His Curvy Fantasy, page 18
“Can I kiss you now?” I asked when I opened the door for her.
She exhaled like she’d been holding her breath since I arrived. “Sorry. Yes. I wasn’t sure how that would go.”
I hated that she didn’t think it would go well, but I wasn’t confident in it myself, so I didn’t blame her. I leaned in and kissed her softly, no tongue, adjusting my position until she sighed and sank against me.
“I think I needed that.”
I smiled and brushed her hair back. “Me, too. Are you ready for dinner?”
She nodded. “I’m starving.”
“Good. Me, too.”
I jogged around the truck and started it up. We sat for a minute while it warmed up, then headed toward our first stop of the night.
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” Anna asked once we’d pulled onto Saint Lawrence Parkway heading north.
“I thought you were open to being surprised.”
“I am, but I’m also curious. Especially since we’re not going into town.”
I reached over and grabbed her hand. “I figured if we went into town, everyone would be watching us and you might be uncomfortable. I decided to go somewhere a little different. If that’s okay.”
“Oh. Um, yeah. Of course.”
That didn’t sound too sure. I glanced over at her, but she was staring out the window into the darkness.
I kept chatting. “When Finley was pregnant, I would bring her up here for her appointments. I didn’t feel right going in a lot of the time, so I just dropped her off and drove around. I found this little place on one of my visits and have been coming up here ever since. It’s small and really not much to look at, but the food is amazing and the people are even better.”
“Really?” she asked.
I nodded. “I guess I should have asked you where you wanted to go, but I thought it would be good to have a little distance between us and the rest of the nosy people in town.”
“You weren’t trying to hide me from your friends?” Anna asked, sounding small and scared.
I barked a laugh. “Hide you? Never. Sorry. I shouldn’t have laughed at that, but I promise you, no. I was at O’Kelley’s tonight, dressed like this. They all know we were going out.”
“All of them?” she squeaked.
“Is that a problem?” I asked, parking outside Thai Cafe.
She exhaled loudly. “No. It’s not a problem. I’m just… This is all new for me.”
I squeezed her hand. “For me, too.”
She smiled and sighed. “I hadn’t thought about that.”
“Are you ready for dinner?”
She nodded and looked up at where we were. “Ooh, I love Thai food. The boys hate it so I don’t ever get it.”
“Good. It was a risk, but I hoped a good one. Let’s go in. You’re going to love this place.”
She got out and hurried to the door. When she stepped inside, she gasped and looked around. It was a dark restaurant with candles on every table. Sconces lined the walls, casting soft glows all around. The floor had tile at the entryway but carpet where the tables were. It had a cozy feel without being too closed in.
“Hudson,” Mrs. Woo, one of the owners, said. “How are you?”
“I’m good, Mrs. Woo.” I hugged her when she came closer. “It looks like a good night.”
“It is. You picked a good time to come. It’s starting to quiet down. We have your table ready. Who is this?”
“This is Anna.”
“Nice to meet you, Anna.”
“You, too.”
“How did a nice woman like you end up with a guy like him?”
Anna laughed and let Mrs. Woo lead her toward the table.
“He caught me off guard and won me over.”
“Ah, that makes sense. The good ones tend to surprise you.” Mrs. Woo stood next to the table closest to the kitchen. “We have a special menu for you tonight.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” I protested.
“Oh, please. It’s not every day you make a reservation. We knew Anna was someone special if you brought her all the way up here.”
“You act like we came from another planet.”
“Maybe I just miss you and want you to come back again soon. If I spoil you, you’ll visit more often.”
I kissed her cheek. “I will. I haven’t been good about a lot of things lately. But I’m hoping to hire someone soon and I’m going to take some time off.”
“You better,” Mrs. Woo said. She turned to Anna. “This one fell asleep one day. Right in the middle of his lunch. He gives back to everyone and doesn’t take anything for himself. Make sure you get him to take a day off sometime, okay?”
“I will do my best, although I have to admit I’m not always good at that either.”
Mrs. Woo groaned. “Ah, you two! You need to be better. Take care of yourselves. Otherwise, you won’t get to enjoy your retirement age.”
“Like you are?” I teased her.
“You know we love it here. And we are closed half the week, so there.”
I grinned at her. She was right. But it didn’t make it easy to do.
“Okay, you sit. I’ll bring out the first course. Anna, how spicy do you like your food?”
“A little spicy is okay.”
“Me, too. I’ll have Mr. Woo make sure it’s all perfect. Then you can both come back and see us.”
Anna smiled and nodded. “I’d like that.”
“Good.” Mrs. Woo disappeared into the kitchen, but we could still hear her shouting through the door.
“She’s wonderful,” Anna said.
“I agree. When I came in here the first time, she took one look at me and told me she’d have the chef prepare something that would perk me right up. I didn’t know then that the chef is Mr. Woo. I’m still not sure what he made me that day, but it did the trick. I’ve been coming here ever since.”
