He parked his vehicle underground at the building he lived in, a stunning high-rise, and they walked the short distance to Warwick's. The attractive blond hostess showed them to a table away from the crowded bar while checking Tanner out. Katelyn rolled her eyes.
Tanner took her coat for her and hung it on an oak and brass coatrack near their table, adding his.
"You look gorgeous," he said as he took his seat across from her.
"Thank you. You look good too." He wore a black turtleneck sweater over charcoal dress pants. Along with the beard stubble and the bruise on his cheek, the black sweater made him look very badass. Gorgeously badass.
She glanced around the restaurant, taking in all the stainless steel and dark wood. The atmosphere was vibrant, with pop music and the hum of voices coming from the bar, but they were far enough away to be able to talk. "This is a cool place."
"Yeah. I like coming here in the summer-they have a great patio. It's really nice at night, with the view of the buildings all lit up. And they have tons of different craft beers."
"I didn't think you were around much in the summers. Don't you go to your log cabin in Minnesota?"
"Yeah, but I'm here some of the time. I do a charity golf tournament for Big Brothers in June, and there are a few other things I come back for."
"Ah."
Their conversation was paused as their server approached. Tanner ordered a bottle of Pinot Noir. He didn't ask what she wanted-but then again, he knew she liked wine. What he ordered was probably five times the price of anything she'd ever drunk back in college, of course.
"I assume you're going to order beef," he said, when the server had left. "I thought a nice red wine would be good."
"You're so sophisticated these days."
He leaned forward. "Just catching up to you, babe."
"Oh, please." She rolled her eyes. "So … why Big Brothers?"
"What? Oh, the golf tourney. I'm a big brother. I do some other fundraising work with them."
"You're a big brother?"
"Yeah. Why are you asking like that? You think I can't be a mentor to a kid?"
She considered that. "I … it just surprises me."
He shrugged and moved a fork on the table. "I liked having brothers and sisters. Except I barely ever got to know them, and then our parents split up and I never saw them again."
Katelyn felt like a band was tightening around her chest. "So now you have a little brother."
"Yeah." His eyes lit up. "His name's Jaivon. He's a good kid. Mom's raising him alone. I play hockey with him and do other stuff."
Pressure rose in her throat. For some reason she felt like crying. She picked up her glass of ice water and took a sip. "That's awesome, Tanner."
"I took him to the eye doctor today. Turns out he needs glasses." Tanner shook his head. "I wondered why his shot was so horrible."
She sipped more water, her throat even more constricted. "And you paid for that?"
"Of course." A crease appeared between his eyebrows. "His mom can't afford optometrists and glasses. I don't know if she noticed he was having trouble seeing, but it's possible she did and just couldn't do anything about it. The kid was kind of stubborn too, insisting he didn't want to wear glasses and look like a dork."
"But you convinced him."
"Yeah. Told him I used to wear glasses."
"You don't anymore?"
"Got laser surgery a few years back. Done with all the glasses and contacts."
"Wow. I've thought of doing that, but I'm afraid."
"You still wear glasses?" He leaned forward almost eagerly.
"Um, yeah, sometimes."
"I liked it when you wore your glasses. All studious and hot."
She burst out laughing. "I don't know if I've ever heard 'studious' and 'hot' in the same sentence."
He grinned. "You're always hot. But your glasses made you extra hot."
"Have you got some kind of schoolgirl fantasy thing?"
"Maybe so." His eyes narrowed speculatively. "You don't happen to have a schoolgirl outfit, do you?"
"No." She paused. "I do have a Tinker Bell costume."
"Tinker Bell?"
"The fairy from Peter Pan. No fairy fetish?"
He choked. "Um. No."