Page 63 of In a Pinch

“Oh, please. I am only running, like, ten minutes late,” she says.

Dropping my hand to her waist, I use my free hand to point to the clock.

“Okay. So, maybe a little more than ten minutes.” Her eyes roll, annoyed at my berating. “Are we in a rush for something?”

“Yes, I planned up a little surprise for you.” My free hand finds her waist again and anchors there.

“Well, you should have said that, and I wouldn’t have done the dishes before I headed over here.”

“It wouldn’t have been a surprise if I told you about it, now would it have?” Her excitement at the surprise overpowers her need to shoot me some attitude back.

Her smile turns giddy and her eyes widen. “Oooh, what’s the surprise?”

“I’m not telling. Let's head downstairs. We’re gonna have to haul ass to make it on time.”

She claps her hands, her steps extra bouncy. “I’m so excited.”

We head downstairs, and her steps double mine as she hustles down. She heads to my car, not realizing I’ve taken a turn early.

I shoot her a whistle, and she turns in her tracks, confusion etched into her furrowed brow. Apprehensively, she heads in my direction.

“What, are we walking there? I did not wear walking attire, sir.” She wiggles her feet at me, showing off her little sandals. Sandals are perfect for what I have in store for the end of the night.

I shake my head at her. “No, sassy pants. But we are riding there.” When I nod my head to the right, she realizes I’m standing next to my bike, which only gets ridden on snowless spring days and in summer.

I love the shit out of this bike. I love riding around, with the open air and being completely free. The speed fills my need for adrenaline, and I treat her almost as good as I treat my favorite set of knives.

Addie’s eyes look between the bike and me. Her brow raises ever so slightly, and a little smirk pulls her lips up on the sides. “You have a motorcycle.” More specifically, an all black Yamaha Stryker.

“I do.” My smirk matches hers.

She looks it over and mutters, “Nice.”

I’ve learned that look on her face; my girl is into the bike. Too bad she’s made us run late, or I could show her things that would really make her like it.

Grabbing the helmets from the back of the bike, I brush Addie’s hair out of her face, while admiring the freckles dusting her nose and cheeks. Her green eyes stare up at me with a fire that burns straight down to my chest. I slide the helmet over her head, clasping the cool buckle under her chin to make sure it fits right.

“All right, let’s ride,” I say, hopping on. Addie slides in behind me, her body melting with mine. Her arms wrap around my middle as I stand the bike up fully, kicking it into gear. Turning the handles, we slowly take off.

The drive to the restaurant is about an hour, and the sun slowly starts its descent, painting the sky beautiful golden tones. In my rearview mirror, I catch sight of Addie, the sun making her face and tips of her hair glow. Her eyes are wide, staring at the waves beside us. She points to the waves crashing on the rock, causing the water to spray upward of twenty feet. I feel her head—her hard ass head with that helmet—lean against my back. On second thought, she's pretty hardheaded without it, too. But I can’t help but lean against her, wanting to feel closer.

We pull up to the restaurant. The exterior is covered in sun-washed stone, and pine trees are scattered throughout the area. With the temperature being above seventy degrees on a regular basis, the grass is finally growing. I love this time of year around here. The coast has always felt peaceful to me, and being this close to it just makes me feel alive.

“This place is gorgeous. I love the stone.” Addie eyes the buildings and our surroundings. I sometimes forget she's new here and she is experiencing this all for the first time.

“Yeah, this area is my favorite. Being close to the water, you’d think it’d be more populated, but I think it’s Maine’s best-keptsecret.” Not that tourism is bad. Everyone has a right to explore, but fuck, it can be annoying.

“Wow, Prince Charming. You’re even sharing your secret spots with me. I must be pretty special.” I roll my eyes and swat her ass, which looks amazing in those skin-tight jeans. The act urges her to move up the walkway into the large, wooden double doors.

Cheesy Italian music blares through the speakers. I’ve never been to Italy, but I’m willing to bet my right nut that they don’t play this shit there. The dim lighting sets the mood, its ambiance reminding me of Flambé.

The day I helped Addie move and tonight are the only times I’ve ever requested off work. Chef about shit his pants when he saw the requests come with so little time in between. But it took him about two seconds to put together it had to do with a girl. He gave my arm two strong pats and told me to enjoy myself. And to wrap it before I tap it. Great life advice, that man gives. Usually, he sticks to advice with my career and the culinary world, but occasionally, he throws in some off-the-wall life advice.

Lucky for me, Linsey has left me alone. I’ve all but iced her out at work since the incident with Addie and what should have been our first kiss. The fact I could have been doing this whole thing with Addie sooner makes me even more annoyed.

Our waitress leads us through the restaurant. The wooden tables are set with actual tablecloths. After working in the service industry, that’s how I can tell if a place is legit or not. I mean, it’s more than that, but no tacky-ass, plastic table cover is a good start.

When Addie sees our table, her eyes light up. She catches sight of the reserved sign as the waitress grabs it and ushers us to sit.

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