AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Alyssa shook her head. “Six kids by age twenty-six. I can’t imagine being pregnant pretty much non-stop for six years.”
“Me neither. Although, I can’t imagine being pregnant at all!”
She laughed richly, which was music to my ears. I liked making women laugh. If you could make a woman laugh, my dad had always said, you could get far with them.
Not that I had such intentions with Alyssa. It was going to be an innocent night, after all.
“Did you work today?” she asked.
I shook my head. “Nope! Had the day off.”
“Do anything fun?”
“Oh yeah, lots of fun. Slept in ‘til almost noon. Had lunch with the boys. Organized my dresser.”
“Organized your dresser? Woah now, don’t get too crazy!”
“What about you? What’d your day entail?” I asked.
She groaned. “My day was the opposite of fun. Brandi and I went to our mother’s upholstery shop, but found out it was closed. The employees were all gone. We spent two hours making calls to try to find someone with the key, but none of them were available. So we’re meeting with them tomorrow.”
I pulled into the parking lot of the beach restaurant, and put my car into park. “I feel like I’m missing something. Why not get the key from your mum?”
Alyssa snorted. “It would probably help if I give you all the context, huh? Our mother died last week.”
As I got out of the car, it felt like I’d been punched in the gut. Her mum had died? Last week? It was a wonder she was able to stand.
When I came around the side of the car, I instinctively wrapped my arms around Alyssa and gave her a hug. A full-body hug, like we were close friends. The only kind of hug I knew how to give. “I’m so sorry, Alyssa. I didn’t know. If you’re not in the right mindset, I can take you home…”
Alyssa surprised me by laughing. “Oh no, I’m fine. Seriously. Except for annoyances stemming from her poorly-run business.”
She seemed like she was telling the truth, so I led her into the restaurant. It was right on the beach, completely open to the fresh gulf air. The bar at the center of the space was shaped like an oval, facing all 360 degrees, with maybe a dozen tables scattered around it. I picked a two-person table farthest from the bar, overlooking the sand and surf. She ordered a Miami Vice, which was essentially a frozen strawberry daiquiri and a piña colada layered on top of each other. “That sounds good. Make it two,” I said with a smile.
Our drinks arrived, and we toasted. Then there was an awkward silence as she surveyed the menu. The dress showed off a lot of beautiful cleavage, especially while she leaned forward to look at the menu, but I didn’t look. I was too much of a gentleman for that.
“You already know what you’re getting?” she asked.
Alyssa had nice eyelashes, too. Especially when she gazed up at me through them. “Same thing I always get. The fried grouper. It’s always fresh caught, right over there.” I nodded out to the gulf.
“You always get the same thing? Kind of boring,” she gently teased.
I spread my hands. “I’m a man who knows what he wants, and is easy to please. Also, the fried grouper is outstanding.”
She smiled. “I like your confidence.” The waiter appeared, and Alyssa handed him both our menus. “We’ll both have fried grouper.”
“Ordering for your date,” I said. “That shows confidence.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You’re not emasculated, are you?”
“Not even close,” I replied honestly. If anything, her confidence turned me on, although I wouldn’t tell her that.
Alyssa sipped her drink and sighed happily. “Can I admit something to you?”
“Always.”
“I only gave you my number,” she revealed, “to make Jack jealous. Is that shitty of me?” She punctuated the admission with the cutest little wince.
I leaned back in my chair and laughed. “I only asked you out to make Jack jealous! He was being all silly about you, so I called his bluff. But it didn’t work.”
