I looked up at him, finding a smile as warm as all the twinkling little flames in front of me. “I can’t believe this.”
He brought my hand to his lips and kissed it. “Anything for you.”
My heart pitter-pattered as he led me to the table, pulled out my chair, and helped me get seated. My gaze was dancing around to the beautiful roses, which smelled fricking amazing.
After getting my bearings, my eyes found him sitting across from me, watching my reaction.
“Jax, this is so beautiful.”
A waiter appeared. “Hello, Madison. I’m Bryce. Jax has designed the menu for this evening.” He pulled a bottle of wine from the ice bucket next to the table and filled my glass before he pulled out a bottle of Miller Lite and tossed it to Jax, who let out a laugh. “I shall return in a moment with the appetizers.”
My hand was visibly shaking as I lifted my glass to my lips and took a long-ass drink. WTF? Yes, it waswow, that’s fantastic.
He sat back in his chair, making me want to pluck a rose from the vase, toss it between my teeth, hop on his lap, and let him have his way with me under the warm light of the candles. Maybe later.
“How did you get the owner to close up just for us?”
He reached across the table and grabbed my hand. “My friend Mary Helen owns it, so I gave her a call this afternoon.”
“And she closed down for business just like that?”
He nodded. “Friends do just about anything for each other around here.”
The waiter reappeared and placed two silver platters on the table. One with sushi and the other with golden French fries; I couldn’t think of two things I liked better. He put some on our plates and vanished into the darkness of the room.
I leaned in close. “This is so damn fantastic, Jax. Great menu choices, top shelf.”
The sushi melted on my tongue and went very well with my wine, which I noticed had nearly disappeared from my glass.
“I wanted to do something special for you.”
“For me?”
“Since you arrived, you’ve kind of had my head spinning. I guess I wanted you to know that.”
I looked around the amazing place we were in, and a giddy giggle escaped. “Mission accomplished.”
“With Zoey arriving tomorrow and all the wedding stuff, I know things will get busy.”
I nodded as the waiter made yet another appearance, taking away our empty platters, and placing a plate in front of each of us, covered with a shiny silver lid.
“Enjoy.”
As he walked away, I turned to Jax, who wore a coy smirk. He lifted both of the lids at the same time in a voila fashion. My hand immediately flew to my mouth.
There before us were two beautiful plates filled with SpaghettiOs. His image blurred as I blinked, trying to keep my tears in check. I failed.
Visions of the normal things I’d experienced in my life ran through my memory. From New Year’s Eve in Paris with Zoey to rubbing elbows with celebrities at parties, and nothing even came close to touching my heart, as the platter of Os, in front of me.
He leaned up in his chair. “Are you okay?”
I nodded as another one of those fuckers escaped from my eye. “I am unbelievably okay.”
He took a bite, and I followed. My heart was singing opera as I looked at the sweet man across from me.
Nearly finished, my ears perked up when Norah Jones's’Come Away With Mefilled the air.
“I love this song.”
