“You’re the lucky guy coming home with me, too.” I reach him and step into his arms. “You look handsome. Good enough to eat.”
He grins. “Now who wants to skip dinner?”
Toby jabs him in the shoulder, and Jake scowls at him. I don’t know what Toby mouths to him, but I imagine it’s something about the flowers because Jake says, “Oh yeah. These are for you.”
He practically thrusts them at me.
I take them from him. “They’re beautiful.”
He taps his nose, telling me it’s a secret, but I know Aria has been helping him all this time. I turn to find Sasha holding out her hands.
“I’ll put these in some water. You two have fun. I want to hear all the details about the date tomorrow,” Sasha says. “Oh, do you mind if I look through your gowns tonight? I want to try and get some ideas of what I might like.”
“Definitely. Go ahead.”
“Can I peak, babe?” Toby asks.
“No, Toby, you may not.” He pokes his tongue out at her.
“You two play nicely while we’re gone,” I scold them.
Toby rolls his eyes. “Sure, Mum.”
We exit the house and Jake leads me out to the car, and I pause mid-step. It’s not his car.
“Where’s your car?” I ask.
“Oh yeah, about that. This is the new one. I brought it for when we have the baby. It’s more family-friendly and easier to get a car seat in and out of.”
“You didn’t need to do that. I was going to sell mine and get an upgrade.”
“I was thinking about that. I’ll use yours to go to and from work, and this one is your new car. I’d rather know you and the little one were safe in this car.”
He really does care about us both. He opens the door, and I climb in. It doesn’t escape my notice that there are a gift bag and a bottle of sparkling grape juice on the footwell of the passenger side.
“What’s in the bag?” I ask as he slides into the car beside me.
“You’ll have to wait and find out.”
“I ruined it, didn’t I? By seeing the bag.”
He shakes his head. “No, you haven’t. You’d have ruined it by looking inside.”
“I’m excited for dinner. I think I might get the pizza again. It was amazing.”
He grins. “The kiss afterwards was better.”
Baby moves inside me, dancing around. “Seems baby girl is looking forward to more pizza too.”
He chuckles and reaches across the middle console to touch my belly. Baby kicks his palm.
“Hey, baby girl,” he says.
It doesn’t take long, and we’re parked outside the restaurant, and Jake comes around the side of the car, helps me get out and then grabs the stuff that he’d stored by my feet. We walk into the restaurant and are shown to our seats. Jake pulls out a chair for me, and I sit. He pops open the bottle of sparkling grape juice.
“Would you like a glass? I know you can’t drink tonight, but I wanted you to have a true romantic experience.”
I smile. “I would love a glass. Thank you.”
He pours us each a glass then takes a seat. “Here’s to the first of many dates.”
We clink our glasses together. I take a sip of the liquid then put the glass down. We each pick up a menu and take a look even though we already know what we’re getting. I sneak a glance at him, only to find him doing the same.
“Ha! Jinx! We’re both caught checking the other out,” I say. He laughs along with me.
I take another sip of my drink as the waitress comes around to take our orders. He lets me order first and then places his. Once she’s gone, I turn to look at him.
“Where should we start tonight? I feel a little bit like a stalker right now. I know everything about you already, and I feel like you hardly know anything about me.”
My face flushes with embarrassment at my admission. I feel stupid for even saying it, but I can’t take it back now.
He chuckles and reaches his hand across the table to clutch mine. “You’re so damn cute for admitting you’ve stalked me. I wouldn’t call it stalking though. I mean, you didn’t do weird things like put cameras in my room to watch me naked from a remote location or peer through windows.”
“How do you know I didn’t? I have been alone in your room for months.”
“Oh shit, I didn’t think of that.” We laugh. It’s so easy with him. I can be myself, relax and enjoy the night.
“Damn, now you know I have,” I say as though my plan has been foiled.
“Anyway, I bet you don’t know everything about me,” he says smugly.
“Let’s see. Your favourite food is tacos, mince ones to be precise with cheese and refried beans. Your favourite sport is soccer; your favourite alcoholic drink is whiskey; Jack Daniels though you’re known to drink red wine when the mood suits you. You love anything home-baked as it reminds you of when you were growing up, and your mum used to bake all the time. You’re a perfectionist from being in the Army, everything has to be in its place, but you also know that Toby secretly moves stuff just to piss you off.” I stop talking and take a drink. My mouth is dry from talking so much.
“That’s not everything,” he says.
“I’m not finished. Your favourite roast is chicken with all the trimmings. You love double-chocolate brownie covered in vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. Your favourite colours seem to be emerald green or black, but it would appear you haven’t decided which you like better. You have a sweet tooth for sour gummy worms. I know this because of how many bags are in the pantry and Toby told me they were yours. You suck at poker, though you’re secretly good at pool but try not to show off your skills.”
This merits a soft laugh from him.
“You love relaxing by putting your feet up or going for a run. Your favourite pastime is exercising, next to that, annoying Toby. Oh, and you enjoy reading Garfield comics because they are funny.”
“Done?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“I’m impressed, but you missed a few things.”
“Like what?” I’m astonished there’s something about him I don’t know.
“I do not suck at poker; James is simply too good at math, and this is my first date.”
Jake
She blinks at me, unable to believe what I’ve just told her. I’m impressed with myself. I stumped her with something she doesn’t know about me.
“You’re serious. You’ve never had a first date?” she asks.
I nod my head. “Nope. You are my first. We both know I like to have sex and how I like to have it. We both know you love it.” A soft pink tinge crosses her cheeks. “But in truth, it’s only been about sex, the need for human contact or rather, I control the contact. I’ve never wanted to settle down or fall in love. Steph, don’t worry. I haven’t slept with any woman in that bed. I replaced it at the beginning of the year.”
She smiles. “That does make me feel a little better.”
“Only a little?” I ask.
“Well yeah, you big jerk. You just told me this is your first ever date and I’ve made the worst first impression by telling you I have stalked you.”