“Carolyn.” His eyes dance up and down my body. “You look stunning.” Before I can respond, he leans down and plants a soft kiss on my cheek. His spicy scent renders me powerless, and when he pulls away my knees buckle slightly.
“You clean up pretty well, yourself,Officer.”I wink at him, not knowing where this bout of confident flirtation is coming from.
“I don’t know your favorite flower yet, but I feel like roses are cliché.”
“Bold statement, sir.” I take the colorful bouquet from his strong hands and bring it gently to my nose. “I dig roses, but these are beautiful. I’ll get my sisters to put them in—”
And just like that, the bouquet is pulled from my hands. Winona smiles at me and wiggles a little hello with her free hand at Nick.
“You two behave.” She says, and a full body hot flash works its way through me. I press my hand on Nick’s corded upper arm and push him out the door. I thought being out here would make it easier to breathe, but now that it’s just us and the night air I’m a goddamn nervous wreck. How the hell did this happen? I’m going on an actual date with this man who's cut from some sort of magical marble, from what I can tell not an inch of fat on him.
My heeled sandals click against the pavement as he holds the door of his truck open for me. I don’t know what to say. For once, the cat’s got my tongue. Luckily, I don’t have to. I hop in and Nick shuts the door.
The conversation is easy on the way to the restaurant, but still a little forced. I can’t help but wonder if it’s my doing. With my nerves like they are right now, I’m surprised I can follow anything the man’s saying. We pull into the parking lot, an adorable and quaint spot overlooking a lake, and Nick shuts off the ignition.
“Carolyn.” He takes my hand before I can reach for the door. Before I can answer, he pulls me closer, pressing his strong lips against mine with just enough pressure to make my entire body turn into a pool of mush. His hand caresses my cheek. My panties drench on the spot, my body trembling at his touch. “I wanted to get that out of the way.” He says, his lips brushing against mine as he speaks.
“Okay.”
Okay?That’s all I can think to say? I gather my thoughts. “I’m glad you did.”
“I thought it might ease the tension.”
Doesn’t he know that he just upped the tension by about a million degrees? With my body ignited like this, I don’t know how I’m supposed to get through dinner. All I want from him is more, more, more. If we skipped food altogether right now and went straight to dessert, I’d be one happy woman.
Nick smiles and opens his door. “Don’t touch that.” He playfully points at my door. I smile, still dumbstruck by his kiss. Him walking around to my side gives me just enough time to pull myself together. When he opens my door, I hop out and he takes my hand. We walk into the restaurant together like this is something we’ve been doing our whole lives. I shove the overwhelming sense of comfort down deep inside of me as we’re shown to our table.
6
Nick
Although Carolyn’sacting a bit reserved, it doesn’t stop the conversation from flowing as the waiter brings us two of their best steaks along with all of the sides. When in doubt, order them all. Still, I can’t help but feel an underlying tension between us. The kiss in the car was meant to free up some of that energy, but my suspicion remains that Carolyn isn’t telling me everything.
“Tell me you’re not the kind of woman who skips dessert.” I reach across the table, unable to resist taking her hand in mine. She allows me this luxury and I can’t help but wonder what our post-dessert session will look like.
“Nick, I own a bakery.” Her megawatt smile lights up the room. “Besides, do I look like the kind of woman who skips dessert?”
“You look like the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” It slips out, but I mean every syllable.
“You’re smooth, Officer Danvers.” She pulls her hand away. “Smooth, indeed.”
“I’m dead serious, Carolyn.” I lower my voice. “Ever since I saw you the other day, I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind.” I lock my eyes on her until she meets my gaze. “I was not going to take no for an answer until you finally agreed to go out with me.”
“Why?” She asks. “You can probably have any woman you want in this town.” She scoffs. “I mean,lookat you. You’re a drop dead gorgeous cop.” Her lips curl after the worlds have left her mouth. “Oh dear God, did I just say those words out loud?”
The unexpressed weight of tension lightens in my chest. “You did,” I tap my dessert menu on the table. “And here I was thinking it was something about me that was turning you off.”
“What? You?” Her deep blue eyes widen, sparkling as bright as the necklace she’s wearing. “No, it’s…” She lets out a long sigh, and rests her head in her hands. “I told you about my parents, but I didn’t tell you the whole story.” I lean in, encouraging her to go on. “The car accident killed my mother on impact, but my father survived. At least, he lived for a little while.”
“What happened?”
A tremble enters Carolyn’s voice. “He decided he didn’t want to live without her. So, he tried, you know, to follow her wherever it is that we go.”
“Oh, honey.”
“He wasn’t successful and ended up in the hospital. With my mother gone, and my father in a coma he was likely never to recover from, I was granted power of attorney.” Tears fill her eyes. “Three months after losing our mother, I had to be the one to decide that we were going to lose our father, too.”
I immediately take both of her hands in mine and give them a squeeze. “Carolyn, that is horrible and I’m so sorry that you had to go through that. Where were your sisters?”