Page 15 of Red Zone Realizations
I step back from Pia and gesture toward Audrey. “Pia, this is Audrey. Audrey, this is Pia. The head chef here at The Lush.”
Pia’s eyes cut teasingly to Noah. “Also his neighbor growing up. Our moms are best friends.”
“So he told me. It’s very nice to meet you,” Audrey says as they shake hands. “I loved the food.”
“I’m so glad you enjoyed yourselves! I like to see for myself. Noah’s already given us a five-star review on every existing platform, so now I have to rely on his friends.”
“I’ll be sure to write one,” Audrey says.
Pia turns back to me. “It was so good to see you, Noah. Good luck this season. I know it will be a winning one!”
I embrace her again. “Don’t work too hard back there.” She struts back to the kitchen, waving me off, and checking on various tables as she goes.
I turn back to Audrey. “Are you ready to go?”
“Let me just run to the ladies’ room real quick.”
Audrey stands and grabs her shiny black purse from the table and weaves through the room toward the back.
While she’s gone, I pay the bill and finish my glass of wine. I can’t help but imagine her lining her perfect lips in that poutypink color. A color that makes it look like they’ve been kissed for hours. It’s so cute how she plays with her bracelet when I ask her questions.
I move to stand as I see her across the room coming back to the table.
I don’t want to leave it at just dinner and a shared dessert, but I don’t want to be too forward and freak her out. I’m willing to take whatever she’ll give me tonight. After one dinner I know that this woman is special.
Audrey returns to me with an expression I can’t quite read.
“Ready to go?”
“Yes, I’m ready.”
I stand and, without thinking, take her hand to guide her through the restaurant toward the front door. When the zap of lightning hits my forearm, I realize I’m a goner.
I drop her hand quickly. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She slips her hand back in mine and gives me a dazzling, yet soft smile. I smile back at her. As we walk, I let myself enjoy the feeling of her smaller frame so close to mine. If I tucked her up against me, her head would rest perfectly against my chest. Her hair swings as she walks, gently grazing my arm and dusting me with the scent of her perfume. It’s light and beach-y, like the perfect summer day. I hope by the end of the night some of it lingers on my shirt so I can fill my car with it on the way home.
Yep. I’m a goner.
Audrey is everything I thought she would be and more. She’s funny, witty, smart, and beautiful.
Chapter Nine
AUDREY
Outside of the distraction of the restaurant, my head is spinning. It already had been so overwhelming, being out with a guy alone for the first time since my breakup, but after running into Pia on my way to touch up my lipstick in the restroom, it’s a full-on tornado.
“Did you enjoy your meal?” She’s so pretty with her perfectly small nose and her high cheekbones.
“It was the best crème brûlée I’ve ever had.”
She looks over her shoulder toward the entrance to the rest of the restaurant like she’s about to tell me something secret. “You know, Noah never brings women here. I’ve been head chef here for five years and the only woman I’ve ever seen him here with is his mom.” That news bowls me over.
He brings close friends; he brings his mom. But he never brings women. “I’d better get back.”
“So nice to meet you.” She gives me that look that sayshe likes youbefore going back to running her restaurant. Half of me is flattered, lit up inside like a bonfire on a cool evening. The other half is scared shitless. I scuttled away, my head filledwith unanswered questions that make me remember my list and why anything more with Noah Fox is nothing but a bad idea wrapped in tight-fitting jeans.
I had fully convinced myself that this was merely an apology dinner. That Noah was just a nice guy doing the right thing. We barely know each other. Before tonight we’d only said polite niceties to one another in the last six months. That leaves me between a rock and a hard place. A place I probably shouldn’t even know about except for the fact that I got some insider information from my new bestie, Pia. He’s playing romantic chess, and I’m playing checkers with my sad little list of reasons I’m not interested in dating.
