After a short drive up to Picnic Point, we park. It’s a little chilly this evening, but fortunately, I packed blankets. I set it all out on our old spot. From here, you can see the lights of our little town.
So that it isn’t too dark, I line the edge of the blanket with several small flameless candles. Then I pull out a bottle of champagne.
“Now, I don’t recall that on our first date.”
I laugh. “No, if I remember right, we split a bottle of diet soda. God, that was gross.”
“You should have gotten your own drink at the pizza place,” she teases.
After I pour two plastic glasses of champagne, I hand her one. “I figured we could upgrade from the diet soda. Here’s to second chances.”
“Second chances,” she repeats. Then we clink glasses. “Mmm, this is good.”
Her moan definitely brings back other memories. I shift under the blanket, hoping she doesn’t notice.
“Do you know your champagne, or did you get lucky?” she asks.
I set my glass down, careful to not let it topple. “I know champagne and wine. It’s helpful to know in my line of work.”
“There’s a lot about you I don’t know, isn’t there?”
I wink. “I’d love for you to learn it all.”
“Now, why did that sound sexual?”
I bark out a laugh. “Because you obviously have sex on your mind. My Luce, a dirty girl.”
“With you, I always was.”
And just like that, I’m hard as stone. “We should eat, because if you keep looking at me like that, it won’t be the pizza I’m eating,” I warn.
Her mouth falls open. “I think you may have gotten dirtier over the years.”
Only when it comes to you.“I guess you’ll have to find out.”Hopefully soon.
I hand her a napkin and paper plate with a slice of pizza.
She watches me while she eats. “You mentioned you never married, but did you ever fall in love again?”
I don’t hesitate. “No. It was always you.”
She nods and turns her gaze to the stars.
Quietly, I ask, “Did you love Joseph?”
Please say no. That guy is a prick.
After setting down her plate, she leans back on her hands. “I loved him, but I wasn’t in love with him. Does that make sense? I mean, I cared about him, but there were no sparks.”
“No sparks? So, he sucked at sex?”
She tosses her napkin at me, then sighs. “Yeah, he did.”
“It’s because he’s too self-centered.”
She seems to think on that for a moment. “You’re right, he is self-centered. He hid that well. He hid a lot at first. But let’s not talk about my ex-husband tonight.”
“Fine by me.” I move the pizza box and scoot closer. “I wanted to kiss you so bad on our first date. But I was too nervous,” I admit.
