Page 30 of Protecting Bianca

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t want to lose you.”

“It’s all right.” I took off my coat and hung it behind my chair. “So, have you been here before? Do you recommend anything on the menu?”

“Oh. Did you not eat? I thought we were just going out for drinks and see where the night takes us.” He waggled his eyebrows, and I raised mine before grabbing a menu. “No. I haven’t eaten yet.”

I read through the pages of the menu and settled on a chicken Caesar salad. “Are you getting anything?” I asked.

John shook his head. “No. I ate at home.”

All right. I thought it a little rude to let me eat alone on a first date, but I guess it wasn’t the end of the world.

When the waitress arrived, I placed my dinner order along with a glass of wine and John ordered a soda. “Can you put that on a separate bill?” he asked her.

She looked at me and must have read the look on my face because she smiled. “Sure thing.”

I caught her shaking her head as she walked away, and I couldn’t agree more.

“So, John, do you come here often?” I asked. I couldn’t think of anything else to talk about.

“Oh, yeah. They have the best Monday night wing special.”

“Really? Why didn’t you order the wings, then?”

His eyebrows drew together in confusion. “Because it’s Thursday.”

“Right.” I rested my chin on my hand and waited for my food. It couldn’t come out fast enough. Fortunately, the waitress showed up with our drinks a few minutes later.

“Thank you,” I said.

John leaned across the table. “You sure are pretty, Byanka.”

I thought about correcting the way he pronounced my name, but didn’t think it was worth the effort since I wouldn’t be seeing him again. So, I simply replied, “Thanks.”

After taking a long sip of my wine, I asked, “So, you’re a doctor? Which field of medicine do you practice?”

“I’m not a doctor. Why would you think that?”

“Because you wrote that on your profile,” I said slowly, wondering if I’d dreamt this whole thing up.

“Oh no. I put Dr. in front of my name because I like how it looks. I figure if people can identify as a different gender, I can add Dr. in front of my name. I’ve gotten a lot more responses on my profile ever since.”

I stared at him, wondering if he was joking. “It doesn’t work like that.” I considered saying more, but realized we probably wouldn’t agree on this one or change each other’s mind. “Will you excuse me?”

I didn’t wait for him to answer. I got up and walked to the bathroom, which was only a few feet away. But it was a respite from this horrible date.

God, what has it been, five minutes? I couldn’t take much more of this.

I should have listened to my gut and not gone on this date.

I’d tell John that I wasn’t feeling well, or something came up at home. Maybe I could text Lizzie to call me and make up an excuse for why I had to go.

Oof!

I walked into a wall of sinew and muscle. When I looked up, I was staring into a depth of brown eyes with a hint of hazel.

“Jager?What are you doing here?”

He tilted his head. “You seem to greet me with that question a lot.”

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