I want You Deeper

This wasn’t a date. But it sure felt like it.

Alyssa took a deep breath and pushed the door to the cafe open, turning to lock it before heading straight to Jeremy’s waiting SUV. Although she’d been telling herself this wasn’t a date, that hadn’t stopped her from taking a few extra minutes to make sure her makeup and hair were perfect before stepping out the door.

She’d done all that, of course, after Emily had left for her meeting. Until then, she’d been lounging on the sofa, sipping some of Emily’s punch and mindlessly watching a game show. The last thing she’d wanted was for Emily to think-to know-that Alyssa’s stomach was all tied in knots like this was a first date with someone she liked.

As she climbed into Jeremy’s SUV, though, he stared at her for a long moment. So long, it made her feel self-conscious.

Finally, she managed to force some words out. “Is something wrong?” He shook his head as if to shake himself out of some sort of brain fog. “No, nothing at all. It’s just…you look nice tonight. Not that you don’t always look nice, but-” He took a deep breath and shifted into drive.

“Let’s go get some dinner.”Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

As he sped around cars, Alyssa smiled to herself. He’d seemed a little flustered, and she couldn’t help but think it was kind of cute. She’d never really seen him like that before.

The restaurant offered valet service, and of course, Jeremy pulled his fancy vehicle right up to the podium. He was an old pro at this sort of thing -that much was clear. Alyssa, meanwhile, had no idea what they were supposed to do. Did they wait for the valet to come to them or hop right out? Jeremy remained in place, so she decided she’d just follow his lead.

Jeremy leaned forward to look at the front of the restaurant. “I had to pull some strings to get a reservation. They have a three-week waiting list. Emily didn’t mention that.”

“She knows the owner. We went to their friends and family night. You know how new places are in this town. Everyone has to try them, then once the newness dies down, they struggle to stay in business.”

“Oh, yeah. I remember when our cafe opened. But back then there weren’t as many coffee shops in town.”

Alyssa frowned. She hadn’t been around as much back then, and she felt bad about it now. She’d been such a workaholic, she’d neglected her best friend for a little while. But Emily had Jeremy by her side in those days, and Alyssa couldn’t bring herself to be around him that much, knowing the way he’d hurt her. So she’d stayed away until Emily had called her to say her brother was going to work overseas indefinitely. But even then, she and Emily hadn’t truly become inseparable until she’d lost her job and her best friend had offered her sofa and a job helping out with the cafe.

“Still, even a new coffee shop wouldn’t see the business we saw today,” she pointed out.

“Thanks to your former boss.”

Alyssa refrained from pointing out, once again, that Justin Travers hadn’t technically been her boss. She wouldn’t have had the chance anyway because her door opened and the valet was standing there, ready to help her out of the car.

After an awkward moment where Alyssa wasn’t sure whether she was supposed to stand on the sidewalk or head on into the building, Jeremy was by her side. He held out his hand, arm extended like he was going to put his arm around her and escort her into the building, but he never made contact. She couldn’t ignore the disappointment she felt that he didn’t.

They were just friends. She had to keep reminding herself of that. No matter how much this felt like a date, it was not. Letting herself believe it would only lead to her being hurt again. She recited it to herself like a mantra until she was seated across from Jeremy in a dark, very romantic corner of the restaurant, candlelight barely illuminating the menus the host had set in front of them.

She refocused her attention on the menu, trying to shut out how handsome he looked tonight. All she could see in front of her was a replay of the way he’d looked at her when she’d climbed into his car. His eyes had somehow managed to convey both softness and intensity at the same time as he’d taken her in.

No. She couldn’t get wrapped up in that. This was no different from the many times she’d convinced herself as a teen that something he’d said or done had been a clear sign he was interested in her. Now, looking back, she knew every single one of those indications had been a complete fantasy. In his eyes, she’d been just a kid. Today, she was sure he still saw her that way even though she was the same age as every other woman he’d probably dated in the past few years.

“So…what do I do here?”

His question snapped her attention back to the present. She lifted her gaze to find him staring at his menu. What do I do here? Her heart sped up as she considered that maybe, just maybe, he was kicking off a romantic conversation.

“I’m sorry?” Her voice sounded raspy.

Alyssa cleared her throat and thought about trying again. Had he heard her?

“You’ve eaten here before, right?” he asked. “What do you recommend?”

Oh. Yes, this had nothing to do with romance. It was a prime example of how she would only be hurt if she got her hopes up about any of this. She bit her lip and looked down at the menu.

“I had the chicken parmesan,” she said. “Your sister had eggplant.”

“Eggplant’s not my thing. So you recommend the chicken?”

“It was very good, but I’m sure everything on the menu is great.”

Now that she’d revealed she’d had the chicken parmesan, she felt pressure to order something different. But she didn’t want to order the most expensive thing on the menu. He’d said this was his treat, so she didn’t want to seem like she was trying to freeload here.

“I’m thinking salmon.” He set his menu down. “That’s something different.”