Page 12 of A New Chapter

“Ok. So where would you like to go?”

“My co-workers keep talking about some restaurant in town that serves phenomenal mac-n-cheese. Do you know the place?”

“Know it? I practically live there! The restaurant is called The Union, and their food is delicious. Do you want to meet there or…?”

“No, I’ll pick you up. Friends are allowed to do that, right?”

Emma resisted the urge to respond with a smartass remark and simply nodded her head yes. After all, the man was trying really hard.

“Ok, so I’ll pick you up at six on Wednesday.”

“I’ll be ready,” Emma said. Once Zack had left, she leaned against the door and inhaled deeply. “Or not,” she muttered.

“When you and I go out to dinner, you don’t need an hour and a half to get ready,” Kelly argued when Emma had explained that she needed to leave early on Wednesday. “If you and the Greek God are just friends, why should it be any different?”

Kelly had a point, but Emma chose to ignore it. “I’m not getting ready for him. I’m getting ready for me. I didn’t have time to take a shower this morning, and I want to freshen up.”

That part, at least, was the truth. Emma had slept in after tossing and turning all night long. She’d cursed herself in the middle of the night for lying in bed questioning her decision to go out with Zack when she should have been getting her beauty sleep. Why should eating dinner at a restaurant be any more significant than eating pizza at Zack’s house? Sometime around four a.m., Emma decided that maintaining a platonic relationship with Zack would be no easy feat. The question she kept asking herself was, Am I up to the challenge?

If her ten wardrobe changes were any indication, the answer was definitely NO! Emma surveyed herself in the mirror. She had chosen a casual cobalt blue knit dress that was belted at the waist and hit just above the knee. The color complemented her fair skin and reddish- blonde hair that fell to her shoulders. Usually Emma embraced the natural wave in her hair, but today, she had decided to straighten it, hoping it made her look sleeker and more sophisticated. She had also spent a little more time on her makeup, accentuating her pale green eyes, which she considered her best feature. Emma bolstered her petite, five-foot-three-inch frame with two-inch wedges, even though she would still feel dwarfed next to Zack. She pondered why he had labelled her the “most beautiful woman” at her cousin’s wedding when she would describe herself as average. Most of the time, she felt like a pale, freckled version of the “girl next door”—attractive but in an unremarkable way. She wondered what it was that Zack saw in her…

The sound of the doorbell interrupted her musings. She rushed down the stairs, ran her hands down her smooth hair, and answered the door.

Holy wow! Apparently, Emma wasn’t the only one who had taken extra time with their grooming! Zack stood there in all his masculine glory, freshly shaved, his wavy black hair perfectly tousled, and his smile gleaming. He wore a navy blue polo shirt with crisp, pleated khakis and topsiders. He could have been a guy in a Ralph Lauren cologne ad, yet here he stood on her doorstep.

They sized each other up through the screen door until Zack cleared his throat and said, “Emma, are you going to come out, or are we just going to stand here?”

How embarrassing! “I’ll come out. Let me grab my purse.” She scurried off into the kitchen and snatched her purse from the counter. When she returned, Zack stood in the same spot. He opened the screen door and motioned with his hand for her to come out. As Emma walked past, she inhaled the scent of his woodsy cologne, which smelled vaguely familiar. Oh yeah, she remembered it from the night of her cousin’s wedding, when she and Zack had danced together, when his body had been pressed so tightly against hers that she’d felt his erection through her bridesmaid dress…

Zack followed her to the passenger door of his sporty black Range Rover. “If I were your girlfriend, I wouldn’t open the door for you, but since I’m a man, I can’t help myself.”

Oh, there’s no doubt that you’re a man! “That’s very gentlemanly of you. Thanks,” Emma said as she slid into the car, careful not to give him an accidental peep show.

When they arrived at the popular restaurant, it was crowded as usual, so they were forced to wait in a cramped vestibule. It was difficult to carry on a conversation, so they stood quietly side by side in the tight space and waited for their table. Whenever a party’s name was called, Emma and Zack had to squeeze even closer together to allow people to pass. By the time they were finally seated, Emma’s face was flushed. She guzzled down half a glass of water as soon as the waitress brought it.

Zack, on the other hand, was the picture of calm while he perused the menu. “Everything looks good here. I’m not sure what to order.”

I’ll have the mac-n-cheese with a side of Greek hunk, Emma thought. Oh my gosh, I didnot just think that! “We could split an order of mac-n-cheese,” she suggested, tramping down her impure thoughts.

“Sure. You can’t go wrong with the house special.”

While they waited for their food, Emma brought up the most neutral topic she could think of—Gracie.

“How does Gracie like preschool so far?” she asked.

“Seems to love it. She’s made a few new friends already, although she’s been complaining about some boy in the class.”

“Why’s that?”

“I guess he’s been teasing her on the playground. Pulling her hair, pinching her, things like that.”

“Hmm, sounds like a classic case of a boy with a crush.”

Zack smiled broadly, which caused a crazy flip in her stomach. “That’s what I told her. Boys don’t always know the appropriate way to express themselves when they like a girl.”

“Spoken like a true expert.”

Zack stared at her for a moment with a look of uncertainty. “Although, sometimes boys express themselves and get rebuffed,” he said pointedly.