Welcome to Blissville

by Walker, Aimee Nicole

  I cleaned up and quickly dressed because I hadn’t eaten in several hours and I was eager to spend time with him. I hoped to get to know him better, perhaps peel off a layer or two as I got closer to the parts of the man he kept hidden. I expected him to drive separately, even though I didn’t like it, so I was shocked when he followed me to my Charger. I had clicked the key fob to start the car before we left the warmth of his house. He chuckled when a hard shiver worked its way through my body.

  “It’s not even that cold yet,” Josh said, trailing behind me.

  “I’m from Florida,” I said by way of explanation.

  “Ahhh, then it probably feels like twelve below freezing to you then.” He was right, it did.

  I unlocked the car as we approached then opened the door for him. Josh stood there staring at me for several seconds before he slid into the car. I got the impression that he wasn’t used to kind gestures of any sort when it came to men. I wanted to change that right away.

  The diner was busy when we arrived, but not packed. We sat in the car for a few seconds, both of us staring into the big windows of the diner before I turned the engine off. We both knew that what we were about to do was a big deal in the town we lived in. Although they had plenty to talk about lately, Josh and I both knew that we were about to take center stage. We turned and looked at each other, both of us assessing the other.

  “I’m going to order the country fried steak dinner,” I told him. “It’s my favorite thing on the planet.”

  “Don’t tell Emma I said this, but I can make it better than she can.”

  “Really,” I said, turning a little in my seat to face him. “What’s it going to take for me to find out?”

  “I’ll let you know,” Josh arrogantly replied as he opened the car door to get out.

  His answer surprised me so much that I just sat in the car and watched him for a few moments before I got out to join him at the door to the diner. I opened the door for him once again and received the same surprised look. I was half afraid he would take it the wrong way as if I opened the door for him because I thought him womanly. That was the furthest thing from my mind. My father opened doors for my mom as a sign of respect, not because he thought her weaker than him. I did the same for Josh, and I liked the way I felt when I did it.

  I followed Josh into the diner and expected him to lead us to one of the booths in the very back, but he stopped at a table in the middle of the restaurant. He smiled at the confusion he saw in my face. “They’re going to be staring at us no matter where we sit. This way they’re not all cricking their neck while they gawp at us.”

  I could feel their eyes on us, and it was unnerving. I eventually ignored it and focused my attention on Josh. “What else do you cook that rivals Emma’s food?”

  “Everything,” he said with a careless shrug. “I love to cook, especially for friends and family.”

  “Well, hello,” a toothy waitress said when she approached our table.

  “Hi, Daniella,” Josh replied. “Do you ever have any time off? You’re here every time I come in lately.”

  “I’ve picked up some extra shifts so I can save money to go back to community college for the spring semester,” she replied. “So don’t be afraid to tip generously for the amazing service you’re about to receive.”

  “Noted,” I replied.

  “So, will this be one check or two?” she asked.

  “One,” I replied before Josh even opened his mouth. “It comes to me.” I pinned her with a firm look that matched my tone then looked at Josh, who wore a frown. “You can get the check next time.”

  He dropped his eyes to the menu in front of him, and I was pretty certain he mumbled, “If there is a next time.”

  There would be a next time; I was sure of it.

  I didn’t know what to make of Gabe and his manners. A part of me wanted to bristle when he opened my doors because I was more than capable of opening them for myself. I also knew that to him it was a sign of respect, of showing me that I was special to him and that spoke to the part of me that wanted to be loved and cherished. Therefore, I allowed it without fuss. Pick your battles, Josh.

  “I’ll just give you guys a minute to look over the menu. What can I get you to drink?” Daniella asked.

  I looked at her like she was nuts because I wanted to drink the same thing I’d ordered there since birth, but then again she had only worked for Emma for a few years, and I had been shaking things up a bit lately. “I think I’ll have a Coke,” I said, surprising the both of us.

