She flashes a grateful smile. “They did.” Looking up from the photo, she meets my gaze once more. “Ready?”
“For pizza? Always,” I state. Placing my hand on her back, we move to the front door and step outside. “I’ll drive.”
“I can follow you,” she offers. “This way you don’t have to go out of your way to bring me home.”
I just flash her an easy, charming grin. “You think bringing you back here would be a hardship? Beautiful, any chance I get to spend a few extra minutes with you is pretty good, if you ask me. Plus, this gives me a chance to try to steal a kiss at the end of the date,” I state with a wink.
She stops in the middle of the sidewalk. “Is this? A date?”
“Of course,” I reply, grabbing the passenger door and pulling it open. “First off, there’s the fact we’re going to get food. Food constitutes a date.” After she climbs inside, I add, “Two, I showered. If I was just grabbing a bite or a beer with my friends, I’d jump in my truck and head straight for our destination, not caring if I smelled like a sweaty construction worker.”
I shut the door and jog around the front end to the driver’s door. As soon as I climb inside, I fire the truck to life and crank up the air-conditioning. Then, I turn in my seat and meet her gaze. “And finally, three, because you’re beautiful, and I’d be an idiot not to take advantage of all opportunities as presented.”
Again, cue the blush. It’s cute as fuck.
She clears her throat. “What if I’m looking at it as just grabbing dinner with a friend?” There’s a hint of humor in her eyes as she waits for my reply.
I put my truck into gear and state, “We can start there, but at the end of the night, you’ll be admitting it’s a date.”
Her soft chuckle fills the truck cab. “And why is that?”
I glance her way and smile. “Because at the end of the night, you’ll be begging me to kiss you.”
“Hmm,” she hums, keeping her eyes on the road in front of us. “This must be some pizza.”
“The best. You’ll be so appreciative of my expert second date skills, wooed by the Italian delicacy we’re about to feast on, you’ll be dying for a kiss.”
I don’t miss the way the corner of her mouth turns up in a faint smile. “Second date?”
“Tequila equals a date, beautiful.”
She barks out a laugh. “I didn’t know that.”
I shrug. “I don’t make the rules, only follow them.”
She snorts and shakes her head. “Something tells me you don’t follow any rules.”
I toss her a wink and pull my truck away from the curb. “You may be right about that.”
It doesn’t take long to drive the few blocks to the main drag and pull into the lot adjacent to the pizza place. Before the doors are even open, the scent of Italian hangs in the air, enticing you with garlic and rich marinara. The moment I turn off the truck and release my seat belt, I ask, “Ready?”
“Definitely.” Jumping out, I meet her around at the passenger door and close it when she exits. “I can already smell the deliciousness.”
“Have you had Mario’s yet?” I ask, leading her to the front entrance.
“Only their Sicilian sub sandwich. Allison and I ordered them last week for lunch.”
“Mmm, those are good,” I reply, my stomach already growling with hunger. “I haven’t had one in a while though. I’m more of a large pizza man, myself.”
She shakes her head, reaching for the door handle and pulling at the glass door. “Of course you are. You probably eat the whole thing and then run a mile afterward without so much as gaining a single ounce.”
I bark out a quick laugh. Rubbing my hand over my stomach, I reply, “I’ll have you know it takes two miles of running to keep this belly looking this flat. Lord knows if the beer and pizza had its way, I’d look like a forty-five-year-old soccer dad, wearing grass-stained athletic shoes and bitching about moles tearing up my yard.”
She covers her mouth and giggles. “Wait, you’re not forty-five, are you?”
“Thirty-two,” I reply, just as Mario walks around the corner. “Cade! Welcome! And you bring a pretty lady.”
“I sure did, but she’s mine. Keep your pizza-making hands off my woman,” I tease the man I’ve known most of my life.
