“Oh, I can totally walk. These may be heels, but these are my ass-kicking heels.” I say with a laugh. The boots reach just below my knees, but the heel is chunky. I actually feel like I could kick some serious ass in them, even if I may roll my ankle.
Callum exits the truck but tells me I need to stay right there. He quickly crosses over from the driver’s side and opens my door, sticking his palm up to offer me his hand to climb out of the truck. Once I have cleared the door, he closes it behind me and sets the horn off, indicating that it is locked.
Taking his hand, we walk out of the parking garage. As soon as we stepped out of the protection of the building, the wind whipped down the street. I snuggle further down into my scarf,and Cal wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me into him. Allowing me to steal just a bit of his warmth.
Totally not caring if I am being weird, I take a deep breath of his scent. The crisp, spicy apple-and-whiskey scent brings me comfort. How can just the scent of him make me feel at home? I need to protect myself. I could easily fall for this man, just for Cal to turn out no better than Mike.
Who are you kidding? Cal could never be like Mike.
I just chuckle slightly into Cal’s side, and he looks down at me.
“Want to share whatever is going through that gorgeous head of yours, beautiful?” He leans down and places a quick kiss on the top of my head.
“No, thank you,” I say with a laugh. “Inside thoughts need to stay inside.”
“No, they don’t. You can always tell me whatever it is you’re thinking.”
See, nothing like Mike.
“Here we are.” Cal stops walking and leads me over to the big, glass doors. He opens the doors, and I get the most delicious smell of garlic ever. “Welcome to Grazie.” His smile is warm, and I am so excited for this meal.
Grazie is a newish Italian restaurant. The atmosphere in this place is so warm and inviting. I just want to sit down at a table with everyone in this restaurant. To share bowls of pasta and bread, bottles and bottles of wine.
“Welcome to Grazie.” The host greets us.
“Reservation under Hutchinson,” Cal tells her.
They led us up a few flights of stairs and over to a small, intimate table overlooking the city. It’s February, so the sun has already set. All of the lights twinkle in the darkness. There are small flameless candles that flicker in the center of the table.This place is so beautiful. The host sets two tablets on the table in front of us and shows us how to flip through the menu.
“Welcome to Grazie. What can we get started for you?” An adorable waitress asks as she walks up to the table.
“What do you want to drink, Sunflower?” Cal uses his nickname for me, so naturally, it causes butterflies to erupt in my belly.
“Umm…I think I will try this red grapefruit margarita.” I point to the photo of the drink on the tablet, and she punches it into her handheld device.
“I will take an old-fashion please.” Callum requests.
“Would you like to start with any appetizers?"
“Oh gosh, no thank you. I want to be able to eat my dinner.” I laugh, and she states that she will be right back with our drinks and to take our order.
We take our time flipping through all the options in the menu, and I decide on the table-side service chicken alfredo. Callum chooses the chicken parm.
“Thank you for coming out with me.” Cal reaches across the table to grasp my hand in his large palm.
“You’re welcome. Does this mean you will leave me alone?” I make sure to add a little laugh at the end to let him know that I am just messing with him.
“Never. You are stuck with me forever, Sunflower. You just aren’t ready for me to say certain things yet, and that is completely fine. I am working at your pace.” He starts to absent-mindedly rub his thumb between my thumb and pointer finger on the back of my hand.
“Oh.” That’s all I can say at the moment.
Swoon.
“Like, I said, I will wait until you’re ready. You need a friend? Here I am. You need a dick with no strings? Yup, I’m still here.”He laughs just moments before a waiter rolls over a cart with a huge wheel of cheese on top of it.
He pulls out a plate with a silver cloche covering the food. It is placed on the table in front of Cal before the cover is removed, revealing his meal. It looks absolutely delicious. Then the waiter sets the crispy chicken on the table in front of me, before pouring a small saucepan of homemade noodles and cream into the cheese wheel, while he scrapes fresh parmesan into it to melt into the pasta.
Once it is all melted and mixed together, he cracks pepper on top and sets it in front of me. Taking his leave, he rolls the cheese wheel away, and we pick up our forks. I roll the pasta around my fork before taking a bite.
