Page 28 of Kane's Awakening
After filling her food bowl and giving her fresh water, I plopped down on the couch and just stared at my phone. Not exactly sure what I thought I’d accomplish by staring at the damn thing, but it didn’t stop me.
Maybe I was going all Professor X on it and willing it to text Ryker for me so I wouldn’t have to.
“Goddammit,” I said under my breath.
I sent him a quick text saying it was me. About a minute later, I got his reply.
Ryker:Cool. Would you like to have dinner tonight?
Dammit. Dinner was going too far for me. As I was battling how to respond in my head, another text came through.
Ryker:Kane… it’s just dinner. I’m not asking you to marry me or anything. Just food and conversation.
I chuckled and shook my head. The guy hadn’t known me that long and he’d already learned to read me. Even more impressive was he didn’t need to be in the same room in order to do it.
Me:Sure. I guess that would be ok. What time and where?
Ryker:7pm. My house.
I scrunched up my face and stood up from the couch, running a hand through my hair. He wanted to cook me dinner? Definitely not. That was way too intimate.
Me:Dude. I can’t do that.
He didn’t respond as quickly as he had been. It took almost three minutes to get another text.
Ryker:Okay. If it’d make you more agreeable to it, then let’s meet at Frank’s at 6:30. Deal?
Frank’s was an Italian restaurant in Van Buren. The food was freaking amazing, and the prices—although more expensive than some places—was still reasonable.Very doable for just a friendly dinner, I told myself and tried not to think about the somewhat romantic atmosphere of the place.
I replied and told him that was fine before tossing my phone back on the couch cushion. Molly walked around the corner and stared up at me, cocking her head.
“Yeah, I know. I’m leaving again.”
She wagged her tail and approached me, and when I squatted to show her some love, she licked all over my face.
“Yeah, I love you, too,” I told her.
After picking out something else to wear that night—another long sleeved shirt, but black instead of gray—I jumped in the shower.
***
So, winter decided to make an appearance that evening as I got out of my truck and started walking into the restaurant. The mildly-cold day had turned into a bitter cold night. I actually pushed my sleeves down all the way instead of the quarter-sleeved look I usually sported, which said a lot. I hardly ever got cold.
In an attempt to beat Ryker, I’d left early and arrived a few minutes after six. It was awkward being the second, because then the other person was already waiting and you had to break the ice right away, instead of having a few minutes to compose yourself and try to relax.
Once inside the restaurant, the chill subsided as the warmth and cozy atmosphere hit me. The hostess greeted me—a pretty blonde with a little too much makeup—and just as I was about to tell her there’d be two in my party, I scanned the room.
Seriously?
Ryker was seated at a small table in the corner.
“Never mind,” I told her. “He’s already here.”
Not sure why I was acting like that was the first time I’d seen the guy. I’d screwed him on four different occasions and had explored every inch of his body with hands, lips, and tongue. So we weren’t exactly strangers. But walking toward him in that moment, my stomach seized with nerves, and I took a deep breath to calm myself before I made it to his table.
“Good evening,” he said, looking up at me with a half-smile.
His dark blond hair was lightly gelled and in one of those preppy-guy styles with the front slightly sticking up. The light stubble on his face only brought more attention to the perfect shape of his jaw and cheekbones. And that damn freckle beneath his right eye was to die for. Almost like a freaking beauty mark. He wore a dark suit jacket that exposed a pressed white shirt underneath… one that was unbuttoned and revealed that sexy area beneath his neck.
