He switched from driving with his left hand to his right, and his chest puffed up as he drew in a big breath. “I used to date someone who was into posting and wanted to be an influencer.”
“Was it annoying? Is that why you don’t like it?”
He was quiet for a moment. I was taken back to the couple of times he’d seemed the same way during our dinner in Chicago.Uncomfortable? Hesitant? Brooding? I couldn’t decide. Maybe all of them.
“I asked her to marry me. She said yes, and two weeks later I went to her apartment to surprise her with the news that my parents had secured the ballroom at the Ritz for the reception. Imaginemysurprise when I searched for her in her shower, and she wasn’t alone.”
I gasped loudly, but he kept on. “Turned out that the whole thing, the entire relationship between her and me, was manufactured by both of them since I had connections and money so that they could profit from it. She’d already succeeded in gaining a million followers, mostly with videos about us and our relationship, and had a deal with a clothing line, something I’d helped her secure. I cut her and all social media out of my life that day and never looked back.”
“Colin, that’s awful. I’m so sorry.” It was tough to imagine getting to the point of wanting to spend your life with someone and them betraying you like that.
“I don’t usually share that with women on the first date,” he said after a long time. “Or with anyone ever, actually. What are you, a witch? What else are you going to get me to say?”
I laughed, but inside my heart broke for him.
“Where are we going?” I asked, realizing he hadn’t told me yet.
“It’s a surprise,” he said.
“Give me a hint?”
“They serve food.”
I was beginning to appreciate his humor. “Ha!”
We turned off the main road into a canopy of trees, the road narrowing. We emerged in a clearing where there was a paved parking lot that led to a small restaurant.
“This is just the throughway,” Colin said as he held the door open for me. We walked inside, walked a few feet past a bar andan empty indoor space. Colin walked in front of me and opened the next door.
We walked out to see a beautiful outdoor terrace on several sloping levels, lights strung from tree to tree, and wooden tables scattered throughout. Colin gave the hostess his name, and she ushered us to a table next to a small, working fountain.
He pulled my chair out. As I was working my way to the chair, my heel must have gotten caught on a raised brick from the floor, and I tripped. Mercifully, I fell toward Colin, and he caught me.
After the fear of falling started to fade, my senses returned. My hands were latched onto his arm and his chest, and even through his clothes I could feel the solidity of his muscles. They tightened to hold me up and put me back upright.
The hostess looked at us, clearly amazed, but I soon realized it was more in admiration of Colin.
“Are you okay?” Colin asked me, holding my arm until I sat down.
My face was on fire.
“Thanks for catching me. Yes, I’m fine.” I put my purse on the table and flipped my hair behind my ear.
Please sit down and forget that ever happened.
The hostess seemed reluctant to leave the table, and after she said our server would be right with us, she walked away with one last glance directed at Colin.
But he was looking at me.
“What do you think of the place?” he asked, his eyes just about as bright and inviting as I’d ever seen them.
“It’s really nice. I never would have guessed this was here when we were driving through the trees.”
“A friend of mine owns it. I was here at the opening a few months ago. He’s not here right now, but I remember it struck me as a great place to bring someone special.”
All thoughts of my embarrassing near-fall flew out of my mind to be replaced with his thinking that I was special.
“What makes me special?” The question slipped out before I could stop it.
