“Well, just tell her that. I’ll bet she thinks it’s cute. If she’s too good to eat at a place like Mo’s, she’s probably not worth your time,” Jake teased as he passed out steaming mugs of black coffee
“Yeah right, like I need her to think that I’m cute. I want her to think that I’m strong and someone she can rely on,” Jack argued.
“She can think you’re cute and strong. I think taking her to Mo’s will be a perfect icebreaker,” Caroline sided with Jake. She took a sip of her coffee then walked to the living room, sitting down next to Jonathan.
“Caroline is right. She’ll think whatever she wants regardless of what you want her to think. You might as well just try to make her laugh. Maybe she likes a funny guy,” Jake said as he sat at the counter.
“Hmm, I guess that’s true. I’m just overthinking it.” Jack shook his head and took a gulp of his coffee, burning his tongue in the process.
Caroline chimed in from the couch. “It's okay to overthink things sometimes. Just don’t allow it to consume you or else you could ruin your entire date,” she warned before turning back to Jonathan who was tapping her leg for her attention.
“You’re right. I just need to enjoy it,” Jack replied.
“Exactly, enjoy it! It’s your first date and it’s with someone you like, so just go with it. Who knows, maybe she’s nervous too,” Jake posed. “Anyway, how about some breakfast?”
“Yes! Bacon, bacon, bacon!” Jonathan started to sing before anyone else could respond.
Caroline smiled as she looked around the table. It was a great start to a Saturday morning. She was surrounded by people she really loved.
“That was delicious, thank you,” Jack said as he scraped the final bite off his plate.
Caroline was glad to see that all the food had been eaten. It was no surprise to her. In her experience, these boys usually ate a lot. What was a sweet surprise, was when Jack and Jake started clearing away their dishes. Jonathan watched the men and followed their example, cleaning up his own dishes.
Caroline gave him a kiss as Jack announced, “Well, I guess I should go. Don’t want to show up for my date looking like this!” His hair was sticking up on one side from sleeping on the couch, and he was still wearing Jake’s pajamas.
“Let us know how it goes!” Jake called as he waved goodbye.
‘Yeah, and good luck!” Caroline added.
“Thanks,” Jack said before closing the door behind him.
Chapter Nine, First Dates
Jack paced around his penthouse. He had hours yet before the date, and he didn’t know what to do with himself until then.
He sat on his couch for almost two hours just watching TV as he tried to keep his emotions leveled. At 11:30, he’d had enough and started to get ready. He wanted to look his best. He showered, shaved, gelled his hair, then checked himself out in the mirror when he was done. He thought he looked pretty good. Without his usual beard, his sharp jawline was clearly visible, and with his hair swept back off his forehead, his blue eyes were hard to ignore. Satisfied, he went to his room and tried to pick out something to wear. He knew he shouldn’t overdress—it was just lunch—but he still wanted to look good. He finally chose a dark pair of denim jeans and a simple, light blue button-up shirt that complemented his eyes.
He checked his watch and it was 12:30 pm. He still had thirty minutes to kill but he decided to head for his car anyway. Danielle probably wouldn’t mind if he showed up a few minutes early. He wanted to avoid a repeat of his first official date at all costs.
Jack pulled up in front of Daniell’s apartment at ten to one and decided to send her a quick text instead of sitting in his car like a creep. “Hey, I'm here. I'm early, so I don’t mind waiting if you’re not ready.”
The reply came almost instantly, “I’ll be down in a moment!”
Jack looked at his phone and then up to the entrance of her apartment and his heart started to race. Danielle appeared and walked down the steps. He hadn’t been able to tell during their first conversation, because she had been standing behind the bar, but her body was incredible. She had long, lean legs, a slim waist, and toned arms. Her features were accentuated by a pair of tight black jeans and a simple white t-shirt. The black, heeled boots she was wearing made her calves look amazing. He got out of his car and greeted her, hugging her lightly as he took her in, her green eyes gleaming at him in the bright sun, and her red hair catching the light as it was ruffled by a light breeze.
“Hi,” she breathed softly.
“Hi. How have you been?” Jack asked nervously. He could see that she was a little nervous too which helped ease his mind.
“Good, and yourself?” she asked.
“Good, good. Me too. Shall we get going?”
“That sounds good to me. You’re not going to kill me and take my body somewhere where no one can find me?” she joked as she got into his car once he opened the door for her.
Jack laughed. “Damn. You’ve figured out my evil plan.”
“Well, as long as I get my pancakes first,” she replied as Jack climbed into the driver's seat.
“That’s a deal I can go along with,” Jack allowed as he started his car and headed toward an old school retro restaurant that he knew sold the best pancakes.
“So, what do you do?” Danielle asked as they drove.
