“Are you from Montana?” she asked. She had so many getting to know you kinds of questions to ask him. “Did you grow up riding horses?” To her, everyone out here seemed to be a cowboy.
“No, my dad was from Oklahoma,” he said. “So, I grew up there for a while and I learned to ride horses. But he moved for work when I was fifteen and we ended up near the ocean, so I switched from riding horses to riding a surfboard. By the time I’d graduated high school, I’d enlisted in the Navy and went on to become a SEAL.”
Her eyes widened. “So, you can ride horses, and surfboards and do all the SEAL things? Wow, that’s a lot.”
“Sweetheart, that’s the short list.” He winked. “The long list would take a while.”
“I have a long while,” she said with a smile. “I’m all yours tonight.”
He smiled deep, reached across the table for her hand, and raising it to his lips, kissed the back of her hand. “The best I could ever ask for,” he said, releasing her hand again.
Oh my.
Her mind seemed to be stuck on that phrase and him. Usually, her mind was so busy. But tonight, he kept sweeping her away into romance. She was enjoying that sweep each time he did it.
They discussed various things on the menu until their decisions were made and then the waiter returned, as if on cue.
“Yes, sir,” he said. “Are you ready to order?”
“We’ll start with the steamed mussels and a side of your house spaghetti,” Travis said. “Followed by the house salads. Then the lady will have the grilled sea scallops and I’ll have the beef tenderloin.”
“Excellent choices,” the waiter said as he took their menus.
Ellen didn’t want wine as she’d had little to eat all day and was afraid it would make her both sleepy and tipsy very fast. She’d always been a lightweight and wine would go to her head quick.
The waiter returned with fresh bread still warm from the oven, and butter.
Travis buttered her a piece and held it out to her.
She didn’t know whether he wanted her to take the bread or to lean forward and take a bite, so she reached out and took the bread. “Thank you,” she said.
“You’re welcome,” he said. Then he fixed his own piece. “So, you didn’t eat much today. Was there a reason?”
“No, no reason. I was just busy and well, maybe it was a bit of nerves,” she admitted.
“What were you nervous about?” he asked.
“This date,” she said, “Firsts are always hard, and they don’t always go well.”
“Hmm,” he considered. “Perhaps because the couple are not well paired.”
“Maybe,” she said. “Though I’ve always had bad luck with dates.”
“You, bad luck?” He shook his head. “Surely not. You’re beautiful, smart, sweet. A man should count himself lucky to have a date with you and should treat you well.”
She shrugged. “Maybe they were all crazy, then. I just know that when I was in college most of the dates I went on ended before they were done.”
“There you have it.” He nodded. “College boys can be idiots.” He smiled. “But since then, surely things have improved for you.”
“Well, this is the first date I’ve been on since college,” she gave him a sheepish smiled. “I’d sort of given up on them.”
“Then I am honored to be your first real date with a man,” he said.
She smiled. Then the waiter was there.
The appetizers had arrived, and they tried the mussels.
“I love mussels,” she said. “And these are very good.”
