Her face had scrunched in confusion.
“I thought you wanted …” Her words had trailed off.
I told her, “What I want and what I’m going to ask from you are two different things. I’ll wait until the time when you are ready to have me around the boys for a meal. We need tobe ready for them to make assumptions and figure out that I really, really like you. That’s when I’ll say yes.”
She got this adorably stubborn expression on her face and said, “What makes you so sure I’ll ever get to that point?”
I smiled and told her, “I’m a patient man, Angie.” And then I corrected myself and said, “Actually, scratch that. I’m not patient at all, but I’m persistent. And, like I’ve told you, I want to take this at your pace. You deserve a man who waits for you.”
She looked up at me and asked a question I never saw coming. “What about you? What do you deserve?”
And as easily as my next breath, I said, “You.” Then I said, “At least I’m trying to be the man who’s worthy of a woman like you.”
She said, “So far, so good.”
Then she thanked me for the meal. I turned to leave. She watched me go. Before I turned out of her neighborhood, I glanced up to see her standing on her porch, watching my truck disappear out of view.
And now, I’m going to pick her up for dinner. But this time, it’s going to be casual. I’d take her to U. S. Grant’s every night if she wanted me to. I’ve got the means. I’m a fireman who hasn’t had anyone to spend his paychecks on in years. But I think tonight calls for being comfortable. So, I’ve got a different plan in mind.
I pull up in front of Angie’s house and park my truck, walking to the door and knocking.
Just like last time, she slips out, shutting the door quickly so her boys won’t see I’m the one out here.
“Ready?” I ask her.
“Mm hmm,” she says. “I’m curious where we’re going dressed like this.”
I told her to wear jeans and a comfortable top.
“I’ve got reservations at McNabb’s.”
“McNabb’s? The farm?”
“Yep. They’re having a barbecue and hoedown.”
I pause next to my truck, realizing my error too late.
“Sorry,” I say, looking down at Angie. “I didn’t consider the fact that you might want to go somewhere more secluded.”
She reaches out and places her hand on my forearm. “It’s okay, EJ. People already ask me about you all day long at the salon.”
“They do?”
“Yeah. And I tell them we’ve started dating.”
A light breeze could blow me over. “You tell them we’re dating?”
“I tell them we started dating.” Her voice is casual, but her eyes are soft. Her brows raise in a question. “We did. Didn’t we?”
It takes me a moment to gather my thoughts, and then I say, “We most definitely did.”
“That’s what I thought,” she says, smiling up at me.
I take her hand and walk her around to her side of the truck.
I can’t help myself. I have to ask. “So, this is our second date?”
“Yes.” She smiles.
