Chapter Twenty-Four
Easton
Just hearing her voice left me wanting to find her wherever she was. Warmth infused me as I dropped the phone on the couch next to me, and I let out a long groan, closing my eyes and thanking the stars that she answered and agreed to see me.
I needed to work on a good handful of write-ups for work, but having something take most of my afternoon was going to work out well. Keeping my mind on task and off of Vivian was going to be the trying part.
I worked diligently and wrapped up my portfolio of write-ups for Miami by four-thirty. After packaging everything up nicely, I got in the shower and cleaned up quickly. I wanted to get to the restaurant a little early with flowers so I could make sure the dinner went exactly as I had planned in in my head the night before.
She deserved so much more than I felt like I had to offer, but I was going to pull out the stops and see if it didn't push her a little more in my corner. I'd take as long as she wanted me to, but I needed another night in her arms soon. She brought me to life in ways that I couldn't remember feeling for a long time. Everything was a little brighter, my mood much better, my disposition much more giving.
I dressed in black pants and a dark green button-down, hoping the outfit would scream class and yet comfort. I tugged on a heavy black jacket and decided to forgo the tie. The owner of the restaurant was a friend of mine from college, his father having given him the place when they decided that traveling was something he and his wife would rather be doing.
A driver picked me up forty-five minutes before six, and I was itching to get there and get everything set up. I wanted a driver in case we had a few too many drinks. We'd have a quick, responsible way to get back to my place.
"I need to stop by the flower shop on tenth and Johnson." I leaned forward and looked up to catch the driver's eye in the rear-view mirror.
"Not a problem, sir." The guy tipped his hat to me and pulled out of the circle drive in front of my building.
After grabbing a dozen white and red roses, I got back in to the Lincoln and forced myself to relax. This wasn't a first date, nor was it a blind date. I knew Vivian as much as she'd let me know her. I was quite positive that she was the girl of my dreams though. That was the reason I couldn't stop my leg from bouncing, my heart from fluttering incessantly in my chest.
"Here we are, sir. I'll be waiting in the valet parking lot. Just text when you're ready, and I'll drive right up for you." The driver turned and smiled at me. "That okay?"
"That's perfect. Thank you." I got out of the car and walked into the restaurant as Jared turned and clapped his hands together.
"Easton Parks. You old dog." He laughed and reached out to shake my free hand.
"Jared. How are you, my friend?" I smiled and gave him a quick hug.
"I'm excellent. Now, you're here on a date, right? No critiquing my shit tonight?" He reached for the flowers. "Let me have these. Lucky girl..."
"It's a bit more complicated than that, but it's a date slash job interview. I want to get this girl a job with my company, but I need to see her in action. It's a date because I want her in my life."
"For the long haul?" Jared glanced over his shoulder. "You know your momma would be thrilled."
"I think so, but we just met a week ago. I need to get to know her a little better, but everything I've seen so far leads me to believe that she's the one." I chuckled. "Yeah, my mom's actually being reserved with this girl for some reason. She's been pushing at me so long, that having me actually find someone would leave her with nothing to bitch at me about. Then what would she do?"
"Start in on your brothers. You're just first in line. You know that." Jared smiled. "Come on back. Let me show you the room."
I stopped by the open door at the back of the restaurant and smiled. "This is perfect. Are you letting me use this private room tonight?"
"It's all yours, buddy." Jared glanced at a server who was working on the table. "Put these in a few vases and make the room look romantic. Low lights and such."
"Thanks, man." I let out a long breath. "I'm nervous."
"You? No fucking way." He turned and walked toward me, brushing down the front of my jacket. "There's nothing to be worried about. You're Easton Parks. There wasn't a girl at NYU that wouldn't have dropped her panties for you. I'm more concerned for the girl."
I laughed and pushed at him. "Get the fuck outta here. She's a tall, beautiful redhead. Her name is Vivian."
"I like her already." Jared patted my chest once more and walked to the door. "The menus are on the table. Just order whatever you want. It's on the house."
"No. I got this." I reached for him, but he turned, leaving me to grasp air.
"You're one of my good friends from college, East. It's not happening. Enjoy and good luck with the girl. I hope she's worth a good guy like you." He closed the door behind him as I picked up a menu and scanned it.
"It's me that needs to be worth her time and effort." I started to run my fingers through my hair and stopped. I'd put a little bit of gel in it and didn't want it jacked up before she got there.
Twenty minutes later, a knock sounded on the door behind me, and I moved to open in.
"Hi," I spoke softly as my eyes moved down her delicious figure. Her cream-colored dress looked like a summer day on her. "Beautiful."
"Thanks. This is incredible." She pressed her hand to my chest and looked up at me. "What are you up to?"
I laughed and bent down, kissing her cheek once before moving back. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
I moved back and her breath caught in her chest. "Easton."
"It's okay. Just a dinner and a bit of fun. I love overdoing things, but I didn't get a chance to in Miami. Let me have my fun, and you just relax and enjoy the evening. I ordered us a four-course meal to share. That okay?" I took her coat as she slid it off her shoulders. The dress hugged her breasts tightly and fanned out, but had no sleeves or straps. I yearned to press my lips to her shoulders and taste her skin again.
