Page 16 of Cured

“I’m doing very well tonight, sir. Thank you for asking.” He pulled open the door to the building. “You have a good evening, sir.”

“You, too,” I called out as I rushed in and dashed to the elevator while glancing at my watch. I had twenty minutes to shower and change and grab another cab to go meet Ember.

I hadn’t been this excited about meeting someone for dinner in years. As I pondered how I would bring about the proposition, I felt my stomach roll. I’d also never been nervous about dinner before. Go figure.

I arrived a few minutes before seven and thought about waiting outside for her to arrive but decided to go find us a seat since it was a busy night.

I’d never been here, but as I scanned the inside of the restaurant, I found the ambiance nice. There were couples leaning close together, but also families gathered to share a meal.

The hostess took me to a booth near the rear of the restaurant. I couldn’t have been happier with our table. It gave me a great view of the entire place, but it also gave us some privacy.

A few minutes after seven, the door opened as a couple walked out and in walked Ember. The sight of her took my breath away for a moment, and I had to clear my throat to get it going again. She was wearing a pair of skintight dark denim jeans with a light pink cropped top that hung just high enough over the waist of her jeans to show off the sparkling belly button piercing she had.

The thought of sucking that piercing into my mouth gave me pause. Damn, I needed to put that shit on hold. I stood beside the table as she looked around, and when our eyes met, my stomach flipped again.

Ember slipped between a few tables and made her way over to me, but not before I noticed her limp. “What did you do to your foot?” I asked as she stopped a foot away from me.

“Um, I broke a few toes.” She looked away and sank into the booth seat.

“Did you break your toes the same time you broke your nose?” A picture of that jerk she’d left the bar with the other night flashed back into my mind. If he hurt her, I’d hunt his ass down.

“No, broke those rushing to get ready for work.” She lifted the menu, “Have you ever been here before?”

Nice change of conversation. “No, I like it though. What’s good on the menu?”

“Well, if you like chicken parm, they have the best. That or one of their alfredos.”

I perused the menu and peered up once to find her watching me. I winked and went back to the menu. If she was feeling half as nervous as I was, maybe studying me for a few moments would put her at ease.

“I think I’ll get the shrimp alfredo,” I decided as I set aside my menu.

“I was debating between that and the chicken, myself.” She chewed on her lower lip, and her bright white teeth popped in and out of view for a second. “What are you staring at?”

“Nothing,” I picked up my water glass, “I was watching you chew on your lip; it’s cute.”

She shifted in her seat and then set down her menu, “So what is it that you wanted to talk about?”

“Why don’t we save that for later, so where do you work?”

She blew out a breath as she scanned the area behind me and crossed her arms on the table, “I work at a furniture store.”

“Which one?”

“Nickers Furniture,” she said softly, almost as if she were embarrassed to admit it.

“Never heard of it. What do you do there?” I leaned back in my seat and put my arm along the back of the bench.

“I’m the office manager there.” She glanced my way and then looked away again.

“Do you like it?” I asked.

Her brow furrowed and then she looked up at me and gave me full eye contact, “Why the hell do you want to know about my job and if I like it?”

I laughed, “Ember, relax, will you? I’m just trying to get to know you.”

“I’m not sure why,” she muttered as she turned away from me again.

I put one of my hands over hers, the heat from her skin traveled up my arm, and it took me a second to remember what I was going to say.

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