“Fine. What are you in the mood for?”
“Nuh-uh.” She shook her head, which drew his attention to her hair.
Was it his imagination or was her hair ... growing? It was definitely getting bigger by the second.
“We had a deal. You pick.”
He put the car into drive and pulled out of the parking spot, tossing his phone into her lap. “Oh no.” He pitched his voice in awhatever will we dotone. “I can’t search for a restaurant and drive at the same time. That would be unsafe, not to mention illegal. Guess you’ll have to find something.”
“Cheater.”
He smirked but said nothing until he reached the stop sign at the end of the parking lot. “Actually, do you mind putting the address for the hotel in the GPS? I don’t really know where I’m going.”
She rolled her eyes but typed it in. “Oh look. There are a whole bunch of restaurants within walking distance from the hotel. Looks like you’re still on the hook for picking a place after all.”
“On the hook, huh?” He signaled with his blinker, then turned onto the road leading toward the interstate. “Since we’re in Florida and by the ocean, how does seafood sound?”
“I don’t think fish really make a sound, but maybe something like this.”
He looked over to find her with her cheeks sucked in and her lips pushed out in a pouty display as she tried to make bubble sounds through a fish face.
Julien couldn’t help himself. He burst out laughing, Martha joining him a second later.
How long had it been since he’d had such an easy, natural time with another person? Even his relationship with his ex-fiancée, Lauren, seemed stilted and weighed down with effort in light of how uncomplicated being with Martha was. Certainly none of the dates he’d gone on in any sort of recent history came close to how natural it felt to talk to Martha.
He couldn’t allow himself to do more than acknowledge that fact, however. Not at the moment. Later, when the stakes weren’t so high for him personally and professionally, when his dad was finally retired and in a better place medically, when she was back to working in the library instead of being under contract with him, he could inspect these interactions and consider if maybe the woman he’d been waiting all his life to meet could really be a girl he’d known since childhood.
The highway stretched out before him. Tall, skinny palm trees jutted up from the ground like fingers reaching for the sky. Once they got out of the congestion of Orlando’s metropolitan area, more greenery appeared. A lot more greenery. Florida was a tropical climate, after all. But even with the palm trees and oaks dripping with Spanish moss, needle pines and saw palmettos covering the ground, it took about two minutes for him to find the flat landscape monotonous. Call him one of the Osborne Brothers, but give him good ol’ Rocky Top, Tennessee, any day of the week.
About an hour later, the Audi began the sloped ascent that crossed over the intercoastal waterways. He’d mistakenlycalled the structure a bridge the last time he was in Florida and had quickly been corrected by a local that the correct term was a causeway. He still didn’t know the difference, since they both allowed people to cross over bodies of water.
At the crown of the bridge—er, causeway—just on the other side of a narrow strip of land filled with hotels and restaurants, the deep blue of the Atlantic Ocean spread all the way to the horizon.
“Wow!” Martha exclaimed, her gaze glued out the windshield, taking it all in.
Julien refrained from making any comments, although he did peek over a time or two to watch her reaction. As soon as they made it off the causeway, he spotted a restaurant with patio seating. A white-sand beach lay on the other side, and farther out, waves broke in the surf. Making a split-second decision, he pulled into the parking area.
“Let’s see if we can nab one of the tables on the patio, and you can get a few pictures of the view.”
Martha grinned her agreement.
The hostess welcomed them with a wide smile as soon as they stepped through the door. Unfortunately, regret also greeted Julien as soon as he stepped over the threshold. White linen tablecloths covered the tables, as well as flickering tealight candles and the dim lighting of an establishment that was boldly branded as a romantic destination for a date night.
With the path his wayward thoughts kept taking the last few weeks, much less the power of which they’d tugged the last few hours, this restaurant was not doing him any favors. He needed a place that screamedworking meal, she’s your employee. Not one that was going to put even more ideas that he couldn’t entertain until later into his head.
“How does a table on the patio sound? The sun will be setting soon, and you’ll have a nice view from there.” The hostess didn’t wait for them to respond, just started walking in thedirection of an open door that led to a deck lit by Edison bulbs and the waning sun.
Julien briefly closed his eyes and pulled his reserve around him as he followed behind Martha. He made sure to keep his gaze from settling on her form as she walked in front of him.
Do not cross the line, King.
The hostess pivoted in front of a table for two and set menus down in front of each seat. She let them know their server would be right with them, then made her way back to her podium.
Martha’s wide gaze bounced around as she took her seat. She lifted her menu, then seemed to choke on her saliva. There was a cold pitcher of water on the table, so Julien quickly flipped over one of the water glasses and poured her a drink.
She took a small sip before looking up at him. “I know I said you had to pick the restaurant, but I also know you chose this place on a whim. I don’t think you realized it was so...” Her gaze cast around again as she searched for the word she wanted. “Romantic.”
“Do you want to go somewhere else?” Julien held his breath.
