Page 20 of Taken With You

I winced. “Yeah, I don’t know if that’s the best thing for you to be seeing, kid.”

“You don’t look at her like you’re some deranged psycho or anything.”

“Well, that’s good,” I said with a laugh.

“Yes. So, what does she really know about you? What do you think she’ll like that you do?”

“She sees me at the bar. Knows that I’m friends with her friends. That’s about it.”

“Okay. So maybe don’t take her to a bar. She already knows that about you. Show her something different.”

“Like what? I’m pretty much only the bar these days.”

Not that I minded that. It was better than my life only being about my bike. Or the friends I had. The ones that hadn’t been true friends at all.

“Seriously, I have no idea, kid. I figured going out to dinner would be fine. She can order whatever she wants and have a glass of wine, and then I’ll take her home.” I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Dear God. I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“That’s not that bad. I mean, it’s just a normal date, right?”

I didn’t know what a normal date was. But, again, I didn’t tell the kid that. No one needed to know that I hadn’t actually been on a real date before. What I’d done before was certainly not dating. Meadow was unique. Special. And that scared me.

“I don’t know,” I ground out.

“Okay, dinner, wine, and talking is the perfect date. You can make it casual or fancy or whatever you want. It’s Meadow. She’s sweet, and she smiles, even though she doesn’t talk a lot. But she’s always there for those who need her, no matter what they need. I mean, she helped Violet through her migraines, still does whenever Cameron can’t be there. She likes helping others. And I know she likes music,” Dillon added. My eyes widened.

“You’re right. She always dances in her seat when no one’s looking whenever there’s a good song on. When we had that live band in, she hummed along.”

“See? You do know her.”

I frowned, thumbing my fingers along the aged wood of the table. There were still people in the bar, some eating their lunches and talking. There weren’t too many drinkers yet, and that was good, considering it was still a little early, and I wasn’t working behind the bar. I didn’t have a shift at all today, but I had come in to chat with Dillon. He was on the schedule as a bar-back, so I knew I could catch him.

The fact that his brothers might be around any minute to harass me was something I might have to deal with. But I would.

“There’s something I can do. Something she might like. Or it could be a completely stupid idea.”

The plan started to form in my mind, and I really hoped she liked it. And I really, really hoped I wouldn’t make a fool of myself. However, I was quite good at that, so…who knew? Maybe it helped.

“Are you going to tell me what it is?” Dillon asked, and I shook my head.

“No, but you helped. I will think on it a bit more. And, hopefully, she’ll like it.”

“Well, now that the suspense is eating at me, I hope you do it so you can tell me about it after.”

I looked at him and grinned. “If she likes it, I promise I’ll tell you.”

“And if she doesn’t like it, we’re going to forget it ever happened?” Dillon asked, grinning.

“Yeah, that sounds about right. Thanks for this, kid.”

“No problem. Just remember your promise. When I fuck up with a girl and have no idea what I’m doing, be there. Okay?”

I narrowed my eyes at him and gave him a tight nod. “If I’m around, I promise I’ll be there.”

Dillon opened his mouth, presumably to ask what that meant, but I quickly shook my head and got up, waving goodbye. I hadn’t meant to say that first part, but it was the truth. I didn’t know how long I’d be around. I’d been here for a while. And I was afraid that if I stayed any longer, things might end up bad for Meadow.

So, of course, I was doing the stupidest thing ever. I was taking her out.

I really hoped she liked what I had planned.