Page 20 of The Playboy’s Playbook

Chapter Sixteen

LAILA

A fter Matt and I finally stopped kissing and I made sure Nola had plenty of food and water, we made our way to his truck, which he had to help me step into. It’s such a tall truck, a man’s truck. It fits him.

He turns on the country station but keeps the volume low. He reaches over, grabs my hand in his, and begins driving to the restaurant, which I still have no clue where it is. Oakridge doesn’t have many fine dining locations, but I would’ve been okay with going to the Waffle House.

I’ve never been in a serious relationship, so this is all new to me.

Matt’s a veteran at the dating game, albeit not the best example to look at.

No matter, he still has experience in how to act, what to say, and what to do.

I’m out of my element here and the more I think about it, the more nervous I get.

“What’s going on in that pretty head of yours, baby?” Matt asks, sensing my nerves.

Better to tell him the truth than lie. “I’m nervous.”

“Nervous about what?”

“This date. Us.”

“Don’t be. We’ve been on dates before,” he retorts.

“Yeah, but I feel like this is our first proper date. You know because we’re both dressed up and you planned it. It’s special,” I counter.

“Baby, it’ll be fine. But if it makes you feel better, I’m nervous, too.”

Unfortunately, it doesn’t make me feel better.

After driving for thirty minutes, we arrive at a fancy and expensive restaurant named Hugo’s. I turn to look at Matt and see that his nerves have only amplified since parking the truck.

“What made you pick Hugo’s?” I ask, looking at the cars in the parking lot. Matt’s blue truck sticks out like a sore thumb in the sea of luxury cars and SUVs.

“It had great reviews,” he says, his eyes scanning the scenery. He doesn’t dwell too long on our surroundings. “Alright, come on, baby. We got a reservation to make.”

Since I began working for Senator Mitchell, most of my nights include going to fancy restaurants often while she meets with colleagues and lobbyists begging for her support.

I’m used to this setting, but Matt looks like he’d rather be anywhere else.

I love that he’s trying and my heart skips a beat just thinking about him sitting on his phone looking up nice restaurants.

He steps out of the truck and walks around to help me out. Once I’m steady on the ground, he grabs my hand and we make our way toward the entrance. I’ve never seen Matt dressed up, except for junior prom – he skipped senior prom.

He’s in a black button down that hugs his toned body and black jeans. He’s not in his black Ariats or his steel-toed work boots –instead he’s wearing a pair of black Chelsea boots that look like they don’t get worn too much.

His blond hair isn’t a mess of curls like it normally is. He has it combed back, but a few fly aways are loose. I’m tempted to run my hands through his hair to return it to its disheveled look that I love so much.

I squeeze his hand to ease both of our nerves. “Have I ever told you how handsome you look?”

He turns his eyes to me and when he smiles my favorite smile that shows his dimples.

“Hello. Welcome to Hugo’s. Name, please?” the hostess asks.

“Uh, Foster,” Matt says, placing his hand on the small of my back. I reach behind and lace my fingers with his, squeezing his hand gently to reassure him. He squeezes my hand back and places a kiss on my temple.

“Right this way,” the hostess says before she escorts us to a booth in a dimly lit corner of the restaurant. She sets the menus down and steps back. “Your server will be right with you.”

Matt and I thank her before sitting down in the curved booth seat. We open the menu and look through it and I try to hide my smile at the facial expression on Matt’s face, the confusion written all over his face. I watch him skim over the menu, searching for anything that looks familiar.

“Good evening. I’m Marquis and I’ll be your server tonight. May I interest you in anything to drink from our bar menu?”

“Go ahead, baby,” Matt nods at me.

I look over the drink menu before answering. “Your house red, please.”

“Of course. For you, sir? We have excellent top shelf whiskeys and rums.”

I don’t miss the nervous shift Matt does in his seat. He shakes his head and avoids eye contact with me when he answers. “Just water with lemon for me, please.”

Marquis nods his head and is about to walk away when I stop him. “Actually, I’ll have the same.”

