Page 96 of His to Cherish

Chapter 20

I brushed down the sides of my salmon-colored dress when my doorbell rang. As I reached to open the door, beginning my firstrealdate with Aidan, my heart was beating overtime.

There was an importance to tonight, as if Aidan and I were starting over.

I wanted it to go perfectly.

“Hi,” I said, practically breathing out the word and waving him in. As always, the first glimpse of Aidan stole my breath. “Come on in, I just have to grab my bag and sweater.”

“You are beautiful.”

I stumbled in my camel-colored open-toed sandals and fidgeted with the matching belt wrapped around my waist.

His appreciative gaze swept from my scalp down to my toes, and my body prickled with interest. I bit my bottom lip, grinning brightly.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” I said as I took him in; he was wearing dark jeans that looked brand new—not frayed at the bottoms like his regular ones were. Instead of his typical brown work boots, he was wearing shiny black dress shoes. The sleeves of a dress shirt with blue and white stripes were casually rolled up and pushed almost to his elbows. It was perfectly ironed as if it’d never been worn.

A black leather watch caught my attention, and the way his hair was gelled and styled to perfection made me smile. I was understating his appearance. There was no word I knew of that could adequately describe the ferocious sex appeal radiating off him.

“Did you…buy this outfit today?” I asked, unable to hide my surprise.

An endearing pink graced his cheeks. “Are you ready?”

I nodded and flashed him a wink, signaling that I was letting him off the hook from having to answer the question. His avoidance was enough. I grabbed my bag and cardigan, in case I got cold wherever we were going, and when I turned around, I was no longer nervous.

Knowing that Aidan was like me, wanting this night to be special, somehow calmed me.

This was important to him.

After helping me into his truck, where I had to carefully keep myself from flashing him too much as I got situated, he pulled out into the street, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.

I leaned over and gently pressed my palm to his thigh. “Why are you nervous?”

His hand dropped from the steering wheel and his fingers covered mine, squeezing gently. I felt that squeeze travel from my heart to where my thighs met.

“I told you I don’t date much.”

“And?” I grinned. I couldn’t help it. He looked like he wanted to shift with unease on his seat.

“It’s just been a long time. Between Derrick and work and wanting to be an example for him, I’ve always been careful about who I let into my life.”

His lips tightened as if maybe he’d said too much.

I scooted across his large bench seat and rested my head on his shoulder.

His shoulders tightened before relaxing.

“It’s just me, Aidan.”

“I know,” he murmured, tilting his head and pressing a gentle kiss on my temple. “That’s why this is important.”

My chest constricted, but this time it wasn’t from nerves or fear. He had the ability to eradicate all of that inside of me with a simple brush of lips over my skin.

It wasn’t long before we pulled into Rube’s Steakhouse on the edge of town. It looked like an old, run-down metal barn, but what awaited me inside was heaven.

Pure heaven on a charcoal grill.

I pulled away from Aidan and twisted my neck so I was looking into his eyes. “I love this place.”

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