Page 48 of Whiskey and Whispers
“Sit in your bar, watch television, eat food, and have a beer with Cooper and Jane.”
“We might be very late,” Tate warned his brother.
“Not a big deal. I don’t have anywhere to be in the morning. I’m unemployed, remember? The world’s my oyster. I can stay up all night and sleep all day.”
Sam didn’t look the least bit unhappy about being jobless. Their father, on the other hand, was still mighty pissed about his son’s departure from the family firm.
“Sit down and eat while the food’s hot,” Cooper said, opening the door to his vehicle. “And you’re welcome. The extra touches were my idea.”
Extra touches? Just what had Cooper done?
“You don’t need to be in a hurry to leave,” Cooper went on. “Stay the night or the weekend, if you want.”
“This is amazing,” Cat breathed in as his brothers drove away. “I’ve seen those movie screens on social media, but I’ve never known anyone who actually had one.”
When Sam had said he could hook Tate up with something impressive, he hadn’t been kidding. The outdoor movie screen was about ten feet wide, and from what Tate could see, it was firmly attached to the ground with spikes through the base of its legs.
The screen’s amazing backdrop was the lake and the setting sun. Facing the screen was a lounge chair made for two, already unfolded and covered with a few blankets they could use as the temperature dropped later. They had an outdoor heater, but cuddling together during a romantic movie wouldn’t be a hardship.
On the little side table, someone, probably Cooper, had placed a vase of flowers and a box of fancy chocolates. Tate’s brother would deny it, but he was the most romantic of them all. Leave it to Cooper to think of thoseextra touches.
“We should eat before it gets cold,” Tate said. “I’ll pour the wine.”
The portable heater, the kind often used for outdoor seating at restaurants, had already been turned on by his brothers. Tate opened the wine and poured two glasses while they settled on the lounge chair, cuddling together as they dug into their pizza with double cheese. It was from his own tavern kitchen, and kept hot in the warm oven inside of the cabin.
“Are those flowers for me?” Cat asked again, licking her fingers after polishing off her first slice of pizza. “Or are they for Mom, too?”
The erotic sight of Cat licking her fingers had temporarily fogged up Tate’s brain, and it took him a minute to register that she’d asked him a question.
“They’re for you,” he finally replied. “The chocolates, too.”
“Don’t even pretend,” she scoffed. “You’re going to want some of those chocolates, Tate Winslow. I know you.”
Chocolate was his favorite, and she did know him well. Yes, they’d changed over the years, but some things were still the same.
Like the way she felt all snuggled and warm against him. Her scent mixed with the aroma of the pizza and the sharp, freshsmell of the outdoors, weaved a spell around him that made it hard to think or breathe normally.
He wanted to rub her silky hair between his fingers, or press his nose to the curve of her neck. He wanted to run his fingers over her satin skin and then nibble on a tempting earlobe.
But he wasn’t going to do any of those things. He was going to sit here and eat his pizza while watching Christopher Reeve time-travel to romance Jane Seymore on Mackinac Island.
Note to self - book a getaway for the two of us to Mackinac Island.
“I love this movie,” Cat sighed, resting her head on his shoulder when they were done eating.
The sun had already set long before, as the climax of the musical score played during the credits on the screen. Cat sniffled a bit and wiped at a few tears that had slid down her cheeks.
“It always tears me up a bit,” she admitted. “But I love it every time I see it. It’s Mom’s favorite, too.”
“I guess we could have brought her, but there might not have been enough pizza,” Tate joked. “And you’d have to share the chocolates with her, too.”
“Mom and I can watch it another time. Speaking of chocolates, hand the box over,” Cat said, her fingers wiggling in a beckoning motion. “We need dessert.”
He handed over the gold box and watched as she gleefully dug into it, popping a dark chocolate caramel into her mouth before selecting another chocolate for him. He opened obediently as she playfully made airplane sounds before placing it in his mouth.
“Your favorite,” she said with a bright smile. “Hazelnut and milk chocolate.”
If they were going to give this relationship a fresh try, it might be time to be honest. He hadn’t before because it hadn’t seemed that important, and he wanted to make her happy.
