“I was reading that,” he glared at her.
“You’ve been staring at it for five minutes. I’m sure you have it memorized by now. Now, talk to me. Don’t shut me out please.” She wasn’t prone to crying and yet she felt close to it now. Mike was shutting her out and it was breaking her heart. They were finally on a date and she didn’t want it ruined over a restaurant choice.
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s not, there’s no point lying. I can see it plain as day on your face. If you’re uncomfortable eating here just say so, but don’t lie to me.” She had enough liars in her life. People schmoozing up to her. “Unless it’s not the place but the company.” She knew that wasn’t the case, but he was turning a nice evening into a fight for no apparent reason.
“I can’t compete with this Destiny,” he said softly.
“Compete with what?”
“This.” He waved around the room.
Seriously? This was his hang-up. A restaurant was the Jenga piece that was going to send Mikecrumbling down.
“Mike, in the past few months we’ve known each other have I ever given you any indication this is the type of person I am?” She strove to keep her temper down, but she was getting really tired of people judging her because of the money her grandma had, or the nice restaurants she could eat at. She didn’t flash her money around. She worked hard for every dime she had. Her grandma never gave her handouts like she did her mother. Mainly because Destiny wanted to earn the money herself. It was her grandma’s help that got her into decoding, but it was her hard work that got her the job. She was the one who paid her own bills, who paid on her own mortgage.
Never once did she ever make Mike feel less than her. They stuck with the diner in town for some meals or she cooked. Destiny didn’t care about hundred dollar bottles of wine or five-star restaurants. She grew up with it, and it meant nothing to her. Now Mike was seeing a tip of the iceberg of what her name could afford and it was scaring him. She needed to nip this in the bud now.
“No,” he said glumly.
“Yes, I come from money, but that’s not who I am. I don’t need to eat at places like this all the time nor do I. I’m not expecting us to come to places like this often. This is supposed to be a nice night, our first date. It should be special.”
“I’m making an ass out of myself. Again.” His shoulders collapsed like a water toy that had been popped.
It was a comment more to himself, but she answered for him. “You are, but I’m willing to forgive you if you lose the sulk and enjoy the night.” She thought about suggesting she cover the bill but didn’t want to offend him.
Mike finally gave her a broad smile that warmed her heart. “That I can do.”
“Good, now would you like to share the lamb ragú with me?”
“Will there be enough to feed the both of us?” Both she and Mike ate a lot of food. He more so. He was right to question if the portions would be enough. She normally had to double her recipes when she cooked for them.
“If its not. I have dessert at home.” Her voice dropped, letting him know she meant more than just chocolate chip cookies. By the darkening of Mike’s eyes, she could tell that he caught her meaning.
“Can we just skip straight to dessert?”
It was tempting. Oh, so tempting. “Soon.”
“We better order then.” Destiny signaled George and ordered. Between the two of them they should polish off dinner in record time.
Chapter 14
Thirty minutes later they were done with their meal and were walking hand in hand while giggling like school kids on their way back to Grandma Carol’s house to get their cars. It was a shame they lived an hour away. Mike was so ready to take Destiny. To show her physically how much he loved her. That he wanted to worship every inch of her body. Soon. Carol’s house was only a few blocks away. That was still a few too many blocks before he could finally get this woman under him. Hell, above him, he wasn’t picky. He’d take her any way he could get her. After that kiss when she opened the door, all he’d been able to think about was getting her out of that sexy little dress.
So he’d had few idiotic moments, the worst being letting the fancy restaurant get to his head, but Destiny set him straight. Again. He knew better than to judge her for her restaurant choice, but seeing the price tag on that menu caused a panic. He knew she came from money. Her mother made that painfully clear. Carol owned her own company. The furnishings in her condo were a sign as well that she was wealthy, but that wasn’t Destiny.
He’d seen her house. It was simple yet comfortable. He felt right at home there. It didn’t scream a wealthy woman who needed all the creature comforts, but it was still warm and inviting. Compared to his place, it was fancy. He didn’t have any pictures on the walls. His living room only had a couch and a TV in it. He wasn’t home enough to need anything else. He grew up with little, so he learned to only need little.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t afford it. Always being gone meant he wasn’t spending a lot of money, so he had quite the nest egg saved up. He easily paid for dinner. Hell, he could have paid for them both to eat their own plate, but it had been fun sharing. It left room for dessert. They couldn’t get there fast enough, but her high heels were making a quick pace hard on her. They looked great on her but were slowing them down.
“I could just carry you,” he offered. He could toss her over his shoulder and they would be at her door in minutes. Hell, she was light enough, he could run there without breaking a sweat.
“It’s only three more blocks to Grandma’s then we can be on our way home.”
That was three blocks too many. He knew he was being impatient, but he had wanted this woman for months and she was now finally his. So much wasted time because of crossed signals. Not anymore. He had a lot of time to make up for and he was eager to start. Normally his brain would be in overdrive, overthinking what to say and what to do, but for whatever reason, it was quiet now. His normal hesitations melting away like snow in spring. Ben had been right. He didn’t need to do anything special to impress Destiny. He just needed to be himself.
“Too far,” he pouted and started to slouch down like he was going to pick her up. She gave a squeal that made him grin as she dodged him and stepped in front of him.