  Gabe looked back and forth between Daniella and me, trying to work out why we both seemed surprised by my drink order. It was a nuance of my personality that he’d have to learn for himself. That thought startled me because I realized how much I wanted him to be curious about the inner workings of my personality. To be honest, it scared the shit out of me and made me want to run for the hills. Only Gabe’s dark, penetrating gaze kept me in my seat.

  “I’ll have the same,” Gabe told Daniella with a smile. “Do you know what you want to eat?” Gabe asked me once she left to fill our drink order. I swore I heard a snicker coming from one of the tables around us. Apparently, my need for routine and structure was well-known to the entire town.

  “Hmmm, I’m not sure.” I looked over the menu as if seeing it for the first time. “I think I’ll have the Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, and gravy.”

  “Really?” Daniella asked when she returned with the drinks. I pinned her with an unhappy look, and she cleared her throat. “Um, I meant to say okay.” She pulled the order pad and a pen out of her apron pocket. “Which vegetable would you like to go with that, Josh?”

  “Corn.”

  “Biscuits or rolls?” Daniella asked.

  “Rolls.”

  Daniella turned to Gabe. “And you, sir?”

  Gabe kept his eyes on mine the entire time he ordered his dinner. I found it to be quite unnerving, to say the least. I liked being the center of his intense focus when he was fucking me, but not while I was ordering dinner. I wasn’t an odd specimen that one needed to study. Yeah, I had quirks, but who the hell didn’t?

  “I feel like I’m missing something here,” he said after a few awkward minutes passed.

  “I’m a creature of habit, and lately I’ve veered off the normal path, and it’s creating an uproar,” I explained.

  “That seems like such a minor thing,” Gabe replied. He looked confused as to why people would make a fuss over it.

  “Let’s put it this way,” I said, feeling the need to explain a little more. The guy should know what he was getting into if he… Nope. I stopped myself right there. It was just dinner. “I used to eat the same thing each week and never veered from my routine. I don’t like to switch things up.”

  “Hmmm, interesting.” Gabe didn’t look too upset about it. “So, what would you normally eat every Monday?”

  “Fried chicken dinner.”

  “Tuesday?”

  I narrowed my eyes in irritation. Were we going to go through each day of the week to satisfy his curiosity? “Cheeseburger and chili.”

  “You never once wanted to eat tuna salad on a Monday night?” Gabe asked.

  “Tuna salad is a lunch food, never a dinner food. Dinner food is always hot, regardless of the time of year or temperature outside.” He looked at me as if I was a rare species. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. “The only exception to my routine was Sunday.”

  Gabe put his elbows on the table and lowered his chin into the palms of his hands. “Sunday dinners at your house.” He remembered.

  “Yes, with my friends since my parents moved to Florida.”

  “Yeah?” Gabe perked up when he heard the mention of his home state. “Where’d they move to?”

  “Boca Raton,” I answered. “They sold the house to me and headed for warmer weather so my dad could play golf four times a week, and my mom could knit on her back porch all year long.”

  “Sounds nice,” Gabe sa
id. “Back to Sunday dinners now.” He ignored my scowl and kept on talking. “So, I assume that your dinner guests include Meredith and Chaz.” I nodded. “Do you ever invite anyone else to Sunday dinner?” I knew he was fishing to see if I ever included guys that I dated in the mix. Ha! Dated? How sad was it that I was twenty-eight years old and on my first real date with a guy? I’d be damned if I told him that because I’d never get his fat head back through the door. The last thing he needed was a swelled ego. I stopped and reminded myself that it was just dinner, not a date. “Sometimes Meredith or Chaz bring a date, but it’s usually just the three of us. We don’t do so well in the dating department.”

  “Hmmm, you don’t say.”

  I didn’t appreciate Gabe’s snark, and I opened my mouth to blast him with enough of my own to peel his skin, but Daniella showed up with our dinners and saved him. “Thank you, Daniella,” I said once my plate was in front of me.

  “You’re welcome, sweetie. Is there anything you fellas need?”

  “I’m good,” I said and then looked to Gabe. He’d already shoved a forkful of potatoes and gravy in his mouth, so he just shook his head. Damn, he must’ve fallen on that food like a starving man. At least he didn’t pick up his country fried steak with his hands and start eating it. “When was the last time you ate?”

