Page 25 of Broken Headboards
Chapter Ten
Tess
“Dinner, huh?”Ashley asks.
“Dinner,” I reply.
“Seems to me you’re pretty happy about it,” Ashley laughs, her elbows propped up on my kitchen counter as she watches me fidget with my earrings.
“Don’t be silly,” I tell her, grimacing as I prickle one earlobe before finally managing to get the earrings in place. “He’s just trying to play me. Wants to pick my brain or try to fool me into revealing my plans.”
“I think he wants to pick more than just your brain,” she teases me. “And he definitely wants you to reveal more than just your plans.”
“If that’s the case, he can keep on waiting, because—”
“Then why the lingerie?” She asks me before I have a chance to protest. I glare at her, but she just shrugs. “I saw it on your bed when you went for the shower.”
“That’s the last time I leave you in this apartment without adult supervision,” I say.
“C’mon!” Laughing, she stands up and walks toward me. She rests both her hands on my shoulders and makes me look at her. “You’re a grown woman, he’s a grown man. And sometimes, when people feel a tingling deep down—”
“Are you going to give me the birds and the bees talk?” Frowning, I tap my foot against the floor as she just laughs some more.
“I figured it was time. But, really, just enjoy yourself. You’ve earned it. And if anything happens—”
“Nothing’s going to happen.”
“If anything happens,” she insists. “Just enjoy the ride.”
“The ride? Seriously?”
“What? He’s hot, you gotta admit that much. And he definitely looks like he should be fun to, ahem, ride.”
“Sure,” I tell her as I check the time on my phone. It’s time already. “But that doesn’t mean a thing.”
“Uh-uh,” Ashley says, unconvinced. “We’ll see about that.”
Rolling my eyes, I head out of the apartment, Ashley trailing after me. When the elevator stops on her floor, she gives me one teasing wink before leaving.
“Nothing’s going to happen,” I tell myself as the doors close, almost as if saying it out loud will help me believe it. Sure, Austin looks like a marble statue of a Greek God—hell, he looks way better than that—but I’m not the kind of woman that loses her cool over a six-pack and a rakish smile.
You can take that to the bank.
* * *
By the time I finally get to Per Se, I check my watch and smile as I see its hands marking 8 pm. Punctuality—the hallmark of women that know what they want.
“Right on time,” Austin smiles, appearing right behind me and softly laying one hand on my lower back. I turn around to meet him, and he immediately raises his eyebrows and rocks back on his heels. “Wow. You look amazing.”
“Thank you,” I reply with a genuine smile. I was already expecting a compliment like that, but the warmth of his words actually took me by surprise. He actually sounded sincere.
With his fingers once more resting on my lower back, he guides me inside Per Se, a few heads turning as we make our way toward a table in one of the corners, a red tablecloth draped over it.
“What a gentleman,” I chuckle as he pulls my chair back, and he responds by giving me a mock bow.
“At your service.” As he takes his seat, he reaches for the wine list and looks up at me. “White?”
“Red. And since I still haven’t celebrated my win properly, make itChateau Lafite.”
