“Yeah.Just a little mix-up,” I lied, forcing a smile.
“I’ll leave this here for when you guys are ready.No rush,” she replied as she set the check down on Patrick’s side of the table.
Shit.She probably thought he was trying to run out on paying the bill.
I grabbed my purse, pulled out my wallet, and took out a credit card just as Patrick returned.His face was red from the cold, and he was slightly out of breath.
“Are you okay?”I asked, reaching for the check holder on the table.
He sat down and grabbed it before I could, and pulled out his wallet.
“I’m fine.Are you okay?”
I nodded, extending my credit card to him.
“I don’t think so,” he replied, smiling as the waitress returned and took it from him after he slid his credit card inside.“I didn’t bring you to dinner to have you pay for it.”
“I seriously don’t care about that,” I insisted.“I’m happy to pay.”
“And I would hate for you to pay on our date, Poppy.I wanted to take you out and have a nice dinner together, my treat.”
“Did you find the guy?”
He shook his head no and then smiled again as the waitress returned and set the check holder down beside him so he could sign the receipt.
“I was asked to give this to you,” the waitress said, handing me a folded-up piece of paper.
My eyes widened as Patrick’s brows furrowed.I reached out a shaky hand and took it, waiting to open it until she left.
“Do you know the person who gave it to you?”Patrick asked her.
“No, unfortunately, it was given to the hostess who asked if I could deliver it since she had a new party that needed to be seated.I didn’t see the person who left it with her.”
“Thank you,” Patrick said, dismissing her.
“Thank you for joining us tonight.I hope you have a wonderful evening.”She gave both of us a smile and walked off to greet her new table.
“What does it say?”Patrick asked, his body as tense as mine was.
My fingers trembled as I unfolded it and stared at the neat black ink on the paper.
“Found you,” I said, my lips quivering as I tossed the paper down and stared at it.
“We need to go.Now.”Patrick’s energy changed as he got up and looked at the note on the table.He went to reach for it when I held my hand out and stopped him.
“It could have fingerprints on it,” I explained, stopping for a second before I opened my purse and pulled out a tissue from the pocket-sized pack I kept in there.I grabbed the end of the note with the tissue, then folded it around it, hoping I didn’t wipe off any fingerprints.It wasn’t like we had any other options and I wasn’t willing to wait around for law enforcement to show up, just because I got a creepy note.
I tucked it into my purse, then zipped it shut and accepted his hand as he helped me out of the booth.My legs were shaky as we made our way outside, his hand protectively on my lower back the entire time.We got in the truck, and I barely had time to get my seatbelt buckled before he was putting it in drive and getting us the hell out of there.
