Page 79 of Striking Heat

Mac:Roger that.

Sounds like she’s going to come out without a lot of prodding from me. I wait in the car, turning my music down just a bit. It’s a softer rock playlist with tunes from U2, Picture This, and other artists that sound like them. I’m not sure if she’ll like it. I spy her coming from the direction of her building, wearing jeans and a black blouse. She looks so pretty with her hair down and straight.

I smile at her as she approaches.

“What’s with you? You’re freaking me out,” she says when she enters the car.

“What do you mean?” I ask her.

“You’re being all cheerful and nice. I’m confused.” Her tone is teasing, so I give it right back.

“When am I not nice? I thought I was very nice the last time we were alone together,” I tell her, reminding her of the timewhen we were on the road, and I made love to her. I still remember the way her blue eyes watched me with wonder while I was inside her.

“Whatever. Why are you taking me out on a date all of a sudden?”

“I thought it might be nice. No pizza picnic or sitting in a diner while I ask you questions. Just you and me on a real date.” I maneuver the car out of the complex.

“Are you gonna hide my body in the sand or something?” she asks, a teasing smile on her face.

I laugh. “No, I’m not going to be doing that. Come on, I thought we could enjoy some dinner. Just relax and let me take care of you. You’ve been working so hard lately.”

“Normally when you’re taking care of me, there are a lot less clothes involved and a lot of moaning.”

“Not that all of that doesn't sound like fun. I thought it might be fun for you and me to just have some dinner and relax. With our clothes on.” I navigate us to the restaurant, thinking it’s going to be a lot harder to enjoy the evening than I thought. Either she’s skeptical of my intentions or it’s starting to feel like a real date.

Either way, I try not to dwell on it too much and decide that this will be a fun night. And I’ll make sure she feels taken care of in other ways than sex. We pull into the restaurant, and she looks around at the quaint little spot by the beach.

“This looks a little fancier than I thought it would be.” She gestures to her top and jeans. “Maybe I’m a little underdressed for this.”

“You’ll be fine. I’m wearing jeans and a shirt too.” I get out of the car and walk around to take her hand. I lead her into the restaurant, and I don’t miss the way she checks me out more than once. “What’s wrong? Did I miss a stain or something?”

“N-no,” she stammers out.

“Then what is it?”

“Just admiring your forearms with your sleeves rolled up like that,” she admits, a flush covering her face.

I decide not to comment and put that in the win column.

“Hello, reservation for Taylor,” I tell the hostess when we enter.

“You have a reservation? Someone was sure I was going to say yes.” She shoots me a wink.

I just shake my head. “I took a chance.”

The hostess leads us to the table I reserved. It’s by a window that overlooks the ocean. It’s almost eight o’clock, which means the sun will be setting soon.

Once we’re settled, Mac looks up at me and says, “Thank you for bringing me here. I’m not sure what brought this on, but I like it.”

I smile at her. “I thought it might be nice for us to spend some time together.”

“Are you trying to see how this would work if it was you and me in a normal relationship?”

She’s got me there. Yes, I am. But I don’t want to admit to it. I shrug. “I thought since you’re such a beautiful, classy woman, you deserve a little bit of romance. Might be a good thing for you since you’ve had a long week.”

“Oh boy, have I ever. Watts was so pissed off that we lost to the Pride. I mean, I didn’t actually think we could win, but he did, apparently.” It’s like she just steps over the part about me thinking she deserves romance and goes straight to the safer topics.

I let it slide.