Thou Shalt Not(48)
“Do you normally avoid desserts?” I asked, hoping to bury the marriage question for the remainder of the evening. “You must, to be able to keep in shape like you are.”
She laughed.
“I love dessert. All of my teeth are sweet, not just one. I eat too much of it.”
“You don’t look like you’ve ever eaten dessert in your life.”
She raised her eyebrow.
“People who don’t eat dessert are miserable and always have a scowl on their faces. Is that what you’re saying, that I look miserable to you?”
Her voice changed to sound like one of the Godpigeons from Animaniacs, and I laughed.
“No, just that you probably don’t have an ounce of dessert-induced fat on your body.”
“I run. A lot. Or I would be a cow.”
“Oh please.”
Terry brought the check, I handed my card to her right away, and off she went.
“You didn’t have to pay, Luke,” she said, grabbing her purse.
“I told you that you were going to dinner with me,” I said. “I couldn’t very well split the bill or let you pay.”
“Well, if I had known you were paying I probably would have ordered more food!”
The light was dancing around her eyes again. Either she naturally had a pretty flirtatious personality, or I really do bring out the best in her. I had seen her interact with some of the other teachers, but she seemed pretty even-keel with them. Maybe it was me.
God, I hope it’s me.
“Consider this your ‘Welcome to Lakefront’ dinner.”
“I technically haven’t officially gotten the job, you know?” she said as Terry brought back our check and wished us a lovely evening.
“Well, perhaps this is your unofficial dinner then. Maybe I will take you to dinner once again when it becomes official.”
She smiled.
“You are assuming I am having a nice time and would want to go to dinner again. Kind of a bold assumption, isn’t it, Mr. Harper?”
“When the invitation comes, you can decline if you’d like. No one will be forcing you to do anything.”
She started to say something when I added, “But you’ll accept.”
April sat back in her chair and her eyes went wide. The restaurant was dark, but it appeared she was beginning to form a blush on her cheeks, down her neck, and to her chest. She looked beautiful.
“Oh really?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I was about to say that no one likes a passive man, then you go and tell me I’ll be accepting your invitation.”
Truth was, I could be a pretty passive guy. If I asked a girl out in the past and she so much as coughed, I would say, “But, if you aren’t feeling well, I totally understand. We can reschedule or you can let me know when you are free.” But, April was bringing out feelings in me that I wasn’t quite used to. I am not a jealous person, but I found myself hating Marco, wanting him to be gone. She hadn’t gotten into much about how he treated her, but I knew it had to be poorly. April wasn’t happy. She needed someone to be aggressive with her and show her that she was special. That’s what I found myself wanting to do for her. She was apparently just a prize to him, a trophy. She was his arm-candy, but he had probably never truly tasted or appreciated her flavor. If he had, she wouldn’t be here having dinner with me.
Maybe I shouldn’t hate him so much. Hell, I should be grateful he was such a douchebag.
“Shall we go?” I asked, sliding my chair back.
“We shall,” she replied. “Did you want to stop by and pick up the book? Or should I just bring it tomorrow?”
I wanted to go to her house.
“I can pick it up, if that’s okay. The night is still young; I might even be able to get some reading in before bed.”
“Okay.”
We got up and walked out of the restaurant. Thankfully, Gianna was nowhere to be seen as we left.
I walked her to her car.
“You are okay to drive, right?” I asked. I knew she hadn’t consumed much wine, but she was lean and could very well have been a lightweight.
“Yes, sir,” she said, patting my chest. “I’m fine. Married to a Cuban, remember?”
Like I could forget.
“Hey,” she said suddenly, and much louder than anything else before.
“Yeah?”
“Would you mind if I text you my address and you come like ten minutes after I get home?”
“Uh, sure, I guess. That’s fine.”
“Okay. Paula is there and if we both showed up at once she would think something is up. And I don’t need that. So let me get her out of the house and then you can come over.”
“Sounds like a plan. Why don’t you just text me when she leaves?”