Until Talon (Until Him 4)

We enter the restaurant side by side then find a quiet booth in the back. I don’t sit next to her, even though I want to, but I can’t complain that I get to sit across from her and look into her pretty golden-brown eyes.

“I’m guessing you’ve been here before?” she prompts while taking the small menu out of the holder in the middle of the table, looking it over.

“I grew up here, and even though the town has changed a lot since I was a kid, there’s not too many places me and my family haven’t been to eat at least once or twice. This is one of our favorite places to get breakfast anytime day or night,” I tell her as an older woman approaches our table with a pot of coffee in hand.

“Coffee?” she asks, looking between Mia and me, and I wait for Mia to answer first.

“I’ll just have orange juice if you have it.”

“We do. What about you, handsome?”

“I’ll have water.”

“All right, do you need time to look at the menu or are you ready to order now?”

I look at Mia. “Are you ready?”

“If you are.” She sets the menu back in the holder.

“Order away,” I say, and she rattles off some kind of cinnamon chip pancakes, and I order a double stack of chocolate chip. As the waitress walks away, Mia’s cell phone rings, and she pulls it from her bag sitting next to her.

“Sorry, it’s my sister. I’ll be right back.”

“Sure.” I lift my chin then watch her get up and head outside.

She’s not gone long, only a few minutes, and when she comes back, she slides into the seat across from me once again. “Sorry about that.”

“Is everything okay?”

Studying me, she chews the inside of her cheek, and I can see the wheels in her head turning as she tries to figure out if she wants to answer my question and/or how. “I think I mentioned moving here to help out my sister.”

“You did.” I wait for her to continue, not wanting to ruin the progress we’ve made, since the last time I attempted to get her to open up didn’t go so well.

“She has three daughters and is separated from her husband.” She bites her lip then lets out a deep breath. “She umm… well, he moved out of the house they shared together, and he was living with his parents until recently.” She fiddles with her napkin, and my fingers twitch, wanting to reach across and hold her hand. “So he got a place of his own, which is good, but… well, last weekend, the girls stayed with him overnight, and tonight when my youngest niece was on the phone with him, my sister overheard her ask if his girlfriend is going to come to dinner on Saturday when they stay with him again.”

I flinch, knowing that had to be painful to hear. “Why’d they split?”

She looks away briefly then says quietly, “He admitted to her that he cheated.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah.” She sighs. “The thing is, I think she thought they were going to work things out, but things are becoming clearer to her that’s not something he wants to do, and she’s having a hard time dealing with it.”

“Do you need to go home?” I ask, and her head jerks back as her eyes widen.

“I….” She licks her lips then shakes her head. “No, it’s okay.”

“I’m good if you want to be with her right now,” I tell her quietly, holding her gaze.

“You’re serious?” she whispers, studying me.

I lean across the table, grasp her hand, and run my thumb over her pulse. “I know we don’t know each other, but I understand that family comes first, especially when times are hard.” I let her go and lean back. “We can get our food to go, and if Saturday still works for you, we’ll have dinner then.”

“I don’t want to say yes, but she’s upset and—”

“You don’t have to explain, Mia. I get it. Your sister needs you right now, so that’s where you should be.”

“Thank you.”

I signal for our waitress when I catch her eye and ask her if they can box up our food as I hand over my card.

“Can I ask you something?” Mia says when the waitress walks off.

“Anything.”

“Are you real?”

Not sure what she’s asking I frown. “Pardon?”

“It’s just… I don’t know. I’ve never met a guy like you before, and I’m having a really hard time accepting that you’re real and this isn’t some kind of elaborate scheme to get in my pants.”

“Not to sound like a dick, Mia, but if I wanted to get laid, I’d go to any bar in town and find a chick willing to put out.” Her nose scrunches, and I reach across the table, grasping her hand once more. “What I want is to get to know you, and if at some point you feel like letting me in your pants, I’m down for that too.” I smirk, and she presses her lips together to keep from smiling.