Page 16 of A Valentine's Day Gift
Chapter Six
This was only his second first date, and Vinny had the gift of money this time around, so he made reservations at a nice seafood restaurant, figuring Allie was probably used to eating at nice places. He wouldn’t even flinch if she ordered lobster. It occurred to him that she was probably used to having gobs of money from her lawyer ex, and while he was doing okay, he wasn’t exactly rolling in it. Once his dad retired next June, he’d be in a better position. His dad would name him partner, and Vinny would take over the business. His older brother would’ve gotten half, but he’d moved to Texas to work on petroleum machinery and never looked back.
He was lucky Loretta had agreed to babysit tonight, though he hadn’t told her it was for a date exactly, he just said he was going to dinner. She knew what he was up to, dressing nice for dinner, a bundle of nerves, but she’d drawn the line—no talk of another woman—and he’d respected that. He couldn’t ask for more from his mother-in-law. So what if she gave him a curfew, saying he had to pick up the kids by nine since she needed her sleep. He couldn’t take that personally; she was an old woman with a sick husband. No way he was turning down free babysitting. If things with Allie progressed, well, he’d deal with the mother-in-law complication later. He clenched his jaw. Things could get very, very difficult with Loretta. The woman was a force and deeply involved in his family’s life. He blew out a breath. He couldn’t worry about that right now, he had enough to worry about just trying to pull off this date without making a fool of himself.
He drove to Allie’s house in his minivan, the same house where they’d first met in what had been a much darker time for both of them. They deserved a little happiness, didn’t they? Nerves shot through him. He glanced around the minivan he’d recently cleaned. He’d debated taking his work truck, ultimately deciding neither one was a sexy option. The truck was too dirty for a classy woman like her. Besides, she had kids, she knew the drill. He turned the radio to the game, distracting himself from his nerves, managing to keep his cool.
He parked in the driveway of her house, a large Victorian set on a huge lot with a six-foot privacy fence around the backyard. Great yard for the kids, he figured, maybe a dog too if anyone had time to take care of one.
He got to the front door, rang the bell and, in those few minutes of waiting, completely lost his cool, breaking out in a sweat. He was really on a date. First time since he was a damn teenager and he near felt like one.
She opened the door, standing there in a gray sleeveless dress cut low in front, ending mid-thigh. So sexy. She was tiny, but she had gentle curves in all the right places. Her blond hair was smooth and straight just past her shoulders. A colorful butterfly necklace caught his eye near her throat. Her pulse beat rapidly, visible under the fair skin of her neck. Maybe she was as nervous as he was. Silly when you thought about it. They’d been friends for two years now, though not much of that time had been spent in person.
He lifted his eyes to her bright blues. She smiled, a small shy smile, looking up at him under her lashes. “Hi,” she said softly.
“I changed my shirt three times,” he blurted.
She laughed. “I like what you decided on. Black’s a nice look on you.” He wore a black button-down shirt with black pants and his nice dress shoes.
“I love your dress.”
Her cheeks flushed. “I bought it special. The necklace too. Symbolic for spreading my wings and living my life the way I want to.”
Spreading my wings and other things.A vision of spreading her legs sent a surge of lust through him that he ruthlessly pushed down. Not cool to start a first date with a noticeable woody.
He looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. “That’s good. Ready?”
She stepped out, locking the door behind her. “I almost didn’t have a babysitter tonight. My usual girl had a last-minute job interview at the mall. Then I was asking my friends for their babysitters, and no one was available. I had to drive an hour out to my parents’ house and drop the kids off with them.”
He took her hand, walking her to his car. “You must’ve really wanted to go on this date.”
She smiled. “I guess so.”
“Me too.” He opened the passenger-side door for her, getting an eyeful of slim leg before closing it behind her.
So far, so good. He got in, started the car, and backed out of her driveway. “I made reservations at a seafood restaurant. You like seafood, I hope?”
“Yes.”
Silence fell.
He couldn’t think of a damn thing to say. He debated putting the game back on, but thought she probably wouldn’t be interested. He didn’t want to talk about the kids. He wanted this to be about them.
“How was your day?” she asked.
“Good. Usual Saturday runaround with the boys.”
“You know what? Let’s not do the small-talk thing. I want to get to know you better than that.”
“Fine by me, and let’s not talk about the kids. Ask me anything.”
“Where did you grow up? What was your family like? Did you always want to work construction? What sport is your favorite? What would you do if you had all the time and money in the world?”
He blew out a breath. “That’s a lot of questions.”
“Just off the top of my head. You don’t have to answer if you don’t feel comfortable.”
“I’m an open book. Let’s see, I grew up in the town I live in now, South Norfolk. It’s not as nice now as it was when I was a kid, more crime, the schools are going downhill, but I can afford a house there, and my mother-in-law lives in town, so that’s a big help. Yes, construction was always for me, it’s been in my family for three generations now, and I was taught from the time I could hold a hammer how to use tools. I like working with my hands, I like building something lasting.”
