“Hush that mouth, boy,” she laughed, smacking him lightly with a rag. “Not in the presence of ladies. Now I know I taught you better’n that!”
“Forgive me. You certainly did, Ms. Patty.”
I couldn’t help but smile as she looked at Blaine with a loving pride that only a mother figure could possess. She loved Blaine, and I could tell that he loved her too. It made the walls around my heart crumble just a tiny bit more.
“It is so good to finally meet you, Kami,” she said, grasping my hands with hers.
I just barely stifled a yelp from the contact and tried my hardest to transform my grimace into a smile. “It’s really nice to meet you too, Ms. Patty.”
“Oh, Blaine, she is just too precious,” she remarked, patting him on the back. The look on his face was pure adoration, and I found it hard to tear my eyes away from his.
“Ok, what can I getcha? Blaine, you’ll have your usual, right?” Ms. Patty said, pulling out a pen and pad.
“Yes, ma’am. Kami?” he nodded.
I pushed the menu away and gave Blaine a wink. “And I’ll have whatever he’s having, please.”
The spontaneity was unlike me in every way, but the look on Blaine’s face was worth it. I don’t know what I would call it. Not quite joy, not quite admiration. It was something else…something warm and gratifying. Something that gave me the urge to do whatever I could to make him look at me like that again.
I must have gotten lost in those expressive eyes, because I totally forgot about Ms. Patty until she walked away, announcing that she would put our orders in right away. I shook my head, trying to regain my bearings.
“You’re doing it again,” I said, grasping a neon green flyer on the table advertising a car detailing shop.
“Doing what?”
“Giving me that look. Like you’re studying me. Like you see something in me that’s invisible to everyone else.”
“I’m sorry. Does it make you uncomfortable?”
I shook my head, my fingers mindlessly tearing the paper. “No. Not really. But remember you said I distract you? And that’s why I couldn’t wear skirts?”
I heard him chuckle, but I was too bashful to meet his gaze. I knew the Asian flush was in full effect.
“Yet you have one on right now. Which you look incredible in, by the way. And it’s distracting the hell outta me.”
I chewed my bottom lip, my face flaming like a 12-year old girl with Bieber Fever. “Well…when you look at me like that, you roll your tongue. Like you’re playing with your piercing. And it’s very, very distracting.”
His hands were suddenly cupping mine, causing me to look up into his face. He was giving me that look, yet it was laced with something else. Something more. Something that made my insides clench with desire and my belly do somersaults. The feeling was new and unknown, and it both thrilled and terrified me equally.
“What’s this?” he said just above a whisper, picking up the origami flower formerly known as a paper advertisement.
I shrugged. “It’s a habit. When I’m nervous or stressed, I tend to do it without even thinking about it.”
A frown marred his features, yet he never let go of my hands. “Are you nervous or stressed with me?”
I shook my head and gave him a slight smile. “No, you don’t stress me out. But you do make me nervous. In a good way,” I replied, repeating my words from last week.
“Hmmm, I wasn’t aware there was a good kinda nervous.”
We sat there for a few more seconds, his hands still housing mine, before Ms. Patty arrived with our food.
“Now here y’all go, just the way you like ‘em, Blaine,” she announced, placing giant platters of waffles covered with butter, fresh blueberries and whipped cream, with sides of bacon and sausage in front of us. My eyes grew twice their size.
“Now you take care of this young lady, ya hear?” she told Blaine, smiling at me sweetly. “Kami, you come by any time you like. And if this rascal gives you any trouble at all, you let me know, ok?”
I returned her smile with my own, and nodded. “I’ll be sure to do that, Ms. Patty. Thank you.”
Ms. Patty gave Blaine one last swat with her rag and turned to tend to the masses.
“She likes you,” Blaine remarked, unrolling the silverware in his napkin.
I rolled my eyes playfully. “She probably says that to all your dates.”
“Yeah right,” Blaine scoffed. “First off, Ms. Patty doesn’t do fake. If she doesn’t like you, you will know it. And secondly, I’ve never brought a date here. Ever.”
I tore my eyes away from the mountain of food in front of me and gave him a skeptical look. There was no trace of humor or deceit on his gorgeous face, and it quickly rendered me speechless. What could I possibly say to that?