Walker returned the gesture, his hand going to my shoulder. “The first course will be ready in a few minutes. Why don’t you get comfortable. My staff will be up to pour you wine and get you anything you need.”
“I appreciate you.” My hand went to Emily’s lower back.
Emily thanked him, and I brought her outside and up the short staircase to the roof of the building. The space had a small pool and hot tub, and several seating areas, one of which had been converted into a dining room for tonight. Strings of lights hung above the table, and there were candles across every surface, music playing through the outdoor speakers.
“Is all of this ... for me?” She gazed around, a look of awe on her breathtaking face.
“Yes.”
Her stare finally landed on me. “Gavin, I think you like me.”
I laughed. “You think so?”
She nodded.
“You might be right.”
She cupped my shoulders. “I cannot get over this. I don’t even have words to express what this is ... and how much I love it.”
“You haven’t tasted anything yet.”
“I don’t need to. The effort, the gesture, this table, the view”—she looked at the city, the scenery easily taken in by how high up we were—“flying Walker in. I mean, my God. I’m ... blown away.”
“Good.”
Her head tilted, her lips pulling wide before they rubbed together. “If we weren’t about to be fed, this T-shirt would be on the floor and I’d be straddling you right now.”
“I’ll remember that for after dinner.”
Her nails dug into my skin. “Which is when I’d like you to fuck me so hard.”
“Done.”
She smiled. “That’s not my only request.”
“I’ll fulfill every one.” I nodded toward the table. “But right now, go sit.”
I helped her into her chair and slid it toward the table, and once she was positioned, I took the seat across from her.
One of Walker’s helpers immediately appeared with a bottle of red that he poured in our glasses.
The moment we were alone again, Emily lifted her wine in the air. “To probably the best dinner of my life.”
“And to the beginning.” My eyes narrowed. “Our beginning.”
She took a deep breath, her shoulders rising at the same time. “A much better toast than mine.” She sipped the heavy-bodied wine. “You told me you were rusty. Yet this is technically date one, minus the coffee shop meetups that I don’t know if you can really call dates, and you’ve nailed it out of the park. For the record, I searched for a football reference and couldn’t come up with one.”
I smiled. “I like good food. When you know the best, it’s not hard to make that happen.”
“You mean, it wasn’t hard foryou. There’s nothing normal about flying in the best chef in the country. At least, not in my world.”
“I don’t like boundaries.” I gripped the stem of my glass. “You’re going to realize that the more you’re with me.”
“Ya think?” She snorted. “But seriously, it’s hard to believe you’re not an expert at this dating thing.”
“I’m really not.” I shook my head. “I weighed a lot of different options. But I thought, given that this is Ben’s home, we won’t be able to spend a ton of time here unless he’s gone or asleep. So I figured why not just bring my favorite here.”
“It’s perfect.” She went quiet for a moment. “While we’re on the topic of Ben, can I ask you something? And once I ask you, if you don’t want to talk about it, I understand.” She took a breath. “But I need to ask ...”
