Page 99 of Love Unavoidable
She laughs. “You are throwing my words back at me again, aren’t you? I don’t know why I was teasing you so hard that night, but it was fun.”
I smile. “It was.” She grins back. I refrain from leaning in to kiss her even though I want to. This is a first date, and that’s how I will treat it. I hold my hand out to her. “Shall we go?” She takes my hand and we head out.
It doesn’t take long to get to the Crazy Burro. I live fairly close to the center of downtown. In fact, most of the neighborhoods in San Soloman are close to downtown. It’s not until you get outside the city limits that it really spreads out. Like where Cole and Lexie live.
I park the car then go around to her side to open it and help her out. “Why, thank you, kind sir.” She bats her eyelashes at me. I like it.
I put my hand on her lower back as we head to the entrance, partly so I can open the door for her, and partly so I can stake my claim.
“Oh god, it smells so good in here,” she says as we walk in. She’s right. The aroma of sizzling onions, peppers, and meat lingers in air, mingling with cooking tortillas and a hint of citrus. They seat us back in the corner, sort of private, but also facing the main dining area. Our server comes by to bring us chips and salsa and we each order a margarita.
Sadie loads a chip with salsa and pops it in her mouth. “Oh my, that is spicy but so tasty.”
“They have the best salsa in town.” I grab some chips and dip them in the salsa, glad for the distraction of food because suddenly I don’t know what to say to her. I’m nervous, but I feel comfortable at the same time. I don’t understand it.
“So, is that where you went just before you picked me up, to get flowers?”
I nod, my mouth still full of chips.
“That was unexpected and really ni . . . sexy of you.”
I swallow and take a sip of water. “Thank you. How did your day go today? What did you do?”
“I taught a class this morning, ran some errands, normal boring stuff. You worked last night, right? Did you sleep today?”
“I did. I feel good. All rested up for tonight.” I wiggle my eyebrows at her and she laughs. I take another sip of water and she eats more chips. The silence we keep settling into is awkward, but I can’t think of anything to say either. When we first met, we couldn’t get the words out fast enough. And even our evening together after that.
Think, Ethan. Say something.
“So, hey, it’s kind of weird we aren’t talking much, huh?”
She nods. “Yes. I was thinking the same thing. But I’ll be honest. I’m a little nervous about tonight. I’ve been nervous all day. I don’t know if it’s because it’s a date, or what.”
“Me too,” I say. “It’s funny right? I mean, I feel like I know you so well, and we have all these things to talk about, and I’m just tongue-tied right now.” Admitting that helps me to relax. The server comes by to bring our drinks and take our orders.
Sadie takes a long sip of her margarita. “Oh, that’s good. If it’s possible, it’s even better than the ones at that bar I got stuck in.” She giggles.
“That’s up on our wall of fame, you know.”
“Your what?”
“At the station, we’ve got a picture of you half in, half out the window up on our wall of fame. Kat sent it to Brad, and he put it up.” I laugh, not sure how she will take this.
“You do not!”
“We do.”
“Ohmigod, I’m so embarrassed.” Her face turns a shade of red to prove it.
“Don’t worry, your name isn’t on it, and you can’t see your face.”
“It’s a picture of my rear end?” She buries her head in her hands. I laugh harder.
“No,” I say once I catch my breath. “It’s your head, but it’s hanging down so you can’t see your face. It could be the back of anyone’s head.”
“I threw that shirt out, you know.”
“Why? I liked that shirt, it looked good on you.”
