“Yeah,” I say, my smile dropping. “Why do you look so surprised?”
“I’m not,” she assures me, then shakes her head. “I’ve just never had someone put in so much work to… You know what? Never mind.”
I reach over to squeeze her hand. “This is the bare minimum, Josette. If someone can’t be bothered to put in the tiniest bit of work to please you and make you comfortable and happy, then they don’t deserve you.”
She gives me a tiny smile, and I squeeze her hand again before releasing it to start the car. I buckle my seatbelt and put my hand on the gearshift, then pause to look at her again.
“If it will make you more comfortable and less anxious, I’ll happily tell you where we’re going.”
She meets my eyes for several beats before gently shaking her head. “No. I trust you, Dallas.”
My lips part into a wide grin. “Good. Ready?”
“Ready.”
We listen to soft music on the radio as we drive, and when I hop on the freeway, heading south, I can feel her gaze on me. Turning my head, I see her staring at me with wide eyes.
“Are we going to San Diego?”
I just smile and shrug, and I see the corner of her mouth tilt up as she faces forward again. We chat a little during the drive, talking of inconsequential things as Josette visibly becomes more and more excited. When I pull into the lot of the hotel, she squirms in her seat before looking over at me with wide eyes.
“We’re going toHover?” she asks.
I nod, and her face is so bright, it’s nearly blinding. I’m going to have to buy Callie something nice for recommending this place.
“My mom and dad used to bring Callie and me here when we were younger,” she says. “You can see most of the city from the roof, and you can see the bay and the Coronado bridge.”
“It sounds amazing,” I say as I pull into a spot and shut off the engine. “I’m glad I get to experience it for the first time with you.”
She smiles at me like I’ve said the most perfect thing imaginable, and my chest swells. God, I like this girl so much. I’d take her anywhere to get one of those smiles.
I hop out and run around to help her from the car,and she’s practically vibrating as she takes the hand I offer her. I hold onto it as we walk toward the hotel’s entrance. Inside, we head for the elevator that will take us to the rooftop lounge.
As soon as we step off the elevator, I feel Josette stiffen beside me. It’s Saturday night, and the place is packed. Reaching over, I switch the hand that’s holding hers and circle my arm around her waist, pulling her into my side. I tell the hostess my name and she leads us to a private cabana made with opaque curtains that effectively cut us off from the rest of the people without impeding our view of the bay and the bridge. We can even see the baseball stadium, where there’s a game happening tonight.
I help Josette into her chair, and when I move around to take my seat, she’s staring at me with wide eyes.
“What?” I ask.
“You set this all up…for me?”
“Of course, I did. I want you to have a good time, and you can’t do that if you’re feeling stressed by the crowd.”
She just stares at me for a few beats, then murmurs, “Thank you, Dallas.”
“You’re very welcome,” I say, then pick up the menu the hostess left in front of my seat. “Now, what’s good here?”
“Well,” she says, smirking a little, “the last time I was here, I was thirteen, and I loved the chicken fingers and the mac and cheese.”
“Sounds delicious. Should I orderthat for both of us?” I ask with a straight face, and tinkling laughter bubbles out of her.
“Maybe we should look at the menu, first,” she says, and we stare at each other for several beats, both of us grinning like fools.
The crowd in the baseball stadium erupts into a loud roar that we can hear from here, and we both look over to see a player in white jogging around the bases while the rest of the team waits at home plate.
“Go Padres,” Josette says, and I look back at her.
“Are you a baseball fan?”