“It’s a date.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to correct him. It wasn’t a date.
Was it?
When I walked into Sicuro’s that night, my stomach was twisted up with nerves. I’d finally talked myself out of it being a date right up until the moment I’d entered the cozy restaurant and seen the dim lighting and private booths. Aiden stood talking to a beautiful young woman at the hostess stand, and I took a moment to check him out in his tailored suit. He really was gorgeous. Tall, confident, charming. His thick hair shone under the warm lights above the hostess stand and his hands rested casually in his pants pockets.
I walked up to him, intent on making my presence known, but my nerves got the better of me when I reached him and I couldn’t find my voice. It wasn’t until the woman Aiden had been talking to let her gaze slip to me that Aiden turned around. He broke into a giant smile and said, “Hey, beautiful” before leaning in to brush a kiss across my cheek.
“Hey,” I managed to respond as warmth spread throughout my chest and face.
If Aiden noticed I was nervous, he didn’t call me on it. Instead, he brushed his thumb gently over my cheek and said, “I’m so glad you came. Our table is ready if you are.”
I nodded as he gestured me ahead of him to follow the hostess to a quiet booth along one wall. Once we were seated, Aiden removed his suit jacket and loosened his tie, unbuttoning the top button of his dress shirt.
I looked down at the plain dark sweater and pants I was wearing before glancing back up at him. “Sorry I didn’t dress up more…”
Aiden reached his hand across the table to squeeze mine in reassurance. “No, you look perfect. I ended up having to go babysit a client at a press conference and didn’t have time to change. How was your day? Your shift must have ended right around the time I left, right?”
“Um, no. I ended up covering for Audrey because she had a family thing or something.”
“That must have been a long day for you,” he observed.
“Kinda. But it’s good because I’m trying to get all the hours I can right now.”
“Why is that? Saving up for something special?”
“Ah, yes, actually. I need to move out of my place soon, and you know how that can be. Anyway, tell me about your press conference. It sounds important. What was it for?” I hoped changing the subject back to him would give me time to figure out how to answer if he asked me more personal questions. It wasn’t that I didn’t want him to know me, but there were just some things I never wanted to have to tell him about.
How I’d landed myself in the situation with Billy was at the top of that list.
“It’s a small client who built a new senior care facility out in Newark. The ribbon cutting ceremony was this afternoon, and then we invited the media reps to stay afterward for a press conference to announce their plans to build another one in New Brunswick. It went well. The client was happy, at least, so that was a bonus,” Aiden said. “We’re trying to land a famous singer client and my assistant, Tomás, is in a tizzy. He’s trying to get me to come into work tomorrow, but I told him I needed a break unless there’s an emergency. The woman’s agent said she’s not going to make a decision for another few weeks, I think.”
“That’s exciting. You must meet plenty of famous people,” I said. I paused as the waitress appeared with a bottle of wine. Since I hadn’t heard Aiden actually order it, I had to wonder if he’d mentioned something about it to the hostess before I’d arrived.
“No, not really. Not yet, anyway. But we’re hoping that changes soon. We’ve gotten some great momentum going now, so that’s a step in the right direction. My brother, Chase, is really working his butt off to make it a success.” Aiden reached for the bottle of wine. “May I?” he asked as he motioned with the bottle toward my glass.
“No, I shouldn’t,” I murmured. Even though it was safe for me to drink a moderate amount of alcohol with my heart condition, Billy had long ago nixed the partaking of any kind of alcoholic beverage, especially wine, which was my favorite. I tended to get tipsy pretty fast and Billy had always hated how goofy I got.
“You sure?” Aiden asked. “We’re celebrating, remember?”
I opened my mouth to say no again, then snapped it shut. What the hell was I doing? Billy wasn’t here. And I was allowed to indulge every once in a while. I was out with a nice guy at a nice restaurant, about to eat what would undoubtedly be an amazing meal. Why was I even worrying about what Billy would think? What was wrong with me?