“It’s nice. Very homey.”
“Especially if your home includes a nosy, sarcastic Thai woman.”
Anna laughed.
“Thank you for agreeing to a date.”
“Thank you for asking.”
We shared a smile. I reached across the table for her hand and rubbed my thumb over her wrist. “It’s going to be hard to keep my hands off you all night.”
“Who said you had to?”
“Well, I didn’t plan for any private time, so I think it’s best if I do.”
Anna shook her head. “I don’t know what you were thinking.”
I laughed. “I was thinking I wanted to show you that I’m not just in this for the incredible sex, although that’s a really nice perk. I want to get to know you, too.”
She smiled and ducked her chin. “I want that, too.”
“Good.”
“So, what did your friends say when you told them we were going out?”
“I think James was going to kick my ass. I assured him I was in this for the right reasons. Everyone else was more surprised that I was dating. Except Knox. He already knew, apparently.”
“I don’t think I know Knox.”
“He owns Al’s Hardware.”
“Oh, okay. I don’t know him, but I know who you’re talking about. How did he know we were going on a date?”
I shook my head. “Town gossip runs straight through his shop. I think the old men in town talk more than the women.”
Anna snorted. “I believe it. There are men in my neighborhood who sit around on each other’s steps and talk about everyone in the neighborhood. The women are too busy working and doing other things. The men sit around and run their mouths.”
“You sound like Knox.”
“He’s right.”
“Well, we’re not going to worry about any of them. We’re here to get to know each other and have a good first date.”
“Does it really count as a first date if we’ve already slept together?”
“I’m counting it. I plan to take you on a lot more dates, no matter how many times we’ve slept together.”
Her cheeks turned pink at my declaration. She nibbled her lower lip and looked up at me through those dark lashes. The look in her eyes went straight to my cock.
“Anna,” I groaned.
“Are you sure we can’t rearrange some of our evening?”
“I think we might have to if you keep looking at me like that.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to do that.”
I groaned and leaned over, cupping the back of her head and bringing her to me. I pulsed my tongue between her lips, enjoying the little gasps she made. She reached up and fisted my shirt in her hand.
A throat cleared, and a plate thunked down on the table. “This is a family place,” Mrs. Woo admonished us. “Save that for dessert.”
We smiled and nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
20
Mrs. Woo was true to her word and brought us an incredible four course meal. But for all the food and how delicious it was, Anna was still my favorite part.
I couldn’t keep my hands off her as we ate. I loved the way she enjoyed her food. When she was trying something new, she closed her eyes and focused on the food alone. She would smile and tilt her head and breathe deep, like every bite was special and needed to be savored.
I was more than ready for dessert.
“That was amazing,” Anna gushed to Mrs. Woo when she brought over the check. “I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a dinner so much.”
Mrs. Woo grinned widely. “You’re too sweet. I’ll tell Mr. Woo. He’s the master behind all of this. He loves to cook and share his gift with people. I just like to talk.”
“Well, you make the perfect pair. You help people feel comfortable and welcome, and he feeds them until they can’t move.”
Mrs. Woo laughed loudly. “It’s a good combination.”
Anna laughed with her. “The best.”
“I hope you two will come back sometime.”
“We definitely will,” Anna said, meeting my gaze with her smiling one.
Mrs. Woo caught my eye and nodded. I grinned. She approved. That was good to know. Not that it would have changed my mind about Anna, but Mrs. Woo was important to me. And she was a good judge of character.
Anna groaned when it was time to stand and rubbed her belly. “Oh, my God, I think I ate too much. I couldn’t stop.”
“I feel that way whenever I come here. Everything is so good.”
“It was amazing. Thank you for bringing me here.”
I smiled at her. “You’re welcome.”
We made our way across the icy parking lot and rubbed our hands together. She blew warm breath into her hands. I blasted the heat that wasn’t yet warm and took her hands into mine, rubbing them together and blowing my breath onto them.
Her gaze collided with mine. She sucked in a sharp breath. It was no longer cold inside the truck.
We leaned toward each other at the same moment, stretching across the console that separated us. My hand dove into her hair, tilting her head to give me access to her eager mouth. She grabbed my jacket and tugged me closer. My hip hit the console, the hard plastic digging in to the point of pain, but I didn’t care. I had my hands on Anna, and after the torture of watching her savor her meal, I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to stop until I was able to savor her.
We kissed like teenagers, hands roaming on top of clothes and heat blasting all around us. I cupped her hip and honestly debated skipping our second stop of the night, or just worshipping Anna in the back of my truck. But I promised her a date, and I wasn’t going to let my dick take over and ruin that. For either of us.
I pulled back, panting for breath and hating myself for not continuing. She was breathing just as hard and chewed on her lip. We didn’t let go of each other, our hands keeping our faces close together.
“We have another stop,” I pushed out through my ragged breath.
“Please tell me it’s your house.”
I chuckled at her pleading voice and shook my head. “Not yet.”
