Chapter Nineteen
Adam
Sunday
I felt oddly nervous as I waited for Lindsey to come and pick me up for our first proper date without even a mention of payment to solidify it. After taking her to the orphanage and exposing a side of myself that even Max didn’t know about, I wasn’t sure how she’d react. The fact that she offered to take me out to thank me was a shock, but a nice one.
The only problem was she now had all of the control, and I liked that much less than I thought I would.
Come on, Adam, I thought with a sharp shake of my head. It was laughable how silly I was being. Get it together. This is going to be fine.
I liked Lindsey a lot, and that made me anxious, but in a good way. I was jittery all over, nervous about what was going to happen next. Anything could happen.
Knock, knock.
My head snapped towards the door as I heard her soft knocking. I had a bell that she could have rung, but that would probably be too obnoxious for Lindsey. She was kind and delicate, sweet down to the very core.
“Coming!” I yelled as I walked towards the door. “One moment, I’m coming.”
As I swung open the door and I saw her standing there, my heart leapt up into my throat. Damn, she looked beautiful. It didn’t matter what she was wearing she looked absolutely stunning. I had the feeling that she would always give me butterflies.
“I’ve brought you flowers,” Lindsey said with a teasing smile as she handed me a small, mostly yellow bunch. They were sunny and sweet, just like her. “It might not be jewelry, but since I’m taking you out for a date, I didn’t want to turn up empty handed.”
I laughed loudly, loving the joke, and I took them from her. “I suppose I better go and get a vase for these. Do you want to come inside for a moment?”
I walked into the kitchen with her close behind me and I found a jar to put the flowers in for the time being. I loved that she’d done something so silly; it reminded me that she was fun to be around. I’d spent most of my life surrounded by miserable, manipulative people who always had an end game in mind. I didn’t know many people who were just fun and easy to be around. Apart from the kids at the orphanage of course. They were always happy to see me.
“Right.” I turned to give her a grin. “Shall we go? I don’t know what you have planned for tonight, but I’m looking forward to it.”
“I hope that you’re hungry,” she replied mysteriously. “Because I’m starving. I booked us a table at a café down the street. I know it isn’t fancy.” She held her hands up in a surrendering gesture. “But they do the best desserts that I’ve ever tasted in my life.”
I hadn’t eaten much out of nerves, so the mention of something delicious to eat literally made it growl loudly. “Well, I think that’s your answer.” I laughed and she joined in. “Shall we move? Do we need the car?”
“No, it’s just around the corner. I thought having somewhere in walking distance would be better. I hope that’s okay with you.”
Judging by the way she bit down on her bottom lip and her eyes twinkled with mischief I knew what she meant by that…and it was all good to me. She wanted to walk because maybe we’d have a couple of drinks, then maybe we’d end up at my place again. Sounded freaking perfect. I couldn’t stop smiling as I thought about it.
“Let’s do it.” I threw my arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to me. “I’m looking forward to whatever you have planned for me.”
On the walk to the café that I hadn’t ever been to before, despite the fact that it really wasn’t far from my house, I didn’t stop laughing. Lindsey was hilarious. I hadn’t ever noticed that before. I’d been too busy getting myself all tied up in knots about my family. Now, we were freer to spend more time together in a much freer environment. And the more I got to know her, the more I liked about her. I was starting to suspect that she might actually be perfect.
“This is nice,” I told her as we stepped inside. “Quaint.”
She rolled her eyes. “Okay, so it isn’t gourmet, but I do think you’ll like it.”
I didn’t care whether I liked it or not, I was just happy to be there with her. “I’m sure I will. If there’s one thing I love it’s ice cream and cake, and this place is full of it.”
We took our seats in one of the corner tables which had a surprising private feeling to it, and took out our menus. After ordering our food quickly, I stared up at Lindsey again, and I felt that amazing rush of happiness as our eyes locked together. She was special, and I felt like she made me that little bit more special, too. Especially yesterday. She was probably the only person in the whole damn world that thought I was good for what I did with the kids. My family would only look down on me, my friends wouldn’t understand…there was only her.
“So, yesterday went well, I think,” I said with a smile. “Like I said, the kids love you. Especially Rose.” The connection they shared seemed to run much deeper than I thought it would and I hoped I would get to find out why. “She loves you.”