“I work at an accounting firm. My family's accounting business actually,” he replied nervously. He usually liked to tell people that he worked in his own family’s business, especially women, but when it came to Danielle, he didn’t want to boast. Especially after that first date, when mentioning his job had gone so badly.
“Oh, wow. That must be amazing,” she said, surprising Jack by the genuine interest she seemed to have in it.
“It’s alright. I’ve just recently become more active in the business so I have a lot of catching up to do. So far, I’m enjoying being back there,” Jack replied. He still wanted to be brief about himself, and chiefly in relation to his work. He was still trying to figure out how much information would be too much.
“Well, that’s good. You seem to be at least doing something you enjoy,” she commented with a smile as Jack snuck a look at her.
“That’s true. What about you? Are you a bartender by night and something else by day?” Jack asked as they pulled into the dingy parking lot of Mo’s Diner.
Danielle laughed lightly. I’m not just a bartender. I own the bar.”
“Oh, that’s awesome! Wow! It must be difficult sometimes,” Jack said as he turned to look at Danielle, making no move yet to get out of the car. He wanted to give her his full attention before they headed into the restaurant.
“It was hard in the beginning, getting it off the ground, attracting customers, but now it’s just a lot of fun,” she replied happily. “Shall we head in?” Danielle took note of their surroundings for the first time and added, “what is this place?”
“This is Mo’s! I came here with my brother all the time when I was young. I know it doesn’t look like much, but I swear, they make the best pancakes in Madison Heights,” Jack said as he got out of the car and also managed to get around to Danielle’s door to open it for her.
They walked into the small restaurant, and Jack guided Danielle to a booth right next to the large picture window. It gave them a perfect view of the busy street outside as well as some privacy.
“Is this good?” Jack asked, pointing to the table.
“Yes, it’s perfect,” Danielle replied as she slid onto the seat. Jack slid in across from her, and really took her in for a second time. Her bright red hair fell around her face and down her shoulders until it reached her waist. In the sun streaming through the window, he noticed she had freckles littered across her nose and cheeks. She was possibly the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Looking at her, he was suddenly very grateful that his date with Jenna had gone so poorly.
“So tell me more about this bar of yours. How did this all come about?” Jack aske
d.
“I guess I didn’t really see it coming. I had been working hard for years saving my money for something that would just grab my attention. One day, I walked past this old bar that had shut down, and the space was up for rent. When I went to look at the place, something inside of me told me not to destroy the original bar but rather to just upgrade it and make it better,” Danielle explained.
Jack couldn’t stop himself from watching her closely as she spoke. Something about her just kept his attention. He was almost hypnotized by her.
“That’s amazing. Now you’re a bar owner. It must be a hard job. I mean, you manage people...not just employees...but drunk customers too”, Jack stated as he placed his elbows on the table, his head on his clasped hands, leaning on her every word.
“It’s not too hard. It was in the beginning, especially because I ended up hiring a bunch of people I had to fire shortly after, but it’s been four years now and I have a wonderful team. They’re all super loyal and hard-working.” Jack could tell by her smile she was not only proud of the business she'd built, but the team and the working environment she'd created, too. Her confidence was intoxicating.
“That’s so awesome, wow. I can’t believe I’ve been thinking that you were a bartender when you’re so much more,” Jack said as he shook his head with a laugh.
“Well, I guess you’ve got some things to learn about me still,” she challenged with a coy smile.
“I like the sound of that,” Jack replied, looking her squarely in the eyes before awkwardly looking down at the menu again. “Um...so, they have amazing pancakes here like I said.” Jack was suddenly nervous about his choice of restaurant again as he noticed the waitress walking towards them.
Danielle looked at the menu before looking around the restaurant and taking it all in. “This place is great. It reminds me of what my bar used to look like,” Danielle said. “And you always find the best food at the most unlikely places, don’t you think?”
“You’re great...uh...I mean yeah, yes I agree,” Jack blurted out, and immediately he felt his face go red with embarrassment.
Danielle smiled and blushed as she looked at Jack. “Thank you,” she replied softly, looking back down at the menu.
“I’ve honestly never been this nervous on a date,” Jack admitted with a laugh.
He wasn’t sure what sort of approach he should take when it came to the date. He didn’t want to overshare, but he couldn’t help himself. Just being around her made him want to say everything on his mind, even if it made him look a bit weird.
“I know what you mean. I haven’t been on a date for a while,” Danielle agreed.
“Me neither. I asked my brother for advice. I feel like a teenager,” he added with a laugh. “I just want to make sure I’m going about this the right way. I’m serious about changing my life and I want to meet someone who would want to share it with me.”
Jack knew he had said too much, he could see the look on Danielle’s face. He had messed the date up before they had even eaten. Jack didn’t say anything more as he watched Danielle. It was clear she was thinking about something. He hoped he hadn’t scared her off. Luckily, it was at this moment the waitress arrived at their booth. Glad for the break in conversation, they ordered their food.
