36
Icrossed my arms and drummed my finger against my elbows, waiting for her to come out of the library. I was ready for tonight. Everything was in place, and I was going to show her a seriously good time.
I knew she hadn’t meant anything by it when she’d made that offhand comment about us not going out enough, but it had been playing at the back of my mind ever since. She had tried to convince me it was nothing more than a remark, that she hadn’t meant anything by it, but she was right. We didn’t go out enough. There had been that trip with the helicopter a few weeks ago now, and since then, the only times we’d done anything were when we headed up to see her family or mine. She deserved better than that, no doubt. She deserved to be swept off her feet every chance I got, and that was precisely what I was planning to do this evening. Every time she expressed even the remotest dissatisfaction about anything, I found myself leaping to fix things up, not wanting her to leave again.
Finally, she emerged from the front door of the library. She had chosen a dress that morning that looked incredible on her and even better now that I actually got a chance to check her out in the light of day as opposed to blearily, first thing in the morning. It was deep maroon and hugged her curves in a way that just passed for professional but had my eyes straying over her waist and her hips as well. She was talking to someone when she came out, and I heard her laughing before I saw her. She glanced up as she came out the door, and her face lit up when she met my gaze. She hurried over to me and cocked her head in my direction, clearly wondering what the hell I was doing here.
“Hey.” I greeted her with a kiss on the cheek and gestured to the car. “I’m taking you out tonight.”
“Oh, and do I get a say in it?” she asked playfully. She was already climbing into the front seat, waving goodbye to the woman she had been talking to.
“Nope,” I replied and slipped in and grabbed the wheel. “It’s a surprise.”
“Mmm, I could do with something a little spontaneous,” she grinned, and she fluttered her lashes at me flirtatiously. Fuck, I loved when she played all seductive like that, even if I knew it was just fun for her.
“Let’s get out of here.” I pulled the car out of the lot. “We have a show to make.”
“Oh, where are we seeing it?” she asked, and I grinned over at her.
“New York City,” I replied, and her jaw dropped. That had been the effect I was going for. I began to drive, and before I knew it, we were out of the city and well on our way to our date this evening.
When we arrived, it was dark, and she was staring out the window with her eyes wide and a smile curled on to her face.
“I can’t believe I’m actually here,” she sighed happily. “I’ve seen it so many times in the movies, but this …”
“Yeah, you never forget your first time here,” I replied. I had first come years before with my father for a business conference when I was a teenager just getting involved with the business, and I had fallen in love with it then. If the business hadn’t been based so far away, I probably would have moved all the way out here already.
“I have a table at this amazing Thai place,” I told her as I pulled the car to a halt. “And then there’s a comedy night not far away that I want to check out, blow off some steam.”
“That sounds awesome,” she replied. “I’ve never had Thai food before, though. Is it spicy? I’m a total wimp with spice.”
She was chatting away the whole time, walking quickly and casting her eyes around every time we turned a corner as though she wanted to commit every bit of this to memory as best she could. Sometimes, when I was out with her, she would remind me with the way she acted or the way she spoke that this kind of life, where I could just drive off across the state to take in a show in New York on a whim, wasn’t available to everyone the way it always had been to me.
We took our seats at the little hole-in-the-wall Thai place that I always came to when I was in New York. She took one look at the menu, and her eyebrows practically vanished into her hairline.
“Okay, I have no idea what any of this is,” she told me, glancing up at me expectantly. “Can you help me?”
“Anything you need,” I replied, and we started going through the menu together, finding the stuff that I thought she would like and that I could split with her. She ate everything, a little nervous at first but soon getting a taste for the flavorful heat of the place and the sharp, sweet cocktails they served along with their dishes.
“Oh my god, I’m only eating Thai food from now on,” she sighed, leaning back from the table when she was done. “Can we just stay here all night and try everything on the menu?”
“Tempting,” I conceded. “But we have a show to take in.”
“I guess so.” She cocked her head at me. “Shall we?”
We headed down to the comedy show and took seats at the back of the room, hiding out in the dark together. I let my hand rest on her knee casually, even though I felt as though her skin was pulsing heat through my entire arm.
The show was patchy, but the two of us laughed along anyway. I felt like this was so easy with her, like I didn’t have to worry about whether she was having a good time or whether she liked where I was taking her. She wasn’t a snob. She always expressed herself openly, and that was so refreshing after so long dating women who always plastered on a game face no matter whether they were having a good time or not. Amaya didn’t bullshit me. That was half the reason I liked having her around so much.
“So, what now?” she asked when the show was over. Her eyes were bright, and it was clear she was far from being done with tonight.
“I don’t know,” I replied as I handed her coat to her. “What do you want to do?”
“Ooh, are we close to Central Park?” she asked, clapping her hands together. “I’ve always wanted to see it in person.”
“Yeah, we’re not far,” I nodded. “We can take a walk there and then head back.”
“That sounds perfect,” she sighed, and she linked her arm with mine again, always a sign she was having a good time and wanted me to know about it. “And maybe get a little dessert? On me, of course.”