Page 19 of Tuck & Roll

With his hand at the small of Kylie’s back, he directed her toward the front door. They were greeted at the hostess stand and taken to a booth along the wall. He took the seat that would give him a view of the front door and waited for her to hand them both a menu. She smiled brightly and told them their waitress would be over shortly.

“You said you liked this place. Do you come here often enough to have a favorite?” he asked as he opened his menu.

“Yes. I love the chicken alfredo with broccoli. Oh, and the calamari. It’s amazing.” He watched her smile as she looked through the menu.

The waitress appeared to take their order. He motioned for her to go first. She told the woman what she wanted and handed her the menu.

“Didn’t you want calamari?”

“Only if you plan on eating it with me.”

Turning to their waitress, he said, “I’ll have the three-piece cannelloni, the house salad, sweet tea and the calamari.” He folded his menu and handed it back to the waitress with the assurance she’d be back with their drinks. Her overly bright smile and friendly attitude toward Tuck didn’t go unnoticed by Kylie.

“You didn’t have to do that.” She clasped her hands on top of the table. “Do you even like calamari?”

“Love it. If you hadn’t mentioned it, I was going to order it and whatever appetizer you wanted.” Needing to fill the void, he asked, “What did you do today?”

Before she could answer, the waitress was back with their drinks, salads and breadsticks. Damn, that was fast. Tuck leaned back and allowed her to place everything on the table. She dipped extra low to give him a better view of her cleavage. He ignored her, not liking the way Kylie’s mouth was set in a grim line. She definitely wasn’t liking the extra attention he was getting. He wasn’t either. When he was out with a woman, he didn’t like it when other women openly hit on him in front of his date. He completely ignored the woman’s play and prompted Kylie. “Kylie Jo?”

The use of her full name drew her attention back to him. “I’ve been working on the program Race wants and should have it done next week and ready to install.”

Not getting the response the waitress was looking for, she left to take care of some of her other customers.

Tuck reached for the parmesan cheese and sprinkled some on his salad as he listened to her. He took a bite and enjoyed the taste of extra cheese. He looked up to find Kylie’s bright blue eyes fixed on him and he braced for what she was gearing up to say.

“Does that happen all the time when you go out?”

Yeah, he should have braced more. There was no use pretending he didn’t know what she was asking about. “Yeah, but it pisses me off when they do that while I’m on a date with someone.”

“We’re on a date?” Her head jerked back and her brows dipped.

“Regardless of what this is,” it was his turn to wave his hand between them, “it’s fucking rude to make a play for a man who is out with a woman.”

“So you’re saying if I wasn’t here, you’d go for it?” She held her forkful of salad above her plate.

“No. Been there, done that, not going to do it again.” He shoveled salad in his mouth and waited for it.

She leaned over her plate and whispered harshly, “You’ve done it with that woman, but don’t plan on doing it again? No wonder the woman seems so desperate to get your attention.” She leaned back and started on her salad. She shook her head. “Wow.”

He didn’t care for the way she said “wow.” Her tone made it sound like she thought he was a man whore. He supposed he was, but he didn’t want her to think he was. “It was several months ago. And you have to know I’ve been with a lot of women over the years. Some more than once. I mean, it’s not like I’m settled down with an old lady or anything.”

Kylie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. No. She hadn’t thought that Tuck had been a monk all these years, but the way he talked about the waitress and some of the other women he’d been with made her feel cheap and dirty. Would she be just another woman he’d been there, done that and wouldn’t be doing again if he could remember they’d been together?

Acid churned in her stomach, causing it to knot. Time to change the subject. “Can I ask what possessed you to show up on my doorstep and ask me to dinner and a bike ride today? I thought after you left the other night I wouldn’t see you again for another couple of years.”

Had she been looking up instead of at her salad, she would have seen the way he flinched at her last comment.

He took a breadstick from the basket and dipped his head. “I admit I was a dick the last time I was around and if I’m being honest, it didn’t sit well with me. We’ve always been friends and I apologize for being a dick.”

Kylie’s heart skipped a beat at his admission. She was speechless and floundered, trying to figure out how to respond. Luckily, the waitress returned with their calamari, giving her time to think. She waited until she left before she replied.

“So, this,” she spread her hands out encompassing their table, “and the offered ride on your bike is your way of apologizing?”

“Dinner is me apologizing. The ride on my bike is just me wanting to spend time with you.”

Holy shit. Kylie was unsure how she felt about that; the apology or the part about wanting to spend time with her. Did he really want to spend time with her? Or was this just Race’s way of keeping an eye on her to make sure she got the job done?

“Why do you want to spend time with me?” She was truly puzzled. He had all his club brothers to hang with and all he had to do was crook his finger and he’d be set for female company, too.

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