Instead, I buried my hot face in the rose and asked him where we were going. He’d been elusive about that, though, saying the location was a surprise. Flashing his deep dimples, he merely put his car in drive and cruised us off into the night.
The sun was starting to set on campus, making it completely beautiful and lush with its bright tones. Lawson kept us on the highway, driving along the beach until we came up to a pier about four or five miles away from campus. The location was known for its exquisite restaurants with oceanic views and definitely required more than my smile to eat inside. The place was completely posh, and not only did Lawson get us reservations, he had us at one of the best tables with amazing views of the shoreline.
“Just bring my smile tonight, huh?” I asked, admiring the scenic landscape. I worked off my sweater into Lawson’s hands and he placed it on the back of my chair. I grinned back at him. “This place is pretty fancy.”
“Is it?” Lawson passed that off, pulling out my chair and letting me sit. He pushed me in. “Didn’t notice.”
Right. He totally noticed because he looked damn good himself, his dress shirt tugging across his muscles when he worked himself into his chair. I eyed him, and he merely chuckled.
“I figured you’d prepare anyway,” he said, his eyes dancing with candlelight. The flame flickered on our table, waving in the calmly lit room. His dimples deepened. “Girls always do. Guys always say that kind of thing. That their dates don’t have to try, but somehow they always turn up beautiful. Doesn’t seem to matter what we say.”
His gaze lingered on me like it had in the car, and at yet another compliment, I truly did feel that heat in my cheeks. Lawson relieved it a little to order us drinks, but then after, his attention was right back on me. He smiled. “You really do look beautiful, and I thank you for even coming out tonight after I made you wait so long.”
It truly wasn’t a big deal, and I was floored he was even interested in me. Guys like him and girls like me were miles apart.
He braced his hands behind the candlelight, but before either one of us could say anything more, the waiter returned with our drinks. We’d had our menus, but I failed to even look at mine. I started to open it, but Lawson faced the waiter.
“Steak tartare to start,” he stated, taking the initiative. “Then for our entrees, I’ll have the blackened chicken Parmesan and the lady will have the salmon with avocado salsa.”
My menu falling, I’d never had anything ordered for me. But then again, I didn’t go out on many dates. This was probably commonplace, and since I liked salmon, I went with it, smiling as he looked at me.
“You’ll love it,” Lawson said, replacing our menus with my hand. He’d taken it right away, aggressive but assertive. He was clearly a guy who knew what he wanted. He looped our digits to the side of the flickering light. “Now, tell me about your weekend. You hung out with your mom, right?”
Since I had, I told him about it. I thought I’d leave some details out. But in the end, it erupted like word vomit. I told him all about my stepbrother from hell and how he’d turned up out of the blue. I even mentioned him pretending to drown and me almost drowning trying to save him. By the end, our entrees had arrived, and I quickly realized I’d gone on so long about my stepbrother that the sun had completely set outside and our meals had actually arrived.
I cringed upon seeing my salmon and his blackened chicken arrive between us, that I had drudged on for so long and about topics I really didn’t want to talk about. My stepbrother was a complete asshole, and here I was doing the opposite of what I wanted to do tonight—forget about him.
I chewed my lip. “I’m sorry. You asked me about my weekend and…”
I made a gagging noise like I thew up words at him. Which I basically had, but calm and cool, Lawson merely shook his head. He finally let go of my hand at his point, something I realized he hadn’t done the whole time during my word vomit. He’d listened to the whole thing, taken it in. “You have nothing to apologize for. The guy sounds like a total ass.”
“Oh, he is, but I definitely shouldn’t be giving him this much power.” I sighed. “He’s already taken enough of it.”
A chuckle before Lawson picked up his wine glass, and when he gestured to mine, I picked up my glass as well.
“To your stepbrother then,” he said, serious as he clinked my glass. “Because that’s the last second he’ll take of your energy.”
I liked the sound of that, sipping my wine. I realized in all my spiel, I’d already downed half of it, and Lawson was completely on that too. He gestured the waiter to us right away, and it was nice not to think about things. He had all the boxes checked, taking care of everything. All too quickly, my top off arrived, and we relaxed into deep conversation.
As we finished our dinner and just talked, I discovered I liked just listening to him. It was easy with him, no pressure, and since he took care of everything, I could just be. Before I knew it, I was sitting there with my third glass of wine, and though I didn’t normally drink that much, I found I didn’t want to leave right away. He’d done what I wanted in the end, gotten me out of my head.
I think I might have done that a little bit for him too. He had my hand again, seeming like he enjoyed listening to me too.
“Well, I’m full,” he said, sitting back. Our hands still together, he stared at our digits, toying with them before staring warmly at me. “Ready to go?”
Since I was, I let him pay the check, and though I thought we’d go to his car, we ended up on the pier. We just talked some more, strolling along the dock. Eventually, we made it to his car, but once we were there, Lawson suggested we take the scenic route back to campus. It was the long way, but he said there was a place he wanted to show me that had awesome views of the ocean.
; Honestly, I was really tired. I’d also been drinking more than I should have, which made me drowsier. I hadn’t wanted to disappoint him, though, so I agreed under the caveat we’d return to campus before it got too late. He promised we would, and as we drove, I really did enjoy spending time with him. He was easy to talk to, no pressure, and did appear to get just as much joy out of spending time with me.
Our nighttime cruise ended up being on the top of a hill with a large expanse of the sky as it met dark ocean. As it turned out, the place was a hiking trail, and Lawson’s hand never left mine.
His fingers traced down my palms, constant little touches. Sometimes he’d get my wrist or even my arm when he put his around me after we parked. The whole experience was terribly romantic, and since I was a hopeless one, I was here for the whole thing.
I just wanted to feel protected, to feel safe and cared about. Laying my head on his chest, he talked to me about random facts involving the history of the trail and the ocean. Pretty soon, my eyes started to drift closed, and that’s when he pinched my chin.
And kissed me.