Marquis nods and walks away to retrieve the drinks. Matt furrows his brows at me and tilts his head to the left, the confused look amplified.

“Baby, why’d you change your drink?” he asks.

I shrug, not tearing my eyes off of the menu. “I wanted to.”

“Laila,” Matt says softly. I feel his blue eyes burning a hole into my skin.

“I can tell they don’t want children in this restaurant because why do they not have chicken tenders. Clay and Jen wouldn’t like it here,” I gripe, ignoring Matt.

“Laila,” he says, his voice more serious. I sigh and set the menu down and finally look at him. “Why’d you change your drink?”

I shake my head and look around nervously. I’ve had a hunch for a while, but I didn’t have anything solid to confirm I was right until now.

At Luke’s house, there wasn’t a single case of beer and those two look like they’d enjoy a cold one while watching college football. When I offered him a drink before the fireworks show, he sounded like it pained him to reject me.

Not to mention, at Brody’s, both times he had lemonade when he could’ve gotten anything else.

“Laila,” Matt begins, but Marquis returns with our drinks and asks for our order.

Saved by the waiter.

“I’ll have the steak dinner with green beans. Steak medium well,” Matt says.

“I’ll do the honey glazed grilled chicken with mashed potatoes,” I tell Marquis. He takes the menus from us and scurries off to the server’s area. Without a menu, I have no distraction to avoid this conversation with Matt. Fucking great.

Matt reaches his hand across the table to take mine. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “I’ll be four and a half years sober next month.”

As if he can sense that I’m about to cry, he scoots closer to me, pulling me to him, his arm around my waist. I feel a tear fall and I quickly wipe it away. Matt squeezes my waist gently, holding me in his arms without speaking for a moment while I try to keep my composure.

“I never should’ve offered you a fucking beer. God, I am so stupid,” I whisper as more tears fall from my eyes. Matt wipes a few of them before he kisses me on my temple.

“No, Laila, you’re not. You didn’t know and I wouldn’t dare ask you to change anything for me.”

Matt looks deeply into my eyes before he leans forward and kisses me soft and slow. I relax into his arms and when we pull apart, I lay my head on his shoulder. His hand that’s on my waist traces lazy circles and his other hand is stroking my arm that’s draped over his leg.

“Drinking led to partying and partying led to a lot of problems. It’s not me anymore –he doesn’t exist. Luke’s a hard ass and a grump, but he wants to see me do well.

The boys love when Uncle Matty can play with them all day and not get tired, so I’ve done what I can to make sure that I can be the best person for them.

Even after so many years, it’s not easy, but I’m making it. I’m good now.”

“I’m sure Luke’s told you plenty of times, but I want to say it. I’m proud of you for being so strong.” I look up at him and his blue eyes blaze into my brown ones. If this is what he was afraid to tell me when we were laying in my bed together, I can understand why.

Just when he’s about to lean in and kiss me again, our food arrives. Matt removes his arm from around me and we both take bites of our food. We look at each other with scrunched noses and start laughing.

“How can a restaurant this expensive have food this disgusting?” Matt asks, drinking water to rinse the taste out of his mouth.

I shake my head and take a sip of my water. “I don’t know, but this is horrible. I know I said Clay and Jen wouldn’t like it, but I don’t think Luke would either.”

“I’ll see about ordering something else.” Matt flags down a passing waiter and asks for the menu in his hands. I don’t think I want anything else from here.

“Hi, excuse me.” I flag down Marquis as he’s passing by. “Could we have this boxed and bagged and our check please.”

Matt looks over at me in confusion while Marquis looks down at our barely touched plates.

“Laila, what are you doing?” Matt asks as I put my purse over my shoulder.

“We’re leaving,” I say as Marquis finishes bagging our food. I reach over and grab Matt’s wallet, handing Marquis a crisp hundred-dollar bill and begin scooting out of the booth.

“Baby, stop. Please, I want this night to be perfect for you,” Matt pleads, following me out of the booth. I pull my dress down a little and turn to him with a smile on my face.

“Then take me to Waffle House.”