody has ever described me like that. At least not that I know of.”
The waitress had returned with the wine, glasses, and two glasses of water. She opened the bottle and poured each of us a glass before walking away again.
I watched Junicia as she raised the glass to her lips. Her lips were so damn sexy to me, especially when she had them covered in gloss. I adjusted myself because my shit was getting hard as I watched her. It didn’t take any effort on her part for me to get aroused.
“I’m going to need twelve bottles of this wine. It is so good.” She gushed after she took a sip.
I chuckled and shook my head. “I don’t know about twelve, but we can get two when we leave.”
A bright smile crossed her face before she took another sip. “Sounds good to me. I don’t know where this wine has been hiding, but I love it.”
“It’s not sold anywhere else but here. I know the creator of it. Maybe I can take you to his brewery one day.”
“See what I mean. You know wine creators and shit.” She laughed.
I laughed along with her. I didn’t know that many people, but I had a few people I associated with from time to time.
“That’s it. Just him, and his family. I mainly only talk to my best friend, and now you.” I winked at her.
The waitress returned with our food. After we had everything we needed, we dug in.
We pretty much ate in silence for the most part, only saying a few words here and there. The food and the wine were too good to be talking anyway. Junicia had at least four glasses of wine, and I knew she would be tipsy by the time we left. I wanted her toenjoy herself, and she did. As long as she was with me, she could let her hair down and not have to worry about anything.
“Are you enjoying yourself?” I asked when she reached for her glass again.
