Page 9

BENNIE

I couldn’t take my eyes off him as we stood there in silence, taking each other in, standing in the parking lot of my apartment building. Joska kept his hands in his pockets, but I could tell that he wanted to come closer.

I felt the urge to give him a hug, but I wanted him to make the first move. I needed him to.

As if he could read my mind, he pulled his hands out of his pockets and took a step closer. He rested a hand on my hip, leaning in before kissing my right cheek, then my left.

When he moved back to look into my eyes again, he smiled and whispered, “I’m glad you said yes to this.”

The date, he meant.

I smiled, admiring his handsome face close-up. “Would it have hurt your feelings if I said no?”

He chuckled. “Honestly, yes. It’s been a while since I’ve asked a woman on a date. You’re the first in a long time who I think is worth getting to know on a deeper level.”

Oh.

So he didn’t just want to fuck me and never see me again?

Relief washed over me, and I hadn’t even realized that I had been worrying about this deep down. My heart had just assumed that he wanted to take me out to get to know me, but my mind hadn’t.

See, I lead with my heart, and if it told me that a person was good and had good intentions, I believed it.

“Good. Because I think I want to get to know you on a deeper level too.”

His lips curled into a smirk. One I would keep seeing when I’d close my eyes at night.

“I’m glad. You already made my night, and I’ll make sure you have a great one too.”

God, he talked like a saint, but his eyes were those of a sinner.

I let him lead me to his car where he opened the passenger door and helped me inside, and after going around the back, he opened the door on the other side to get in himself.

“Where are you taking me, by the way?” I asked, looking over at him.

“To L’Osteria . Do you know that one?”

I pursed my lips. “No, but it’s Italian.”

“That’s right. You’re half Italian, aren’t you? So I figured I’d take you somewhere you can feel some nostalgia. But also, I love pasta, and they make the best. So, I was a little selfish making that decision.”

I smiled and waved a hand. “It’s fine, I love Italian too. I’m excited. And I’m hungry.”

Joska started the car and looked at me with a smile before pulling out of the parking spot. The first few minutes of the drive were quiet, but when we stopped at the first traffic light, Joska picked up on our conversation.

“So, what do you do for a living?” he asked, looking over at me, and meeting my eyes.

“I’m a tailor. I work with my dad at his men’s fashion shop. It’s right next to Sin’s boutique,” I told him.

“Oh, really? I’ve never noticed a man’s fashion shop there. Is it new?”

“Yes, fairly. We moved it over there a little while ago. We were on the other side of the city before that,” I explained. I kept my eyes on his while trying not to let my gaze wander all over his handsome face.

“I’ll have to come by someday. Do you and your dad sell suits?”

“Oh, yes. We have a variety of suits. We often get businessmen coming in to either get theirs fitted, or to buy new ones. Actually, all of Sin’s men got new suits from us just last month.”

Joska smiled before turning his attention back on the road ahead of us as the light turned green. “I’ll have to come by someday. Do you design clothes yourself too, like Sin does?”

Him asking all these questions would’ve seemed normal to any other woman, but to me, it was everything. No man had ever been this interested in what I did.

Not even my ex.

In fact, he didn’t ask me anything. Ever.

I smiled and kept looking at him. “I love designing clothes. Actually, I made this skirt I’m wearing.”

“You did? That’s amazing. It’s very pretty.”

“Thank you.” My cheeks were burning up. His questions about my job and hobby, added to the compliments he kept giving me, were something I would have to get used to.

Something I was hoping to get used to.

I hadn’t asked him how long we’d be driving, but before I had to chance to ask, we pulled up to a very fancy-looking, white Victorian building. There was a large fountain to the side, with trees surrounding the property, making it feel like a hidden place in the busy city of Boulder.

“Oh, wow…” I breathed, taking it all in. “This is a restaurant?”

“It sure is.” He parked the car while I kept looking at the architecture, amazed by how large and beautiful it was. “It’s even prettier on the inside,” he added.

I looked at him and smiled, my excitement rising. “You know, I would’ve been okay with a beer and a burger at some bar downtown.”

Joska chuckled with a shake of his head. “I’m sure you would’ve been okay with that, but when you said yes to go on a date with me, this was the first place that came to mind.”