“I like her, too.” She bit down on her bottom lip thoughtfully. I was so tempted to ask her what was going on in her brain but I waited patiently for her to come around. I was starting to think that Lindsey had many deep layers and needed her own time to peel them back to me. I didn’t mind waiting, she was more than worth it. “She reminds me of me.”
“She does?” I wasn’t sure how much to pry here so I sat back and forced my lips to remained sealed. My pulse raced, anxiety coiled, I felt all weird inside.
“Yes.” Lindsey looked down at her hands and twiddled with her fingers awkwardly . “I… I lost my parents, too.”
My heart stopped dead in my chest. I couldn’t believe it. All that I’d done was moan about my shitty relationship with my parents and poor Lindsey didn’t have any. I was a massive dick. Around the kids, I was very sensitive. This reminded me that I needed to be that way around adults, too.
“Oh God, I’m sorry,” I muttered. “I didn’t know.”
She plastered a fake smile on her face and changed the subject rapidly. I could tell that this was a defensive technique, and unfortunately, I didn’t know her well enough to drag her back to the subject just yet. I was just going to have to let it go until she felt ready to talk. “It is what it is,” she breezed. “Oh look, the waiter is coming over.”
The food was placed down in front of us, but I didn’t want to eat just yet. I could feel a slight thickness to the atmosphere. I needed to shatter it, so I said the first thing I could think of.
“Well, at least you know why I haven’t used my masters in economics yet. I’ve always intended to, but then I found the orphanage and nothing else mattered. That seemed like the most important thing at the time, and it still does.”
I knew I was bringing the spotlight back around to me, but I didn’t mind. Not for Lindsey, who leapt upon the subject change. “So, why don’t you ever tell anyone what you do? The way that your father and brother behave is as if you aren’t worth as much as them, when actually you’re worth more.”
Her words warmed up my chest. I didn’t care how Brandon and Dad saw me if that was Lindsey’s opinion. “I don’t do it for credit,” I said honestly. “I don’t want people to think that I just do it for attention. It isn’t about me, it’s all about the kids, you know?”
She nodded slowly. “That’s really nice. No wonder the kids love you.”
I took a sip of my wine and she did the same, both of us kept our eyes fixed on one another as we did. I could see something in her gaze, something loving that matched how I felt inside. She made everything intensify, everything seem better, I just adored her. Under the flickering of the candlelight, she was stunning. All I wanted to do was wrap my arms around her to hold her right to my chest.
“So tell me more about the kids,” Lindsey asked as she tucked in. “I want to know more about them if you ever invite me to come again.”
“Would you like to?” I asked curiously. I hadn’t expected that. Even though Lindsey liked it, I didn’t think she would want to go again. “Really?”
“Yeah, I would.” She nodded enthusiastically. “I know Rose quite a bit now, and I sat next to Cally and Brad at dinner, but the others. They all seem really nice.”
I rambled on for ages about the children, imparting all of my knowledge without hesitation. It felt great to be able to freely talk about what I did, it had been a very long time, and to someone who was actually interested in what I had to say. Lindsey genuinely liked learning about the children, which only heightened my feelings even more.
Damn it, she’s almost too good to be true.
Once we finished our food, there was only one place in the world that I wanted to be, and only one person that I wanted to be with. I needed the privacy of my own home so I could finally grab onto this gorgeous woman and kiss her with all the passion that I felt inside.
“Let me just get the bill,” I said while digging my hand into my pocket, but Lindsey stood up to stop me.
“No, this is my date and I’m paying.” She grabbed some bills and stepped ahead of me. “You have paid every other time. This is my turn.”
I let her because she really wanted to, and thankfully because I knew that she finally could afford to. As she sashayed over to the counter, I smiled to myself as I watched her. She had no idea how sexy she was, how beautiful she was, she had no idea what she’d done to me. I liked her too much, I could damn well watch her all day long. I loved that wiggle, the way she strutted as she walked, the way she made me feel all hot and bothered inside.
“Right.” She smirked up at me. She linked her arm through mine. “Shall we get out of here? Much as it’s been nice, I think it’s time to go.”
Her eyes gave me a deep indication for what was about to come and that made me even more excited. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this woman, she was amazing. She was promising something that I really wanted to happen. It was as if she could read my damn mind and knew just what I needed. If that didn’t show the intense chemistry, then I wasn’t sure what did.
“Let’s do it. It isn’t far to my place now, is it?”