Soon. Chill the fuck out.
"Okay. I can do that." She sat her purse down on an empty chair near the door and walked to the table, leaning over and smelling the roses. "I don't remember this restaurant doing all of this."
"They don't." I pulled back a chair and nodded toward it. "Sit down, and let's eat. We can play our twenty questions game and perhaps get through more than two questions."
She chuckled as she sat down. "Yeah, maybe we could start on something other than marriage and kids."
I moved around to take my seat, but paused to pull my jacket off. I loved the way she watched me, as if she were in a slight trance. If I were a third party observer, I'd have figured her to be as taken with me as I was with her. I could only hope my assessment was true.
"Okay, here's the other thing I want to do." I pulled my napkin into my lap, leaning forward to engage the beautiful girl a little more. "Let's have you critique each dish and then either I can write it up, or you can. I'd love to see how well your tastes align with my own reviews of Jaspers. I owe the owner another round of reviews on the place in a few weeks, and I refuse to send Kevin here."
"How fun." She smiled brightly and pulled her napkin into her lap. "I can type them up. Are you wanting to see them once I'm done?"
"Absolutely. I'll share them with my boss, Jon. If you're okay with that?" I sat back as a bowl of dark orange soup was delivered to the table and placed in front of us.
"This is our cream of pumpkin soup with sherry, bacon, and toasted pumpkin seeds. Enjoy." The waiter bowed to us and walked away.
"You wanna use your phone or mine?" I smiled as her face lit up even more. She couldn't have been more entrancing to me.
"Mine." She got up and retrieved her phone, my attention resting on her the entire time. She sat down and pressed the button, recording the dish and a few descriptors as she tasted it. She pressed the stop button and glanced up. "I'm usually so nervous to critique in front of anyone."
"Not me, though, right?"
"Not at all." She blushed, and I reached across the table, running my fingers over the tops of her knuckles.
"Good. Now, tell me your favorite color." I leaned back and picked up my spoon, tasting the soup and listening intently as we walked through the various facts about ourselves that meant little to the commoner, but to a lover, everything.
Jared kept the music low and romantic, the wine flowing, and the food coming in slow waves. We laughed throughout the meal, and by the end, she was relaxed, her posture a little less stiff and her smile authentic.
I stood from the table and offered her my hand. "I know you're stuffed, but I'd love to dance with you, if you'd do me the honor."
"I'd love to." She took my hand and moved to stand in front of me, sliding her free hand up my chest and around to lock onto the back of my neck. "Why do you have to be so damn smooth?"
"You'd rather I be overly hairy?" I lifted my eyebrows in playful confusion.
She laughed and snorted, causing me to laugh as well. "Stop it, or I'll fall madly in love with you, Easton Parks."
"And that would be bad because?" I pulled her closer to me and turned us toward the open floor just behind me.
"Because you said yourself that a relationship was impossible due to you traveling all the time." She glanced down, and I felt her pulling back from me yet again.
I tightened my grip and leaned down, brushing my nose by hers. "And you said that I should find a woman that wants to be on the road with me."
"I know, but that's not going to happen for a while, if ever." She stopped moving, and I shook my head.
"No. You're not blocking me. Not tonight." I forced her to spin with me and moved us toward the balcony, releasing her and opening the doors. She walked out onto the patio and stood by the outdoor heater as she pressed her hands to the railing and took a sharp breath.
"This is incredible." She glanced back at me. "You're killing me."
I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the side of her neck, wanting my place to always be behind her, holding her up, supporting her in any way she would let me.
"I don't want it to feel like a death, Viv. I just want to think about working toward what you want." I kissed her again and moved up to suck her ear lobe into my mouth.
"And what do I want?" Her voice was airy as she spoke.
"To live life with someone. I'm not asking for forever just yet. I just don't want to give up what started in Miami. It doesn't have to be anything insanely serious. Just be exclusive to me, and I'll do the same." I kissed the side of her jaw and slid my hand up between her breasts to cup her throat as she turned her face and pressed her lips to mine.
The groan that left me would have been embarrassing if it were anyone else. She echoed it with a precious moan of her own, and I tightened my arms around her. I couldn't lose her. It just didn't feel like a possibility I was willing to accept.
She broke the kiss and licked at her lips before turning in my arms and wrapping me in a tight hug. "What if I'm scared, Easton?"
"Then we'll be scared together. You have to learn to trust me, which will take time. I have all the time in the world." I moved down and pressed my lips to hers, kissing her tenderly, but not penetrating the warmth of her mouth until she opened up for me. The minute she did, I shifted my hips forward to let her know just how much she turned me on.
"Let's get out of here," she panted against my mouth.
"Come home with me tonight. I've asked and been rejected too many times so far. Don't turn me down again tonight." I rubbed the tip of my nose along hers and stole another quick kiss.
"No. I won't." She lifted to her toes and pressed her soft warm lips to mine.
I knew without a doubt that I had her. Keeping her would be a challenge, but for the night, she was mine again.