It was the type of compliment you didn’t get at first, but once the words kicked in, you knew how meaningful it was.

Shivers ran down my spine, and a sense of happiness and contentment filled my chest. Maybe I was just easy to impress because I never had a man care so much about a first date with me, or maybe Joska was truly a gentleman, though with a dark side that I had yet to explore.

Whatever it was that made me want to jump on him and kiss his face a thousand times, I was ready to let myself go.

In the restaurant, we were greeted by the staff, and one of the waitresses showed us to our table. The inside of the restaurant was stunning, with pretty flowers and plants everywhere, and even a small waterfall close to the back where our table was.

Joska pulled out my chair, and I sat down, thanking him for the hundreds time since we got here. I was used to being the romantic one in any situation—mostly because I was a woman and apparently it was a woman’s job to be romantic—but tonight, Joska showed me that a man could take over that role too if he truly wanted to.

“I’ll let you two settle in, and I’ll be right back with an appetizer. Would you like a glass of champagne as well?” the woman asked, looking at me the whole time.

“Oh, yes. Thank you so much,” I replied, smiling up at her.

“My pleasure.”

Once she left the table, I took in our surroundings, amazed by everything. “So you’ve been here before?”

I didn’t mean to ask that to find out how many women he had taken here before, but I could see how my wording could’ve intended that.

“Well, I only ever came to pick up the food. I never actually came inside to sit and eat,” he explained. “Wait, that’s a lie. I did sit here and eat before, but it was a wedding celebration of a couple I married. I didn’t stay long though.”

I looked at him and pursed my lips. “So the food must be really good then.”

“It truly is.”

“What would you recommend?”

He thought about it for a while, then replied with, “I think the eggplant Parmigiana is amazing, but the classic Carbonara is delicious too.”

My mouth was watering already. “How am I supposed to choose just one?”

“You don’t have to. You can order whatever you want, and if we don’t finish it all, you take it home for tomorrow,” he suggested.

The waitress was back, and I kept my eyes on him while she put down the appetizers. He truly wanted me to have a good time tonight. He was putting me first in the tiniest ways, but they meant a lot to me.

I was never put first by any man other than my father.

It was then that I decided it didn’t matter what he did for a living, and how religious we both actually were.

If tonight went perfectly, I would want to see him again, regardless of the things he did in the past.

***

I was full after finishing my Parmigiana, and sharing a plate of Carbonara with Joska, but I couldn’t leave this restaurant without trying at least one of their desserts.

I had seen the waitress walking back and forth with desserts, bringing them to other tables, and every single one of them called to me.

“How about we get the Tiramisu and the Panna Cotta? We can share again,” he suggested.

“Sounds good to me.”

I wondered what the waitress thought of me. It usually wasn’t seen as very ladylike to eat as much as I had, but after ordering the dessert, and her brining it over to our table, she told me exactly what I needed to hear. “I always choose these two options after a long shift. These are delicious.”

She winked at me before leaving the table again, and I looked at Joska who seemed amused. “You don’t usually eat this much at a restaurant, do you?”

“To be honest, I don’t eat at restaurants often. Maybe once every four months,” I admitted. “I love to cook.”

“You do?”

I nodded. “You?”

“Yeah, me too. My initial plan was to take you to my place and cook for you, but I thought that was a bit too…forward. Didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

That was nice.

I tried to hide a smile by biting my bottom lip. “We could cook together on our second date.”

Joska liked that idea. He smiled, then his smile turned into a grin. “Deal. It’s another date, then.”

“Yes, it is.” My cheeks were bright red. Or, at least that’s what it felt like.

I couldn’t quite wrap my head around the fact that just this morning, Tabor was trying to stop me from going on a date with his brother, saying mean things about him to make me change my mind.

And while I had my doubts at first, I was glad I came.

Joska wasn’t a bad man.

He might’ve done some controversial things as a priest, but since I was questioning my faith anyway, and wasn’t sure who to believe in anymore, I thought it was only fair to just let things happen and see where this thing with Joska would take me.

For now, all I could think about was how long it would take until I’d see his dark side.