And then she saw the rush of people passing by them as they left Sal’s. Was he was just trying to make room for the others? She’d hoped he wanted an excuse to touch her. Once the flood of exiting customers was gone, he continued to hold her against him, just a moment longer than was necessary. Her body responded with a rush of heat and excitement.
“Come on, let’s grab a booth.” He curled an arm around her waist as they moved deeper into the restaurant. The pizza joint was noisy at the far end where a few men were watching a basketball game. Matthew chose a booth in a quiet corner.
A portly waiter came over and handed them laminated menus.
“Could we split a pizza?” she asked Matthew.
“Absolutely. I’ll eat just about anything,” he said with a boyish grin.
She looked up at the expected waiter. “A medium pineapple and sausage pizza please.”
The waiter didn’t even bat an eyelash as he wrote it down and left.
“Okay. I’ve heard of pineapple and Canadian bacon, but sausage?” Matthew reached for his glass of water and took a drink.
Feeling impish, Aubree responded. “Well, what can I say? I’m a girl who loves to get her mouth around a good hunk of meat.”
Matthew spewed out his water and Aubree couldn’t resist laughing at him.
“Sorry, I don’t normally crack jokes like that, but the look on your face was priceless.”
The sexy Aussie actually blushed red almost to the roots of his hair. “Youdefinitelygot me.” He winked at her. “Is this how all your other dates go?”
Aubree bit her lip before replying. “Is this a date?”
Their gazes met and she saw his expression was completely serious now; there was a burning intensity in his eyes as he replied. “It can be whatever you want. Dinner with a friend, a date, or even just dinner with your neighborhood bartender.”
Aubree relaxed. He was letting her choose how this relationship would go as though he sensed she needed some control over it. God, Matthew made her so at ease. Yet, he turned her on like crazy. Sitting so close in the booth, she couldn’t deny the chemistry between them was more than just sizzling. Whenever he looked at her, she couldn’t help but picture him kissing her, then pinning her against the wall as he made her feel small and feminine while he mastered her with his body. He looked like the sort of man who knew just how to send a woman over the edge again and again.
She straightened her shoulders and prepared to ask him her question.
“Well, friendly neighborhood bartender, I need your advice and maybe your help.” There. That sounded logical, not too propositional.
He waited, seemingly patient to let her continue at her own pace.
“You remember the Meet Cute app I showed you?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, they have these challenges you can issue to other members, like sweet or sexy challenges.”
“Okay.” Matthew leaned forward in his chair and rested his elbows on the table.
“I’ve never gotten one before and normally wouldn’t accept one, but then I thought what the heck. It lets me choose who to do the challenge with.” So far this was going okay. He hadn’t run out of the restaurant screaming yet.
“So, what was your challenge?”
“To French kiss someone with an accent?” She ended her sentence as a question because she still expected him to get up and leave.
“Well, good thing you’re taking me out to dinner after making a sexy demand like that.” He teased her.
“Oh God, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you that. It’s just…” She floundered for words.
“Hey, I was only kidding.” He reached across the table and grabbed one of her hands, holding it gently. “So, the challenge is just to French kiss?”
“Yeah, no biggie, right?” She tried to act like it was nothing.
“It can be. Kissing is important.” His voice was low and soft, almost a caress. “A kiss can be light or deep, heartfelt, seductive, sincere or comforting. How someone kisses tells you who a person is.” He met her eyes as he spoke and in that moment, she glimpsed a part of his soul—the part that believed in the magic of what love could be and that a kiss held the power to change the world, not just one person. The intense way he was looking at her was something she’d already dreamed of.
