Page 16 of My Blind Date is a Werewolf

Beverley gave me a Cheshire cat smile and got up from her seat to grab her phone from behind the counter. “That would hardly count as a blind date now, would it? Tell me, would tonight be too soon for the first date?”

I choked on air. “To-tonight? What if he already has plans or something? I assumed we’d make it a weekend thing or something.” I smoothed my palms over my jeans. My stomach felt as if tiny creatures were tap dancing up a storm. Beverley tsked and gave me a you’re-not-serious stare. A customer walked up to pay for his books. Instead of waiting until we were alone again, she spoke over his shoulder.

“Wouldn’t want you to chicken out on me.” She shook her head. “I’m guessing you’d rather not have this date anywhere the two of you might be seen. You have the option of driving an hour into the city or over to Beckford. I can make reservations for you. All you have to do is show up. Or would you rather he pick you up from your place.”

“No thank you.” I shook my head. “No disrespect to your mad matchmaking skills, but I don’t want a stranger showing up at my place. What if he’s a weirdo or the date tanks? I can’t avoid him if he knows where I live.”

“Fair enough.” Beverley’s eyes sparkled with laughter. “So, the big city or Beckford, what’ll it be?” At the mention of Beckford, I flashed back to the disaster date with what’s his face and his horrible mother at the steakhouse. Still, it was a shorter round trip than if we drove an hour each way into the city.

“Beckford’s fine by me, just as long as the reservation is not for Joe’s Steakhouse.”

CHAPTER 10

Three hours later, I was questioning my sanity as I stared at my face in the full-length mirror in the bathroom. It’s not too late to bail out, I told my reflection. What was I thinking, going all the way to Beckford for a date with a total stranger? At least with online dating, I had little rapport with my date after chatting on the site. And I knew what they looked like and their names beforehand. I was going in completely blind on this one. All I knew about my date was that he would be wearing a red tie, according to Beverley. I tried to point out that any number of men could be wearing red ties when I walked into Hestia’s, the Greek restaurant in Beckford we were dining at.

“Trust me, gingersnap, you couldn’t miss him if you tried,” Beverley had cackled through the phone when she called to confirm that everything was still on for tonight.

And so here I was. I’d had to dig deep into the closet for a sapphire blue sheath dress I hadn’t worn in years and almost cried in relief when the zipper didn’t get stuck. Lord knew I’d eaten my body weight in muffins, pies, and cookies since opening Jumpin’ Beans. I supposed the spin and yoga classes Eden dragged me to did do some good. The dress had a sweetheart neckline, long off-the-shoulder lace sleeves, and shoulder straps. Smoothing my hands down my hips, I wondered if the dress was too much for a first date. Hestia’s was not exactly a jeans and sneakers kind of place, but it wasn’t a five-star restaurant either.

Come on, Liv, it’s just a dress. No one wants to rock up to a date looking like a potato, I huffed to myself in frustration and stalked out of the bathroom to put my heels on and grab my purse. I did a quick walkthrough of the house to make sure that all the windows were secured. There had been a gang of raccoons terrorizing the neighborhood. If you dared to make the mistake of leaving your windows open, chances were that you’d come back home to find your house ransacked.

***

A wave of deja vu crept over me as I once again found myself bundled in my car and psyching myself up to step into Hestia’s. Although, if you wanted to get all technical about it, this wasn’t really deja vu since I’d already been in this situation before. Aaaand there I went again, wasting time with unnecessary thoughts instead of grabbing life by the horns and doing what I’d set out to do.

I quickly glanced in the mirror to make sure my makeup was not smudged. The look of trepidation in my cornflower blue eyes and my stricken expression had me lightly slapping my cheeks and rolling back my shoulders. Try to at least look like you’re happy to be here. It’s a simple date, not an appointment with the gallows. You’re allowed to leave if you feel uncomfortable.

Besides, I told myself as I walked into the restaurant, Beverley was batting a thousand with her matches so far. She wouldn’t set me up with a loser of a human being or a psychotic serial killer. If I stopped being so pessimistic about this, I could be just as happy as all the other couples she’d matched up so far.

The first thing I noticed about Hestia’s were the robust and spicy mouthwatering aromas blanketing the open space of the taverna. I’d gotten a whiff even before I’d stepped into the restaurant. Hestia’s had a sea restaurant feel about it with its wide and airy space washed in calming hues of blue on white. Wall sconce lamps provided ambient lighting and floral creepers ripe with pink and white blooms twisted around the high lattice ceiling and flowed down the halls. Flower arrangements of anemones, bright yellow daffodils, and multi-colored hyacinths were in aquamarine ceramic vases placed strategically around the room.

A hostess in a pale blue blouse and dark pencil skirt walked up to me while I drank in the aesthetic view of the restaurant and asked me if I would be dining alone or whether I was here to meet someone.

I started to face her so that I could answer her when a shock of auburn hair in my peripheral caught my eye. If this were a movie, this would be the part where my smile fell off in slow motion and the camera panned out for the big reveal. The hostess’s voice faded away like much of the surroundings. The only person standing out in a screaming red tie was Adrian Cooper.

The smile on his face was hesitant as he got up from his seat and walked over to me. The synapses in my brain started firing, some of them getting fried in the process as I simultaneously enjoyed the sight of him in a suit and freaked out that he might actually be my blind date. Of all the men in the world, my perfect match was the man who haunted my thoughts during the day and visited my dreams while I slept. What were the odds?

My calf muscles twitched. A small part of me wanted to run away, but there was an overwhelmingly bigger part that felt a surge of relief that it was Adrian and not a total stranger who was my blind date for the night.

The corners of my lips quivered in a shaky smile to match his, the two of us having an awkward, bashful stare down of sorts in the middle of a restaurant with the hostess watching on in confusion.

“You’re my blind date?” I breathed, suddenly unsure what to do with myself. Should I hold out my hand for a handshake? Cross my arms? Hide them behind my back? Let them hang limply by my side? Was I staring at his face for too long? Where else could I look when Adrian was taking up so much space?

Holding out his hand for me, Adrian asked, “Are you disappointed?”

The question was a quiet rumble, yet it was more distinct than the din of restaurant sounds from other patrons and the soft music playing from hidden speakers.

“No. No, I’m not.” My shy smile stretched wider as I placed my hand in his, a small shiver working its way across my body at the gentle static shock that accompanied the contact.

CHAPTER 11

“On a scale of one to ten, how awkward is this for you?” Adrian asked after helping me into my seat and pouring me a glass of the wine he’d ordered beforehand. I tried not to read too much into the fact that he’d gone with my favorite, but the hopeless romantic within me was giggling like mad.

“One being not so awkward and ten being extremely uncomfortable?” I asked, and he nodded in reply, tugging on his tie. I pretended to think about it, perversely enjoying the play of emotions flashing across his face from confidence to uncertainty.

“I’d say, maybe a five. On one hand, I’ve known you since I was a kid and thought of you as an older brother at one point in my life.” His smile fell at that. “But on the flip side, I’m glad it was you, Adrian,” I confessed quietly, casting my eyes down at the menu placed in front of me and flipping it open, blindly browsing through the meal selections. I was afraid that if he stared too long into my eyes, he would get a glimpse of the depth of my feelings for him.

Whoa! What? I was startled by the jarring thought that crossed my mind. The depth of my feelings for him? What? That made it sound as if I was head over heels for the man when I’m sure all I was really feeling was lust. Just the physical yearnings of a woman who’d been single a little too long.

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