Realizing what an ass he was making of himself, Jon shook his head and stood. With his eyes glued to hers, he crossed the room to stand in front of her. “You look incredible. Don’t change a thing.” Unable to resist the allure of her curvaceous body, he reached out his hand and let his fingers skim lightly across the slinky material clinging to her taut stomach like a second skin. He felt the muscles tighten beneath his touch, and took it as his cue to get even closer.
“Should we be going?” he asked, gliding his palm down her arm and enfolding her hand in his.
She smiled shyly, dropping her gaze. That single moment of vulnerability set in stone Jon’s determination to get to know her beyond the purely physical. She wasn’t just the hard ass, tough as nails woman he’d met before. She had softness to buffer her rough edges, and he found that quality beyond sexy. “Sure, let me just grab my purse.”
After she locked up, Jon led her to his truck.
“I see you got a new car.”
“It’s a truck, actually,” he said with a teasing smile.
Patricia smacked him in the side playfully with the back of her hand, surprising him. “I can see it’s a truck.” She smirked. “I just figured you for the luxury sedan type.”
“I’m whatever fancies me at the moment type,” Jon told her honestly. Hitting the automatic locks, he opened the door for her and took the opportunity to touch her again. Slipping his hands around her waist, he hoisted her up into the cab, then closed the door and ran around to the driver’s side.
Excitement coursed through him, making Jon feel eager and energetic. It reminded him of when he was a teenager going out on his very first date. All that nervous anticipation and exuberance filled him to the point of bursting. It was insane, but it made him feel rejuvenated. Almost hopeful, even.
Jon climbed in and settled himself behind the wheel. “I hope you brought your appetite,” he said as he started the engine.
“I think you lost something,” Patricia said. She held up her hand.
Jon glanced over at her. Seeing that her arm was raised in the air between them, he noticed the glittering piece of jewelry dangling from her fingertips. Shit. Flashes of the woman he’d picked up at the club last night played in his mind’s eye. She was smoking hot in the latex micro mini and offered herself up like a sacrificial lamb. They’d had a few drinks and shared a few dances, and when she’d taken his hand and guided it under her skirt, her husky confession whispering in his ear, to show him she’d forgotten her panties, he’d all but dragged her back to his car. They hadn’t made it out of the parking lot.
It was easy to forget for a moment his desire for this woman sitting before him when he was drunk and horny, but now that he was right in front of her, with her staring expectantly back at him, he felt like a total sleaze. All he could see was her blue eyes watching him, waiting for an explanation, mixed with intermittent flashes of the woman he’d fucked right there in the seat she was sitting in.
Fuck.
With practiced ease, Jon took the earring from her, inspected it briefly, and shrugged. “Huh, never seen it before. Must be my sister’s.” He smiled with a confidence he didn’t feel and leaned across her legs to open the glove compartment and toss it inside. “So, how does seafood sound?”
She didn’t know if she bought the sister excuse, but it was their first date and they weren’t exactly an item. It left Patti feeling torn. The string of bad relationships and equally bad boyfriends had made her wary of men and their tactics. Never again did she want to be reduced to just another notch in some man’s bedpost. But, as she looked into Jon’s eyes, all she saw was sincerity and kindness, so she decided to play it by ear. If things between them went no further than tonight, she’d be okay with it, and if it progressed into something more, than she would see it through to wherever it ended up.
Setting her concerns aside, Patti vowed to enjoy the evening ahead. “Seafood sounds wonderful,” she told Jon. He slanted a dizzying smile at her and eased into traffic.
He took her to a nice steak house with an African Savannah theme. The hostess seated them in a corner booth made to resemble a train caboose with prop luggage stored on a shelf overhead. It was a very casual yet elegant environment.
The menu itself was large and consisted of just about every type of meat available to man. Patti had a hard time choosing what to eat, but eventually settled on a light meal of pasta and shrimp with a fruity cocktail laced in rum to wash it down. She hadn’t been treated to a meal this nice in some time, which only made her realize the type of men she had subjected herself to before.
She really needed to up her qualifications.
Good thing Jon seemed to fit the bill.
“I’ve never been here before,” Patti confessed. She sipped her drink and cast her eyes around the room. Rattan paddles that swayed back and forth, gently stirring the air, decorated the ceiling. There were amber-colored sconces mounted on the walls and colorful modern artwork sprinkled in between. At the rear of the room, she could watch the chefs put together the food, but she found the view of the man across the table from her far more appealing.
Selecting a coconut crusted shrimp skewer from his plate, Jon dipped it in a small bowl of sweet orange sauce and raised his eyebrow to her as he brought it to his lips. “It’s one of my favorite places to come,” he said, “but tonight the company is far more interesting and infinitely more attractive.”
Taking a moment to mull over his words, Patti took her time twisting the pasta around her fork. “Are you saying you bring your dates here often?”
“I guess that depends on what you consider a date,” he said cryptically.
Stuffing a huge mound of noodles into her mouth, Patti used her food as an excuse not to answer. Frankly, it concerned her that she might have read him wrong. Maybe her first impression of him wasn’t as accurate as she’d assumed.
“Oh boy,” Jon laughed, shaking his head as he went in for another skewer. “I know that look.” Patti lifted a questioning brow. “My mother and sister always have that look when my dad or I say something to piss them off,” he explained. “Maybe I should clarify.”
He didn’t rush to clarify anything, much to Patti’s consternation, but she waited, certain he would present her with some lame excuse that would hold about as much water as a bucket full of holes. She ate slowly, watching Jon as he tucked into his dinner with casual indifference.
“I only come here for business,” he began. “Sometimes I meet with new clients, or with some of the members on the board to discuss finances. It’s never for leisure.” His eyes flicked up to meet hers. “Until tonight. This is the first time I’ve enjoyed a meal with someone who wasn’t sporting a pot belly and a penis between their legs.”
Patti’s quick intake of breath caused her to choke on a partially chewed noodle. Doubling over, she coughed into her napkin so hard her eyes began to tear up.
“Are you okay?” Jon asked, suddenly standing by her side. He pounded on her back, but his efforts only succeeded in making her feel as though her spine were about to snap in two.
“I’m fine,” she croaked, coughing a couple more times. Picking up her glass of water, she gulped half of it before she felt recovered enough to speak clearly.
Jon took his seat again, eying her cautiously.
“Just to be clear. Did you just tell me you’ve never been on a date with a woman before?” She found that notion impossible to believe. Jon was gorgeous. With his dark hair, blue eyes, and strong build, he was every woman’s Adonis. Just walking into the place she’d caught several women, most already seated with their own man, sneaking covert glances at him.