“Thank you again for finally agreeing to come out with me.I know we haven’t had the best history, haven’t started out on the right foot, but thank you for giving me this chance.”
I internally battled with the need to tell him why I had kept my distance, but decided now wasn’t the time or place.I wasn’t sure that there ever would be a time or place, to be honest—unless he were to come out and simply ask.
Until then, I’d probably just keep my reasons to myself.
We were in the middle of discussing my school work and plans once the semester ended when Rick returned to the table.I let my fingers slip from Rory’s as I returned both of my hands to my lap, allowing Rick to place the caprese between us.
“Here is your caprese.I also wanted to extend an apology,” he was saying as he straightened.His attention was focused on Rory.“I was just informed we have run out of truffle.We can still make your meal, it would just be without that ingredient.”
And that was when the Rory I had come to know, the one I’d heard about and hated, came out to play.
Rory
God, she looked beautiful tonight.
Emily left her hair down.She curled it, sure, but it was down and I wanted nothing more than to run my fingers through the long locks.
The turquoise of her dress looked great against her skin, and it dipped just enough to show what minimal cleavage she had.
But it was still fucking beautiful.
Shewas fucking beautiful.
I didn’t know how I got lucky enough for her to finally say yes, but I was certainly grateful.
There was also promise in her blue eyes that tonight might end my week-long celibacy streak.I couldn’t wait to show her what I was truly capable of, to show her that last weekend was a fluke, a direct response to a year’s worth of want and excitement.
Not that that made it sound any better.
Premature was premature, and was meant to be kept in the early teenaged years.
When Rick returned with our appetizer and Emily slipped her hand from mine, my body—my fuckingsoul—felt her leaving me.
“I also wanted to extend an apology,” Rick was saying.I turned my attention from Emily to him.“I was just informed we have run out of truffle.We can still make your meal, it would just be without that ingredient.”
I frowned, sitting up higher in my seat.“How do you run out of a key ingredient in your featured menu item?”
“I do apologize, sir.”
“You’ll be comping me for that cost then, I assume?”I didn’t notice as Emily slouched further in her seat.
“I can certainly speak with the manager.”
“How about you do that.”The dry sarcasm in my voice was plenty evident, as was my displeasure in the situation.
How the hell did a restaurant run out of something that was a staple for their menu?Did they not have competent people running their ordering?Youalwaysplanned for sales, and being short top ingredients was not the way to keep patrons walking in the doors.
Rick left and I shook my head.“Imbeciles,” I muttered to myself in response to my last thought.I reached for my water glass, taking a sip before shaking my head again, grinning toward Emily.“Who runs out of ingredients?”
She sat up but her smile was nowhere to be found.She simply shrugged a shoulder, a frown on her face, as she looked down at the napkin in her lap.“It was an honest mistake, Rory.Maybe they didn’t plan for a high ordering of one of their more expensive dishes.”
“But you always plan.You always make sure you have enough and then some.Do we ever run out of items at O’Gallaghers?No,” I answered for her.“We don’t.And you know what?We stay in the black.They have these prices for a reason, Em.They can afford an extra few pounds of damned truffles.”
“I don’t know,” she responded quietly, as if she had nothing else to say.
The caprese grew cold between us, as did the night.I wasn’t sure exactly what was up with Emily.She went from happy and sexy, to her cold, withdrawn self.I reached for a piece of the appetizer to fill the gap of time.I tried to restart our earlier conversation about her schooling when she placed her napkin on the table.
“I’d like to go home now.”Her voice was quiet and her body language was completely closed down.