“You’re torturing me.”
“Trust me, you’re not the only one who feels tortured.”
“Good,” she said.
I chuckled and extracted myself from her. The windows were fogged up and the entire cab was steamy from our make-out session. I turned on the defrost and wiped the glass in front of us clear, then headed toward our second stop.
Anna looked sideways at me when I parked in front of a church. “Do you think I need some religion in my life?”
I chuckled. “We’re not here for church.”
She saw the people heading toward the back door and raised an eyebrow at me. We were younger than all of them by at least two decades. “What is this?”
I smiled. “You’ll see.”
She was a good sport and got out of the truck with me. I reached for her hand, and she willingly grasped mine. We followed the others into the door at the back of the church and down the stairs to the basement.
“Bingo?” she gasped.
I nodded. “Don’t let these kind looking people fool you. They will dab you to death if you fuck up their bingo game.”
She snorted a laugh and tried to cover it with her hand.
“Are you playing or gawking?” a woman said from behind us.
We stepped to the side to let the woman pass with her walker and bag of bingo dabbers. She had every color of the rainbow in there, and probably a few more.
“This is insane.”
“It’s fun. Come on.” I tugged her toward the entrance table and paid our way in. It was a quarter for each board. They let you play as many as you wanted, but once you played a board, it was done. I handed over a twenty and took the stack they gave us. It was another dollar for each bingo dabber. We got two for each of us.
Anna just stared at the scene with wide eyes and a smile.
We found two empty seats at a table in the middle. Most of the tables up front were full. We joined three men and a woman, all of whom nodded once, then went back to their game without a word to us.
“This is intense,” Anna whispered.
“They’re cut-throat here. Pay attention and don’t talk during a game.”
The woman across from us glared in our direction. Another number was called, and she focused on marking the ten boards she had in front of her.
Anna turned to me with wide eyes and a grin. I tried not to laugh.
We joined in when they started a new game, each of us only using one board for our first turn. We got the hang of it and added a second board for the next game. Anna came close to bingo on the third game, but one of the men at our table won before Anna.
They took a break after six games. People got up and talked to the others they knew. Coffee was served and cookies appeared out of nowhere.
“Want anything?” I asked her.
Anna shook her head. “I’m still stuffed from dinner.”
“Me, too.”
“This is fun,” she admitted.
“Good. I was hoping you wouldn’t be opposed to it.”
She nodded. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“You said you’re not good with numbers, right?”
I sucked in a breath and nodded. “Yep.”
“You don’t seem to be having trouble with this.”
I shook my head, feeling itchy all over. I didn’t like talking about my disability. Not because I was ashamed but because most people didn’t really get it. They thought I should try harder or focus better instead of understanding that nothing worked to make sense in my mind. If I was tired, I was hopeless. And the more numbers, the worse it always was.
“Something like this is more patterns than anything else. I can look at what’s called and match it to what’s on my board. My brain doesn’t see these as numbers, even though they are. They’re more like pictures.”
“That’s interesting. Does it help you with the numbers?”
“No. It’s just different.”
“Oh.”
I didn’t ask why she was asking. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to figure out how to make me smarter or what. I wasn’t going to change, and if she was trying to figure out how to change me, maybe we weren’t as compatible as I thought.
“Did you know Joey’s dyslexic, too?”
“He is?”
She nodded. “I wasn’t sure if you knew. I thought that’s why you were telling me you were. It took his teachers a long time to figure it out. For years, they told me he was just not that smart, but I knew he was. He just couldn’t understand numbers and some letters.”
“The same thing happened to me. I was held back in elementary school because they thought I wasn’t smart enough to move forward. I had a really good teacher one year who figured it out and was able to teach me some ways to understand better. They know a lot more now and have tools that make it easier, but it’s still not easy.”
Anna shook her head. “It’s not. As a parent, either. I feel like I’ve let him down. Constantly. I should have figured out what was going on so I could have gotten him the help he needed sooner.”
“That’s not on you. A parent is supposed to think their child is perfect. And Joey is. So’s Matty. It took me a long time to accept that just because my brain works differently than other people’s doesn’t mean I’m not smart.”
“You’re very smart,” she said.
I smiled. “Thank you. And so is Joey.”
She nodded and looked down at her hands. “Can I ask you another question?”
“Sure.”
“Do you think he’ll be successful in college?”
I took a minute to consider my answer because I didn’t want to assure her it would be fine when I knew it would be harder than for most kids. “College isn’t easy. Even though I knew what I was facing, I didn’t reach out for help until I was failing and my coaches forced it on me. And even then, I fought it. People can be cruel. But there are resources, so if Joey’s willing to accept help, I think he can be very successful.”
Anna sighed heavily, like that had been weighing on her.
“You were worried?”
She nodded. “Right now, I can help him. Not always, but some. Enough to try to explain things if he’s struggling. When he goes to college, I won’t be able to do that.”