  He held up his finger for me to wait a minute. “I think I ate a bag of chips from the vending machine at the station around two this afternoon.”

  “That’s not very healthy.” I frowned at the thought of him skipping meals, even though he was a grown-ass man who didn’t need me to fuss over him. Why did I even want to fuss over him?

  “I don’t usually skip meals, but something came up that needed mine and Adrian’s immediate attention.” Gabe cut a bite of his steak and put it in his mouth. He closed his eyes and moaned like he did during sex.

  I noticed a few of the ladies around us sat up and paid closer attention. How could they not? Gabe was gorgeous on every level. I mean, he didn’t have a single unattractive feature. “Good?”

  “Soooo good.” Okay, I’d heard that come from his lips while I was stroking his cock and massaging his prostate. It was bad enough he was making sexy noises in the diner, but then he had to go and add sexy words too.

  I leaned forward and lowered my voice so only he could hear me. “You think maybe you could stop working up the female patrons at the diner with your sexy moans and talk.”

  “Huh?” Gabe looked up at me. I saw the food lust in his eyes and knew he was lost to me for the time being. He was reduced to single grunts, moans, and the most basic language. I had seen the same reaction when we were having sex.

  I couldn’t help but find the moment both cute and funny. “Never mind. Enjoy your food.” I returned to my meal and ignored the secret thrill that worked its way through my body each time I realized that I could reduce him down to his baser needs.

  “Do you want dessert?” Gabe took the last piece of his roll and wiped it across his empty plate, looking for the last bit of gravy. “I could use some pie,” he said.

  I planned to clean my plate as he had, but at a slower pace. “Their banana cream pie is to die for,” I told him. “I could go for a piece when I finish my dinner.”

  “I’ll wait.” Gabe wiped his mouth one more time and leaned back in his chair. I could feel his eyes on me as I cut my Salisbury steak. I had the feeling that Gabe could be very patient when he decided he wanted something—or someone. “What do you do besides running and yoga to stay so fit. Your abs are tight as hell.”

  I nearly choked on my food. It wasn’t that Gabe asked me in a loud voice, but every nosey ear in the diner had tuned into what we said. Well, if they wanted a fucking show then I’d give them one. “I pole dance.” I nearly laughed at the gobsmacked expression on Gabe’s face. “It’s great for your core muscles.”

  “Pole dance,” Gabe repeated. “Where?” He was trying so hard to look engaged in the conversation when I knew his mind had gone straight to the gutter.

  “I have a studio in my attic.”

  Gabe nearly knocked over his glass of Coke. “Studio?”

  “Mmm hmm,” I replied nonchalantly. “I took lessons for a while and then decided to turn my attic space into my own studio.”

  “Are you good at it?” The lust I saw in his eyes nearly made me giddy with pleasure because the thought of my spinning on a pole surpassed his exuberance of the food he just woofed down. Or was he imagining me spinning on his pole?

  “Oh yeah,” I said confidently. “I’ve won a few competitions even.”

  “They have pole dancing competitions?” Gabe looked both shocked and amazed that something like that existed.

  “Yep, and they’re stiff too.”

  “Not yet, but it’s getting there,” Gabe replied.

  I had been referring to a tough competition, but I wasn’t unaffected by his words. My body responded to the thought of making him hard. My skin suddenly felt too tight to fit my body, and my mouth began to water for something more than the food I had been consuming. I wanted to tell him to order the pie to go, but I cautioned myself to take things slow. There was no doubt in my mind that Gabe would have his fill of me at some point and move on; I had no desire to rush the end.

  Daniella arrived just as I finished my last tasty bite of food. “Dessert?”

  “Banana cream pie for me,” I told her.

  “Make that two,” Gabe added. “I think I better steer this conversation back to safer topics for public dining,” he said once she walked away to get our pie.

  “Probably for the best,” I agreed. “Did you have a break in Georgia’s case today? Was that the emergency that kept you from eating?”

