Laura blushed and smiled again, and I felt like I’d said the right thing. “Okay.”
Our appetizers arrived and I insisted that she try them first. I explained how the wine I’d chosen would pair well with the food and complement it. Laura admitted that she only knew the basics of wine since she’d never really had to help choose it for her clients—she could only guide them on the food, but the wine was above her pay grade.
“I could teach you,” I assured her. “It would be a good set of skills to know for the more high-end clients you’re hoping to court.”
We had fun going over the wine menu, and I made fun of a lot of them, doing a horrible French accent for her that had Laura covering her mouth so that nobody would know how hard she was laughing, almost snorting out the wine. The look of her face screwed up with joy as she laughed at something I said, was possibly the cutest thing I’d ever seen. I wanted to take my phone out and snap a picture of her to preserve this moment.
Sure, I wanted to sweep her off her feet, but I didn’t want to overwhelm her. Not when she had already expressed some nerves. I had to be careful about this. So, I kept things lighthearted instead, making her laugh, instead of trying to be seductive.
Laura seemed to respond well to this approach, and I was glad. I didn’t want to scare her off right away. She had some concerns and I needed to respect that, as best I could.
But I also wanted to convince her that she and I belonged together.
Her mood had improved enough that she ordered the entrees herself, and we were able to dig into the meal in a much better mood than what we’d started with. Laura had been telling me so much about her own life and her work, so I told her about mine, about the crazy shenanigans that Gray had gotten me into—especially in Georgetown.
“You have no idea how many scrapes I had to get him out of,” I told her. “One time I went to get him from a party and the police were called to break it up. So, I had to take this guy, blackout drunk, and we had to climb over the back fence and then race back to our dorm. He still doesn’t remember how he got home! I practically had to drag him the rest of the way.”
Laura laughed. “Thank God I never got into anything crazy when I was in school.”
I shook my head. “I didn’t want to do anything crazy like that, trust me, it was all Gray. But it does make for some fun stories now that we’re older. And the guy now owes me for life, so, not too bad,” I winked at her.
Laura laughed again and clinked her glass against mine. “Congratulations.”
Now it was my turn to laugh.
We finished our meal, things getting a little more serious now. I explained how Gray wasn’t such a bad guy. “He gave me good advice, actually. The same advice that you did. He said that you were right, and I needed to listen to you, about my parents and going my own way in life, doing what made me happy. He’s actually working with a charity now, modeling for them, being their sort of…public face. Since he’s got such a pretty face and a well-known name. I’m proud of him.”
“That’s great,” Laura said in earnest. “My best friend, Caitlyn, I’m proud of her too.”
She explained how Caitlyn had had a bad relationship with a man, and how she and Laura had supported each other emotionally when they were studying, living together until their careers had gotten better and they could find their own places.
“I’m glad you have her,” I told Laura earnestly. “Really. You needed someone after I’d left. I know your mom wasn’t exactly the best support system. And it sounds like she needed a friend, too. I’m glad that you guys could be there for each other.”
“Thank you,” Laura blushed again, not from flattery but because she was pleased.
“Should we get dessert?” I suggested. I didn’t want to push her too much, but I also wanted to spend more time with her if I could. “Polish off this bottle?”
I gestured to the bottle of wine that we were still working through. Laura chuckled and nodded. “There was a molten chocolate lava cake on the menu that tempted me…” she admitted with a smirk.
We ordered the dessert and then poured out the rest of the wine into our glasses. The cake was just as delicious as I’d thought it would be, but even better than tasting it myself was watching Laura eat it. The chocolate smeared on her lips and she delicately licked it off like a cat. Watching a spoonful of that hot chocolate cake disappear into her mouth, between those red lips, felt like watching sin itself. Even though Laura wasn’t doing this intentionally. In fact, all of it being unintentional made it all the more sexier.
I kept myself under control and let the conversation taper off, enjoying the companionable silence between us as we polished off the wine and the dessert. It didn’t feel uncomfortable, the way the silence between Della and I had felt. Della and I had so often fallen silent because we had nothing to say to each other. But there was nothing strained about this silence. Laura and I were simply basking in the moment.
I called for the check and paid it. Laura blushed when I did that, but she didn’t protest.
“Thank you for letting me take you out,” I told her, while the server ran my card. “I wanted to spoil you a little. Make up for all the times that I hadn’t before. So, thank you.”
“I could hardly object to being wined and dined like this,” Laura replied. “You know how to show a girl a good time. A classy time.”
“I hope that you enjoyed this time.”
“I did. Very much,” Laura blushed again.
The server returned with my card, I signed the receipt, and we got up. I helped Laura out of her seat and offered her my arm. “Perhaps we could walk on the waterfront, walk off the wine and enjoy the night air?”
The truth was that I didn’t want to say goodbye to her just yet, but I didn’t want to admit this to her. It might put her off and make her paranoid again. I had to be careful not to go over the top with my romantic gestures or words, even if that was how I wanted to be. I was trying desperately to make up for lost time, and the temptation to sweep her into my arms and kiss her was strong. But I had to resist and be slow, for Laura’s sake.
Laura smiled and nodded. “That would be nice.”