Page 121 of Choosing You

He laughs. “Yes. I was going to take you to this restaurant there that’s at the top of a hotel. It has a great view of the city. It’s close to my dad’s apartment, so I’ve been there a few times. They have really good food.”

“You guys have an apartment in New York?”

“Yeah. My dad has a lot of meetings there so sometimes he needs a place to stay overnight. We also have an apartment in London and one in LA.”

In addition to that, Garret’s family has five other houses, although he assures me they’re much smaller than his house here in Connecticut. That house is so big that the first time I saw it I thought it was some type of fancy hotel.

“So you were going to drive all the way to New York City for our first date?”

“I usually don’t drive there. Parking is impossible. I take my dad’s car service. But we could’ve taken the train, too.”

“That sounds fun. Why didn’t we go?”

“I didn’t think you’d want to. First of all, you don’t like noisy places and that city is nothing but noise. And second, I knew you’d say I was spending too much money.”

“I guess. But I really want to see New York City. I’ve always wanted to go there.”

“Really? Dammit. I should’ve just taken you there.” He checks his watch. “It’s kind of late to head there now. We’ll do it next week. Next Saturday. We’ll leave early so we’ll have time to see stuff.”

“Are you just assuming I’ll go on another date with you? We haven’t even finished this one yet. Maybe I’ll say no.”

“You’d seriously say no after I wore those stupid shoes for you and let you kick my ass in there?”

I punch his arm. “You didn’tletme kick your ass. I just kicked your ass, period.”

We hear laughing and glance up to see the two high school girls from the bowling alley heading toward Garret’s side of the car.

“Kiss me,” he says, keeping his eyes on them.

“What? Like right now?”

The girls are almost at the car. Garret turns to me, then places his hand behind my head and pulls me in for a kiss. I don’t protest because I’ve been dying to kiss him all night. He keeps it innocent, no tongue action, but I’m sure the girls who are watching us think we’re doing more. I hear them walk past us, mumbling something about how all the good guys are taken.

Garret slowly backs away. “Sorry about that. Again, it was an emergency.” He doesn’t sound all that apologetic. “Those girls are aggressive.”

“I’m glad I could help you out.” I lean back and put my seat belt on.

He pulls out of the parking lot and takes off down the road.

“Wait. We didn’t decide where to eat,” I say.

“I know where to go.”

“But you said you wanted me to pick it out.”

“Yeah, well, I asked you out, so I should pick what we do. You were right. I should’ve planned something. If you don’t like what I pick, then you’ll have to askmeout next time.”

“What’s with the attitude all of a sudden?”

“I’m just taking charge of this date. That’s all.” He reaches over to hold my hand and this time I let him. “Now tell me how you learned to bowl like that.”

We drive back toward Moorhurst, passing the campus and driving for another half hour until we’re almost at his hometown.

“Garret, we’re close to where your parents live. Aren’t you worried they’ll see us?”

“Katherine would never let my dad take her to the place we’re going. It’s not expensive enough. And I told you, I’m not listening to them anymore. If they have a problem with us dating, I really don’t care.”

We get to the restaurant. It’s an upscale Mexican place. The inside has colored lights and a fountain. I’ve never heard of half of the stuff on the menu, but I find some familiar tacos to order.

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