“I hope so.” She beamed brightly at me.
“I’ma let you get back to work. I have an appointment that I have to head out for. So, what time are you flowing through to pick me up?”
“About six thirty.”
“That’s wassup. I’ll text you my address.”
“Okay, bye.”
“Bye, beautiful,” I replied with a wink.
It was hard as hell to keep my lips to myself, but she was big on professionalism, and I respected that. I had already slipped into the habit of calling her “Baby” as her nickname more frequently than she may have been comfortable with, but she hadn’t checked me on it yet.
“Where else can we go? I want someplace nice, but you have to have reservations for most places,” Tegan declared.
I knew that she was disappointed, but she was trying to stay positive. We had gone to the place that she wanted to takeme, but they had a small kitchen fire, and all reservations were cancelled.
“Let’s go to Rose on the River.”
“But it’s Indian.”
“I know. Don’t you like Indian food, Baby?” I asked, reaching over and touching her wrist.
She turned her soft gaze on me and smiled. Although she had driven to my place, I insisted on driving. We hopped into my Land Cruiser and rolled out. She pretended to pout, but she didn’t put up much of an argument. I sensed that she enjoyed a man taking charge.
“Yes, I like Indian, but this is your day. You like Mexican and soul food. The Mexican place was closed; we should be able to find a nice soul food place.”
“I can get that anytime. You love Indian, so let’s go there.”
“Okay,” she whispered.
I drove away from the restaurant that she had chosen, and she was initially quiet for a while. She would respond if I asked her questions, but other than that, she wasn’t talking.
I did most of the talking, and the more that I talked, the more she let her guard down. “Light Up the Night” by Bleu Harmony came on, and I turned it up a little and sang along with it. Tegan smiled and sang along too. When it ended, she stared at me with a curious smile.
“You never cease to amaze me.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“I didn’t know you were into that type of music.”
“Yeah, Bleu Harmony is my girl,” I replied happily.
“I love Bleu, Chris Perry, and Keith G.”
“I like them, too, but Solemn, Shawni Palmer, and Chablis are my favorites,” I confessed.
“How about Red Groove?” she asked.
“They’re my go to choice for jazz, but at the end of the day, Chris is my favorite artist.”
“Mine too. I’ve seen him and Shawni in concert.”
“Same, last year.”
“I was there!” she exclaimed excitedly.
“They definitely put on a performance. Tickets were expensive as hell, but they were worth it.”
