CHAPTER NINE
He stared across the table at Indya and took in her natural beauty. She'd left her hair down, and it sat loosely over her shoulders in light waves. It was her eyes that drew him in; they were mocha brown with long eyelashes he thought had a touch of mascara on them. She was wearing a cobalt blue maxi dress with thin white swirls matched with white gladiator sandals.
She'd agreed to join him for dinner and he'd wanted to take her somewhere special. He got a table at an upmarket Italian restaurant that was a favorite of his families. He had to drop his name to get one as they were booked up months in advance. When he looked across the table; he was glad he had.
"You look amazing," he told her as he picked up his glass of red wine to make a toast, "Here's to getting to know each other better." He didn't want to mention the word 'date' as she seemed to cringe every time he mentioned it. There was something she was keeping from him but he couldn't work out what it was. She'd been fun on their day out and he'd found out how determined she was when she'd refused to quit on their hike, well until her body forced her to. He should have stopped before it came to that but he wanted to know how far she'd push herself and moreover why. When she admitted defeat gracefully and made fun of her need to exercise more, he couldn't work her out. Most women he'd been with would have made excuses but no, she owned up and laughed about it. He was slowly chipping away at her walls and couldn't wait to see what else she was hiding under there.
She picked up her glass of water and tapped his glass, "To new friendships," she grinned and took a sip. "So what's your plans for the rest of your time-off?" she asked, leaning forward as she did so. He didn't think she realized she was doing it.
"I'm not sure," he admitted, "When the tour finished I couldn't wait to get some to relax and recover from the last eight months. Now we've got it - and we all really needed it, I'm a bit lost on what to do. It brings home how much my life has revolved around the band and other than that, and my family of course, I've not really got anything else."
"What do you want to do? What do you enjoy doing besides the band?" she asked. He sat back in his chair and stared at her. Nobody had ever asked him that before and to be honest he'd not given it much thought. The band had been his life for so long and everything he'd done in the last ten years had been band related. "What did you do the last time you had time off?"
"We had a week off at Christmas last year and I spent it at my parents, with my family, before going on tour. Until this past tour we always worked to break through into the big leagues, and we've finally achieved that. Now there's this big 'what now' hanging over us. We want to keep going but what's the next goal, y'know?"
"So, other than the band, you've not really had time to explore any other interests?" she asked, looking genuinely curious, and it made him think.
"No," he sighed. "Everything has been about the band."
"What are the other guys doing?"
"Ryker just bought a place up in Lake Tahoe, he's away there. CJ is visiting his sister, Dylan went to Miami to see someone he met there and who knows what Liam is up to. Wow," he said, "I guess after wanting a break for so long, I hadn't really thought about how I'd spend it. Ryker is the only one who made any real plans."
"Well, you enjoyed our hike, so hiking and nature must be important to you," she said, "And we're eating in a lovely restaurant so you must enjoy good food, maybe just not cooking it yourself," she teased, referring back to his disastrous pancakes that morning.
He laughed, "Yeah, I guess I need a few more lessons from Adam before testing them on other people next time. What about you?" he asked. She'd given him plenty to think about and he'd asked her here to talk about her, not himself. "What are your plans? Have you always wanted to be a nanny or do you want to do something like Lucy's doing?"
"I've always loved kids and kinda fell into the nanny position. A few months ago I was ready to hand in my notice and find something else. Don't get me wrong, I love the twins but I'm ready for a change, maybe a new challenge but I'm not entirely sure what that looks like. An old school friend works on cruise ships in the Caribbean and always posts photos of her doing exciting things and it's got me thinking about what I want to do next."
The last thing he wanted was for her to move away but he was drawn to her sense of adventure. It was funny how they were both kinda lost at this point in their lives and they'd found each other. Maybe they could help each other?
They'd finished their meal and were waiting for the waitress to come by with their bill. "Do you mind if I wait outside?" she asked. He could see her face was redder than normal, "It's too warm in here and I could do with some fresh air."
"Sure, are you okay?" he asked as she picked up her water glass and emptied it.
"I'm just feeling a bit hot," she explained as she stood up. "Once I get outside I'm sure I'll be fine."
"I won't be long," he said as he flagged down their waitress. He hoped the fresh air would help her feel better. He'd enjoyed her company, even more than he knew he would, and didn't want the night to end.