Page 22 of Finding Happily Ever After
Not that he was going to look away.
Hell no.
Watching how much Natalie enjoyed her food had been a highlight of their date. So far. And only one of many.
Pretty much the entire evening had been awesome. Conversation had flowed; they’d laughed and gotten to know each other far more than just the high school teacher and the firefighter who taught first aid. It had been perfect.
“I can’t even tell you how glad I am that you’re enjoying it, Natalie. Really.” Aiden used his fork to break a piece of his own fish off, and took a bite. “I think Brody outdid himself this time.”
“It was really sweet of you to request a special meal.” She set her fork down as she spoke, a fact he was grateful for only because maybe for a small second he could stop thinking sexy thoughts about her. She smiled and dipped her head a bit so her blonde hair fell over her shoulder and between the cleavage of her dress.
So much for not thinking sexy thoughts.
Aiden took a long drink of water. If he thought Natalie was sexy as hell in her firefighter uniform, seeing her in a low-cut dress that showed off her breasts and hugged her curves was downright sinful.He couldn’t even imagine what she’d look like in only—
No.He stopped himself from going down that particular line of thinking. There was no way he’d be able to finish his dinner if he started thinking of how gorgeous she would look with her skin flushed, panting with desire while he kissed every inch of—fuck.
Too late.
Thankfully, Natalie was still talking about the meal and how delicious it was. He forced himself to focus. He was never even going to get a first kiss if he made a complete and total fool of himself first, and he didnotwant to screw things up with Natalie. She was different and special. Strong and independent, she was smart and funny and absolutely everything he was looking for in a woman.
“It was my pleasure,” he said. “I really wanted our first date to be special.”
“Not fair.” She picked up her wine but instead of taking a sip, she held it as she spoke. “I asked you out. I should have made the arrangements.”
“It was merely a technicality.” He put his fork down. He couldn’t eat another bite. “You beat me by seconds. I was just about to ask you.”
“That’s not true.” She laughed.
“You’re right. I was actually about to kiss you.”
Her laughter died as her skin flushed. She looked surprised and embarrassed and so completely innocent all at once. It was incredibly sexy.
“Did you not want me to?”
She put her wine glass on the table and dropped her gaze to her plate before answering. “No.” She shook her head and looked up. “I did want you to.”
Aiden couldn’t have stopped the grin on his face if he’d wanted to. And he didn’t.
This woman. She was full of surprises, and he wanted to discover all of them.
He took a chance—because, hell, why not?—and reached across the table to take her hand. She didn’t pull away, so Aiden slowly turned her hand in his until her palm faced up. He stroked the soft skin, just a little, and looked into her eyes.
“I’m really happy to hear that.”
“I’m sorry to interrupt.” The waiter, who didn’t seem all that sorry to interrupt at all, ruined the moment, and Natalie pulled her hand away. “Are you all done here?”
They nodded, and he cleared the plates away before once again reappearing to top up their wine glasses with the remainder of the bottle. “Can I get you two anything else this evening?”
“I think—”
“We have a delicious chocolate mousse,” he continued, as if Aiden hadn’t spoken. “It’s finished with a raspberry coulis.” The waiter looked directly at Natalie, whose eyes were growing wider as he explained the desserts.
The waiter listed a few more things, each sounding more delicious than the last, before finally leaving them to make their decision.
“Well,” Aiden said. “They all sounded pretty amazing. Are you a dessert kind of woman?”
“You know what?” Her tongue peeked out between her lips just a little. “I usually would be a complete sucker for that mousse, but I don’t think I could eat another bite right now.”
