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I smiled. “Seriously, you guys, I’m excited about this. He’s everything I’ve been looking for, and I think it could turn into something special.”
Addie leaned forward and grabbed my hand. “Babe, if you’re happy, we’re happy for you.”
I glanced around our group and realized how lucky I was to be friends with them. They were my people who only wanted the best for me and would always have my back.
The morning with friends had been an excellent start to my day, and now I couldn’t wait until Mark got off work. We had plans to go to dinner, and afterward, we’d head back to his place.
After a shower, I curled my hair to add beach waves to my shoulder-length tresses and took time with my makeup to ensure my blue eyes popped. They were my favorite feature and matched the tiny flowers on the sundress I wanted to wear for our date.
We had agreed to meet at his place, so at six-thirty, I climbed into my car and drove to Mark’s house.
When I parked in his driveway, he came out to greet me. He looked sinfully handsome in his tight gray shirt that showed his ripped body and dark jeans. Every time I saw him, butterflies fluttered in my belly, and I wondered if it would always be that way with him.
He pulled me in for a quick kiss. “I missed you today.”
“I missed you, too.”
“Did you bring a bag?”
“Yeah.” I opened the back door of my car.
He leaned in and grabbed the small duffle that contained some toiletries and my scrubs from the back seat. “Let’s put this inside, and then we’ll grab dinner. I’m starving.”
I followed him into his house. Like Kyle’s, his place also had a view of the ocean, but Mark’s home was massive. My entire apartment could fit in his bedroom alone. He raced upstairs to drop off my bag. When he came back down, he asked, “Are you ready to go?”
I beamed at him. “I am.”
The rooftop restaurant provided stunning views of downtown San Diego, and the hostess led us to a table nestled in the corner near a heat lamp to keep the cool January air at bay.
“This is beautiful,” I said as I stared at the skyline.
“Not as beautiful as you.”
Mark’s words were sweet and made me smile, but I found it difficult to believe him. From the outside, it may have appeared as though I lived a charmed life, and mostly, things were great. I had a wonderful family, fantastic friends, and landed my dream job as a labor and delivery nurse. But when it came to love, my dating history left much to be desired. The guys I went out with always seemed nice initially, saying the right things and making me believe there was potential for our relationship to blossom. But it never took long for their true colors to show, leaving me wondering why I was such a lousy judge of character.
Our server came over, and Mark chose a bottle of pinot grigio for us. After she left, we perused the menu. “What are you going to have?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Everything looks amazing. Maybe the lobster risotto or the sesame ahi tuna. What about you?”
“Those both sound delicious. What if we each order one and share?”
“That’s perfect.”
After placing our order, Mark reached across the table and grasped my hand. “Did you have fun with your friends today?”
“I did.” After taking a sip of my wine, I added, “I told them about us.”
There was a reason we kept our relationship a secret at work, and I understood that. However, as far as I knew, Mark hadn’t told any of his family or friends about us, so I wasn’t sure how he’d react to my news.
“Oh, yeah? What’d they say?”
“They’re happy for me.” I chose not to tell him about their concerns regarding me dating someone from work. It was something I didn’t want to think about. I preferred to focus on how much I loved spending time with Mark rather than worry about how it could go wrong.
“Of course they are.”
His comment made me pause. There was something about the way he said it. Did he mean they were happy for me because I was dating someone or because of who I was dating? Before I could ask him what he meant, our server returned with our food.
The meal was terrific, and our conversation turned to other topics, so I never asked him about his odd response. When we decided to leave, he stood and pulled back my chair. He laced our fingers together, leaned in for a quick yet tender kiss, and then led me through the restaurant.
