"All you had to do was give in. You'll enjoy yourself," I advised as we waited in line to order some wings to sample.
As much as I wanted to wrap my arms around her waist, I thought better of it. Her hips looked inviting, but I probably would be pushing my luck. Every time I was around her, a different side of me came out, which could be a good thing or a bad thing.
"Whatever," she muttered, semi-turning her head to look at me. "You can't be demanding that I do something I don't want to do." She turned back around and faced the person's head in front of her.
I smirked. "But I did, and it worked. Sometimes all you need is a little push, and I did that for you."
"You didn't even know if I had plans."
I lifted a brow. "Did you?"
She smacked her lips. "No, but that's beside the point."
I chuckled. "Sure, you're right."
When it was our turn to order, each of us requested a sample of wings, which came in three flavors: buffalo garlic, hot chili pepper, and mild. They gave us bottled water for free.
I sat down and bowed my head in prayer. Once I was done, I lifted my head and stared at her.
"Are you always this quiet?" I asked, picking up a wing.
Leighton lifted her eyes to stare at me. "No, I am not. I have to know you to talk to you."
I scoffed. "But we've been seeing each other." I bit into the wing and licked the sauce from my bottom lip.
She shrugged. "Yeah, and? We've been seeing each other on a business level. You're my client."
I wanted to tell Leighton that I wanted to be more, but I'd be moving too fast. Could she be ready to hear what I had to say? It had been a while since I had strong feelings for a woman. Being burned by love would have you with your guard up tightly.
I tilted my head. "Yeah, I am. As you can see, I'm also seeing you outside of work. What does that tell you?"
"That you don't take no for an answer," she mumbled.
I threw my head back and barked out a laugh. "Yeah, now you're starting to get me. Once you get with the program, everything else falls into place."
She rolled her eyes and picked up a wing. We ate in comfortable silence.
"I want to hit up the seafood, soul food, and funnel cake trucks too," I stated to her after finishing eating the wings.
She nodded. "I want to try the lemonade truck. They have some of the best lemonade."
"Word. We can do that. Can I ask you a personal question?"
Leighton arched an eyebrow and reached for her bottle of water. "Okay. Don't be surprised if I don't answer it."
I smiled. "Cute. But why is a beautiful woman like yourself still single?" As I stared at her, waiting for her to answer, I couldn't help wanting to kiss the corners of her lips.
She shrugged. "Love has burned me in the past. Plus, I had a real shitty childhood that prevented me from giving my all to a relationship."
Leighton sounded sad when she said that. It had me wanting to wrap my arms around her and let her know she had me now.
"Oh, damn." There wasn't much I could say on that when I wasn't in a relationship because of my past.
"What about you? Why are you single?"
I wasn't counting on her asking me that, but I guess she had the right to do so.
"Like you, I've been burned by love. My baby mama and I were in a relationship, and she left me. She took my daughter and moved out of our apartment."