Chapter 7

 

Early the next morning Tera went through and tried to pick out a good outfit to wear for her date. Thursday evening. Boring day. The good news is that they wouldn’t run into a bunch of partiers then, but if they waited until the weekend, drunken idiots would abound.

She wanted to send the right message. Of course, it wasn’t like Richard was going to think less of her for wearing an attractive outfit. He’d tied her up and roughly made love after they made love at their place of work. It wasn’t like it got a lot sluttier, but Tera didn’t really think of it that way. It seemed… different than that, somehow.

Her weird schedule was messed up. She didn’t work on Thursday for some reason, so she had all day to tool around. About an hour before the dinner, she got ready and headed out to beat him there. She loved being there first to get comfortable in her environment, and Richard didn’t need any help with feeling comfortable. The man did whatever he wanted and cared nothing about what the general public thought. Since her car had killed itself in the parking lot, she took a taxi and waited for Richard to arrive.

Soon, she saw him arrive and give his keys to the valet. It was a lovely Italian restaurant, and he came fully dressed for it. He was dressed professionally in clothes that made him appear amazingly handsome. He walked up to her and kissed her. “You look like a goddess,” he said.

Her jaw dropped. “Thanks!” Was… was he being nice to her? Was this a real thing?

“Don’t let it go to your head,” he said, brushing past her into the restaurant. “Come on, let’s go.”

Later, they were sitting in the corner booth, eating a lovely dinner together. Richard was being surprisingly cordial and friendly. He was starting to let in her. It wasn’t like all of a second he was going to randomly just be super friendly to her, but he was testing the waters, seeing what happened if he exposed his more sensitive side. She was sure to reinforce him whenever he tried to be nice, and it seemed to have a great affect. Soon the two were laughing and having a good time.

“Hey,” she said once, taking a sip of wine. “You know, I’m very happy that I signed up for that internship.”

He nodded. “Me too, trust me. You’re a special woman.”

“It’s true.”

“Aren’t you going to compliment me?”

She smirked. “You already know you’re awesome. I’m the one that needs reinforcement.”

He snickered. “Okay, fair point.”

She looked at him from across the table. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

She took a long pause. “Where do you see this? A fling? A relationship?”

He hesitated and thought about it and a funny look came over his face. “Let me get back to you on that. I’ll have an answer by the end of the night.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “You’re kinda putting a lot of pressure on tonight.”

“No, I’m just thinking about how to phrase it.”

A strand of nerves panged through her. “Uh…. Can you give me a hint?”

“I’m here for a reason,” he said. “Just relax.”

The rest of the night was magical. They laughed most of it, delighted in the knowledge that nobody knew what was going on with them. Nobody knew their naughty little secret. They had a fun night and lovely conversations. She found herself happy the entire night.

When it finally came to an end and it was time for Richard to get back into his car that the valet had brought around in front, he paused. “Tinkerbell,” he said. “Remember your question about earlier?”

“About if this is a relationship?”

He nodded. “Right.”

“What about it?”

He reached for her hand. “I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve never had much success with relationships. I’ve never found a girl I was interested in.” He stroked her hand. “You’ve changed that. I don’t know what it is about you, Tera, but I can’t resist you. There’s some part of you that amazes me. How can a specimen like you exist? I don’t know what you’ve done to me.” He met her eyes. “I’m not loveable. I’m the first to admit that. But, if you’re willing, I’d love to try to see what we can make together.”

A warm feeling formed in her chest. “I can’t wait to start.”

He gave her the sweetest smile and caressed her cheek. “You sure this isn’t about your kinky sex drive?”

She turned bright red, looking at anyone who might have heard. “Shhhh!”

“Nobody cares,” he said with a laugh. “Everyone has kinks.”

He turned, took the keys from the valet, and stepped into his beautiful sports car. The doctor turned on the car with a beautiful, powerful hum. He rolled down the passenger window. Tera walked up to it and leaned down to see him better. He was smiling with a funny look in his eyes.

“Hey,” he said, meeting her gaze. “For what it’s worth, maybe you’re not such a shit nurse.” He put the car in drive. “And I’m happy you took the internship, too.”