Page 12 of Adrian (Love Under the Lights 3)

“Including the fact that I didn’t recognize you?” I teased.

“Especially that you didn’t recognize me,” he answered.

I found that both sweet and sad. I couldn’t imagine being so well-known that it would be a treat to go unrecognized. I’d never realized before how much I took my privacy for granted. Having people take hundreds of photos of me every time I walked into a restaurant or went to an event would’ve been torture. While he seemed to take it in stride, his appreciation of the fact that I hadn’t known him made it clear there was a price for being famous. I tucked that away to think about later when he asked if I liked wine. After confirming that I did, in fact, enjoy it, he ordered a bottle of Caymus Cabernet.

Since it was opening night, every table in the restaurant was full. So many people in one spot could have made it feel loud and overwhelming, but the way the space was laid out and decorated, it somehow managed to feel intimate. I loved that we were able to talk and get to know each other. Just like in the car ride over, I found that the more I got to know Adrian, the more I liked him.

The food was incredible, particularly the ossobuco, and the polenta served with it was the best I ever had. I noticed that a few of the women seated at the tables around us had foregone entrees in favor of salads, which made zero sense to me. God knew if my sister were there, she’d have done the same, but depriving myself of food in some misguided effort to make my date think I could survive on rabbit food wasn’t on my agenda. Cindy had told me on more than one occasion that the fact that I was unwilling to play the game was the reason I didn’t have a boyfriend. I admit that when the waiter brought our first course to the table, I’d wondered if Adrian was expecting me to pick at it. Fortunately, the way he shared his food with me, encouraging me to eat more, made it clear he didn’t expect me to starve. I’d mentally added another mark in the positive column for him, not that he needed any more.

From start to finish, dinner took nearly three hours, and I enjoyed every second of it. As incredible as the food was, the best thing about the experience was being with Adrian. When we walked to the rear of the restaurant to get into the car, he once again held my hand. I committed every second of how I felt to memory because I didn’t want to forget a thing.

I also didn’t want the night to end. When we got back to my apartment, put Duke on his little leash, and walked him to the grassy area in the courtyard of the building, it felt like the most natural thing in the world to ask Adrian if he wanted to hang out and watch a movie with me. After saying yes without a moment's hesitation, he walked out to the driver and let him go for the night. I felt like an idiot for forgetting that he didn’t have his car with him before I’d asked him to stay.

“I’ll Lyft home later,” he said like it was no big deal at all.

After settling that, I picked my DVD notebook off the TV stand and handed it to Adrian to go through.

“It’s not a big collection, but it’s a good one,” I told him.

He nodded as he turned the sleeve pages. “This is awesome,” he laughed. “You like comedy as much as I do. A lot of these rank among my favorite movies.”

“So great minds think alike?”

He grinned as he stopped turning the pages. “That you’ve got Trading Places in here wraps it up for me. You’re the perfect woman. We have to watch this.”

His compliment warmed me even though it was just an offhand comment. I liked that we were compatible. Excusing myself from the room for a few minutes, I headed to my room to get out of the beautiful dress I’d worn to dinner. After taking my contacts out, brushing my hair, and tossing it up into a bun, I changed into a plain tee and a pair of black leggings and returned to the living room. While I’d been out of the room, Adrian had rolled up the sleeves of his button-down shirt and undone a button. I felt my pulse flutter as I took in the visual of him relaxed and seated on my couch.

After getting us both glasses of water from the kitchen, I returned to the living room and sat on the couch next to him. He’d cued up the movie while I was gone, so there wasn’t anything to do but sit back and enjoy. I’d been nervous for about four seconds about how I should sit, but he quickly took care of that by putting his arm around my shoulders. Sighing happily, I settled against him with a smile. We both laughed when Duke jumped onto the couch and curled up in my lap. Once again, I was struck by just how natural things between Adrian and me were.

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