Page 28 of Protected By West
She met his gaze as he handed her the seatbelt. "Thanks for sticking to your guns, not taking no for an answer."
He nodded. "I knew you were worth it, Tracy."
He stepped back out of the doorway when he heard the click of the seatbelt.
"I'm a pretty damn good judge of character."
He saw her cheeks flush with color as he closed the door.
Weston made quick work getting in the driver's seat, he was getting really hungry, but dinner had to come first.
CHAPTER 6
TRACY
Tracy was glad they'd gone with the Kitchen Sink platter.
It was more of a food service tray with its surface covered in large pieces of wax paper. On top of it were four choices of meat surrounded by a little of every side dish they had on the menu. It wasn't so much that they were generous portions as it was an over-the-top tasting menu.
Weston had tried the ribs, but he'd wolfed down the brisket that had been a teensy bit too salty for her. And she was doing such a thorough job with the ribs that there was hardly anything left on the bone.
Her fingers on both hands were nearly covered in the sticky heat of their diablo sauce and when she turned her head to look at the roll of paper towels on the table, she inwardly groaned. There was no way to tear off a piece to use without dirtying the whole roll or trying to use her knees and elbows.
She was just about to throw in the towel and flag down a member of the waitstaff when Weston wiped his hands off and then picked up the roll. He tore off a few good-sized pieces before setting the roll back down on the tabletop.
"Thanks," she'd hidden her mouth behind the rib bone she was holding with her fingers. After she'd finished it, she set the bone down on the little pile she'd made in a corner of the metal sheet and reached for a paper towel. As she wiped at her mouth, she felt a little uncomfortable with how openly Weston was watching her. "I told you I was going to get messy." She folded the paper towel in half and took another swipe at her mouth before speaking again. "You know, if they have one of those suggestion boxes, I'm going to suggest some kind of a mirror at each table."
"Oh?" He grinned at her, and she smiled more in reaction. "What's that for?"
She dabbed at her lips. "Now they have paper towel rolls on tables. I miss the day when they had those shiny metal napkin holders. I mean I could walk through the place with sauce all over my face to head to the bathroom, but that's kind of insult to injury, you know?"
Weston got up from his chair at the table and picked up the empty chair between them.
He set it down between them, with its back toward her.
Damn it. He probably didn't do it on purpose, but when he straddled the chair to face her, that well-worn denim fabric stretched across his hips was going to feature in a number of fantasies from that moment on.
"Let me help."
Weston picked up a paper towel from the stack he'd set on the tabletop and wrapping it around the tip of his index finger he swept it across the corner of her mouth.
For a moment she felt a little sheepish. She didn't feel bad about enjoying her food, especially with a sauce so tasty she was planning to buy a couple of bottles to take home, but where she normally didn't care about how she looked outside of the office, she did... now.
Sure, she loved diving into the ribs, but never before had a date really lasted to the end of a meal like this.
Most people were so concerned with being perfect on dates.
And she was far from perfect.
But, it was also that she'd never really cared about the person on the other side of the table. They might have had good qualities, but she'd never really felt a real connection to them.
With Weston she felt that... and more.
Having someone help clean sauce off of her face?
Thiswas embarrassing. Having it be him?Thatwas embarrassing.
Suddenly, she wanted to be perfect.
