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“Isn’t it?” He reached across as if he was going to take my hand, and I shook my head and put my hands under the table. He gave me a slight nod and moved his hand back in front of him.
“We could try and deny it or even lie about it, but do you think that Chaz would take too kindly to us doing either? We look like we are on a date, and even if you don’t want to admit it, we are. We’ve slept together, twice, now we’re out having a meal. It might be a half-ass backward way of dating, but we’re still doing it.”
“Is that why you took me here? So that you could make it a date? So that you could take my hand and stare at me the way you have been all night?”
I wasn’t upset about any of those things. It was a date, and even if I didn’t want to admit it, I wanted it to be. I liked being around Zach. I liked how I felt when I was with him. I had gotten over my hang-up about being seen with him, only to have it feel like he was hiding me from the world.
“Or were you just trying to hide me and us from the world?” I asked.
“You were the one who wanted to keep this on the down-low. You didn’t even want to go out. Now that I do what you ask, you’re all annoyed with me? What gives?”
“I’m just getting mixed signals from you. You take all this time to convince me that we need to go out, to spend time together not naked and horizontal.”
“We’ve been in other positions than horizontal.”
“You get what I mean. You made it sound like you were taking me to a nice restaurant.”
“This is a nice restaurant, one of the best I’ve ever been to,” Zach said, clearly annoyed.
“You keep jumping to conclusions with me.”
“I’m not the only one.”
“Yes. I was a bit hesitant to go out with you. Even as friends, or as two people helping each other through their parents' divorce. But I got over that. I accepted that we needed to see what this was, and instead of taking me to a place that we might be seen and I could confront my issues head-on, you take me to a place no one has ever heard of. It makes me think you don’t want people to see us together. That you’re ashamed of me. Of us.”
“Nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve been coming to The Fish House for years, and Chaz is right. In all those years, I have never once brought a woman here. But I did with you. I wanted you to see a bit of who I am. Who I really am. I might have a famous father. I might be turning into a famous realtor, but they are only small parts of who I am and not the parts that matter most to me.
“I’m a simple guy. Whether you want to believe it or not. My house is pretty small by Hollywood standards. I didn’t want to buy a big home if I didn’t have anyone to share it with. When I buy a big house, a true forever home, I want it to be that, forever. I’m not into the extravagance of everything. I like hole-in-the-wall places. I like that there isn’t a wine list here. Chaz treats me like I’m one of her people, and she doesn’t give a shit how much money I make or who my father is or what I did when I was younger.
“She sees me, and she accepts me, and I guess I was hoping you would do the same. I had hoped you would see the quaintness and uniqueness of this place and see that it’s a lot like me.”
“Gaudy and past its prime?” I teased.
He bit down on his lip, and I could tell that he was trying not to laugh. I had been so wrong about so many things, but it strangely allowed me to see just how right I had been too.
“I’m not past my prime,” Zach said.
“But you are gaudy?”
“You haven’t seen my sock collection yet.”
I laughed. “Thank you for taking me here. I can see how much it and Chaz mean to you. I’m sorry I didn’t see or appreciate that right away. I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know what to think and whatever I thought, it wasn’t this.”
“You didn’t think you would be having such a good time with a debonair, charismatic, sexy man like myself?”
“Are you talking about you? Because you’re none of those things. Cocky, arrogant, and full of yourself. That sounds like you. Though you are very sexy.”
“So are you. I almost suggested we stay at your place and order in, after a little while,” Zach said as his eyes lingered on my breasts.
My body got warm under his gaze and at what he was implying. I had thought the same thing when he had come to my door, and it made me feel better about him and the date that he thought and didn’t act on it.
“As fun as that would be. I’m glad you didn’t. I’m having a good time. Even if you’re too charismatic for my own good.”
“See? You agree with me!”
“Not exactly. I’m glad we did this, and I want to see where this goes. I’m not sure what will happen tomorrow, but I like what we are right now. Can we just enjoy that, enjoy this, enjoy us?”
He didn’t get to answer as Chaz came by with our oysters and two beers. She dropped the bucket of oysters on the table unceremoniously and popped the top of the beers right in front of us. Some of the beer spilled out onto the floor, but it didn’t seem to bother Chaz.
