“Do you know what half of these words even mean?” she asks, finger skimming down the menu, eyes following it.
I don’t recognize the first three things on the menu, let alone how to pronounce them.
“I think frites is fries.”
Liv snickers, burying her face in the menu. “Can I ask why you brought me here if you don’t like French food?”
“Shit.” I set the menu down and study her. There’s a playful smile on her face. Her hair is fixed into a fancy contraption at the nape of her neck. “The guys were helping me, and I thought you’d like this kind of place.”
“I like that you put in the effort,” she starts.
“I feel like there is a but coming.”
Liv shuts her menu and leans across the table. With the small candle in the middle of the table, it makes her glow. “But I don’t need anything fancy. I like simple.”
“Really?”
Liv stands and drops her napkin onto the table. “Come on. I’ll show you what I really like doing on a first date.” Following suit, I pull a couple of bills out of my wallet and drop them on the table.
It’s still funny to me seeing the different money.
“Does this mean I fail at the first date?” I ask her, holding the door open for her and walking out of therestaurant. The hostess who just sat us has a confused look on her face. Like she is wondering why anyone would ever want to leave the restaurant here without eating.
“Well, there’s still time to recover,” she says.
“Lead the way.”
A coolness has settled over the city now that the sun has almost set. I follow Liv as she walks toward the river and hangs a right, putting the Tower Bridge behind us.
“You know, this is one of the things I like most about the city so far,” I tell Liv.
“The river?”
I nod, draping an arm over Liv’s shoulders. “It reminds me of Nashville.”
“Tell me about Nashville.”
Throngs of people are heading in the opposite direction of us. I couldn’t care less about what sights I’m missing.
I’m happy to be with Liv tonight.
“I loved that there is always something to do. Kind of like here. Live music, sports. Nashville has it all. With a lot more humidity.”
“Hey.” Liv elbows me in the side. “It’s humid here. Just wait until it rains.”
“On the hot summer days, all the guys and I would head out of the city with inner tubes and just float down a river with some beers. I loved it.”
“You floated down the river?” She looks at me like I have three heads. “I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of that, let alone done it. I can’t say that is one of London’s great pastimes. Nor would anyone want to do it in the Thames.”
“Maybe that could be a second date for us.”
“Oh?” Liv looks up at me, wrapping her arm around my waist. “You’re assuming this date is going well enough to lead to another?”
God, I can’t get over those blue eyes of hers. I don’t know how they suck me in, but every time I see them turned on me, it does funny things to my insides.
“I’m hedging my bets. No French restaurants.”
“Good. Because here we are.”