When the waitress had walked off, Danielle looked straight at Jack and said, "I'm glad I decided to do this. I don’t usually agree to dates with guys at the bar but I’m tired of coming home to just my cat. I don’t want to end up as a crazy cat lady,” she laughed.
“I like cats,” he said as he looked at Danielle, relieved.
“I think I like you,” Danielle replied. Her eye’s hadn’t moved from Jack’s.
A burst of hope traveled through Jack’s body. This was going better than he’d expected. "I think I like you too,” he said.
They stared at each other for a moment with smiles on their faces. There was a current between them, stronger than just physical attraction. Jack knew that, even though he had been nervous about taking the steps to get to where he wanted to be, he was happy that he had met Danielle at the right point in his life. If he’d met her a year ago, he probably would have tried to sleep with her and then disappear on another of his extended vacations.
“Well, now that we’ve got that out of the way, maybe you can tell me more about yourself,” Danielle suggested.
“What would you like to know?” Jack asked.
“Everything,” she replied seriously.
Jack had never had someone so interested in him before, but he gladly started talking to her openly about his life. Telling her his hopes and dreams, also telling her about the life he had already had and gotten bored of. Danielle listened closely as he spoke and he relished the focus she showed. He already knew that he wanted to see where things could go between the two of them. They stayed at the diner for hours, talking over separate plates of pancakes. He enjoyed the way Danielle was so free. She didn’t seem to care about what people thought of her as she laughed loudly and openly enjoyed herself.
Chapter Ten, Stars Are Aligning
It had surprised Danielle just how easy it was being with Jack as they talked and got to know each other. They talked about life and things they wanted and dreamed of, which she was happy to find were on the same page. She hadn’t thought that the date would go so well. After all, she had been warned to be careful about him. They seemed to have an amazing connection though. She didn't feel a need to be worried anymore.
“I’m really glad we did this. I had a really good time and those pancakes were amazing,” Danielle said as they finally headed out of the restaurant.
“Maybe we could do it again, soon?” Jack asked.
“I would like that.” She was glad he seemed so eager about meeting up again. She could see things between them growing. It wasn’t that she had been looking for a relationship, but she knew that sometimes things happen just when they’re supposed to. The way they were able to connect and talk so easily made her certain that there was something between them. She was open to the idea of being with him. After all, it appeared as if there was more to him than just physical attraction.
“Great. Would you like me to drop you off at your bar?” he asked.
“Oh, yes, that would work,” she replied as she looked at her watch. She couldn’t believe it was 4:25. Time had just slipped away from her while they were talking. Luke was opening the bar, but she usually liked to get there early anyway.
Jack reached out for her hand. She took it eagerly and they walked to his car. Again, he opened her door for her, and closed it behind her. When they’d arrived, she had thought the move was all for show, but after getting to know him more, she could tell that Jack was being sincere. Danielle hadn’t had the best relationship history, even though it was extremely brief. Most of the guys she had dated had treated her badly, and it never seemed to work out no matter how hard she tried. She’d thought she was the problem. Of course, she had eventually learned that it wasn’t her, but them.
“How do you feel about having dinner the next time we meet up?” Jack asked as he started his car and pulled out of the parking lot onto the road.
“That would be nice,” Danielle replied.
She wondered when he would kiss her, if it would be when he dropped her off, or on their next date. She wanted so badly to make the first move because she wanted to see if the attraction between them would spark even more, but she didn’t want to seem too desperate. It was the first date she had been on in a long time and she didn’t want to ruin it when it had gone so well.
“Okay, this time you pick the place... Well, I guess this is it,” Jack said as he pulled up outside of her bar.
She looked through the window and then turned to look at Jack. “I guess so,” she replied, not willing to leave just yet.
“Let me walk you to the door,” he offered, hopping out of the car.
Danielle felt a little excitement rush through her body. She was sure Jack didn’t want to leave he
r just as much as she didn’t want to leave him. In some cases, she’d think it was all too good to be true, but Jack was so sincere. He had proved himself to be the kind of guy who wasn’t into playing games.
Jack made his way around the car and opened her door for her, and she had waited for him to do it. It seemed as if he wanted to, and she thought that was too sweet to snub. He reached for her hand once the door was open and she gladly took it, allowing him to lead her to the doors of her bar.
“I had a really good time today. I’m not sure I want this date to end,” Jack admitted as he looked deeply into her eyes.
She took a deep breath and moved closer, closing the gap between them and placing her lips on his. It clearly took him by surprise, but after a moment, he kissed her back, his hands at his side as if he wasn’t sure what to do with them.
Passion For Change (Jamyson Brothers Madison Heights Book 2) Page 6