  “I wish I could talk about it, but I can’t discuss an ongoing case with you,” Gabe replied. I could tell by the regret in his eyes that he spoke the truth.

  “Fair enough,” I replied. I could tell Gabe was relieved that I let it go so easily. Damn, I wasn’t difficult to deal with all the time. “So, tell me about your family.” I thought it was a safe topic. I’d told him a little about my folks, so I thought it fair he did the same.

  “My dad is an auto mechanic, and my mother owns a bakery,” he replied easily. “They’ve been married for forty-two years and act as in love now as they always have.”

  “My parents are like that too,” I told him. “I learned to make a lot of noise before I entered a room to give them time to straighten up before I entered. I was happy that they were crazy about each other, but I never wanted to see it for myself.” My remark made Gabe laugh and I liked it. “I’m an only child. Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

  “No sisters, but I had an older brother.” Had, as in past tense. Apparently, it wasn’t as safe a topic as I thought.

  “I’m sorry, Gabe.”

  “Thank you,” he said softly. I saw the sadness in his eyes and wondered how long ago his brother had died and what happened to him, but I didn’t ask my questions. “It was a long time ago. Dylan was a victim of a convenience store robbery gone bad. His case was never solved.”

  “That’s why you became a cop.”

  “I knew what it felt like to have someone taken away so suddenly and how much it hurts when their killer is never brought to justice. I try so hard to prevent other families from feeling that way.” His eyes were locked on a point somewhere over my right shoulder as if lost in thought.

  I reached over and placed my hand over his where it rested on the table. I wasn’t sure who was more surprised by the gesture—him or me. I simply wanted to give comfort to a man who deserved it, nothing more. I went to pull my hand back once I had his attention, but he snatched my fingers to stop my retreat.

  I swallowed down the emotion that had gathered and formed a large lump in my throat. I didn’t want to like the things Gabe made me feel, but I did. I didn’t want to become dependent on those feelings, but I was worried that I would. I felt panic rising inside me and was about to make a fool of myself
when Daniella returned to the table with our pie. I was so happy to see her that I could’ve jumped up and hugged her.

  Gabe reluctantly released my hand, and I could tell by the smile on his face that he sensed just how close I had come to freaking out. “I’m not so scary, you know.”

  “Said the alligator to the little yappy dog that was standing along the side of the lake before he ate him.” I pointed at Gabe with my fork, indicating that he was the alligator in the scenario. Wait! That meant I was the little yappy dog.

  “Why’d you have to go and kill the little yappy dog?” He shook his head in disbelief. “Things were going so well until you freaked out because I held your hand.”

  “I didn’t freak out,” I replied defensively.

  “You started to,” Gabe rebutted. “Try not to freak out next time I touch you in public. I promise to keep it clean.”

  “Next time, huh?”

  “Definitely.” He laid his fork on his plate and put his full focus on me. “Here’s how this will play out. I’m going to walk you to your door and then I’m going to pull you in for the hottest, most incredible kiss you’ve ever had. It will be so intense that you’ll think about it a lot over the next few days. You’ll also recall that we had a good time and you’re going to want to do it all over again.”

  “Is that so?” I asked, unable to keep the smile from my face. He was so damned confident.

  “Yeah, it’s so.”

  And it went down exactly as he said, including a kiss hot enough to melt the siding off my house, the daydreaming about the way it made me feel, and the longing to be with him again. Asshole!

  I was still flying high the next week after my dinner date with Josh. In my mind, I had a swagger similar to John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. I wasn’t foolish enough to believe it was going to be smooth sailing with Josh. Hell, I hadn’t heard a peep from him after I made sure he was safely locked inside his house after our earth-scorching kiss, but it was a start—a fucking good one. He sought me out for sexy time in his salon, for one thing, and he agreed to have dinner with me, for another. Those were both good signs that just maybe we had a fighting chance at… something. I really wanted to have something with him. I wasn’t willing to risk good fortune up to that point by calling it the “R” word. I just needed to be patient and allow things to happen at their pace and not rush it.