“I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t ask. I volunteered.”
Before I can form a better argument against him paying for this date, the server is back with his card and the bill for him to sign. Mitch quickly scribbled his name on the receipt before standing from his seat. He holds out a hand to me.
“Come on. Let me take you to get some proper food.”
The boys are with their dad, and the night is still young. You know what? Why the hell not? I place my hand in his and he helped me up from my seat. He led me out of the restaurant, and not once did he let my hand go.
My laughter burst out of me, startling a couple passing us. I mouthed an apology but continued to laugh.
“Why would you say that?” I admonish Mitch for making me laugh so loudly.
After stopping at a food truck to get some of the best burgers and fries I’ve ever had, Mitch took me to the botanical gardens. At the moment, we were walking through the topiary section.
“What? You can’t tell me that doesn’t look like a vagina. Look, that part right there is the clitoris.”
I cackle again because Mitch isn’t lying. The shrub indeed looks like a vagina all the way to the labia on both sides.
“Oh goodness, I can’t unsee it now.”
Mitch turns around in a circle. “I’m trying to see if I can find the matching shrubbery penis. Now it makes sense why you wanted to come to this freaky ass garden.”
I laugh again, followed by a snort. Mitch’s gaze locks onto mine before a smile lifts his cheeks.
“Damn, I love your laugh.”
His words immediately turned my laughter into a heated smile. I swear this man can say anything and it just does something to me.
I clear my throat, placing my attention back on the coochie bush.
“Andrew used to look at me crazy when I laughed. I always felt like he thought it was obnoxious.”
There is an awkward silence that shifts between us. I hate I brought his best friend up. I’ve done well to keep Mitch from being in the middle of our battle.
I opened my mouth to apologize, but his next words cut me off.
“He never was an expert judge of things of value.”
I cut my eyes over to Mitch and he’s staring at me. The look in his gaze is hard to read. However, it causes my stomach to flutter. I break eye contact first, glancing down at my feet.
“So,” I say, trying to change the subject. “What next? We’ve eaten, seen the garden, what do we do next?”
He rubs his chin. “What? You aren’t tired of my company yet?”
I chuckle. “Well, to be honest, this has been the best date I’ve been on in years, and it isn’t even an actual date.”
I love the smile that spreads across his face.
“Who says it isn’t an actual date?”
There go those damn butterflies. This time they flutter in my stomach for seconds before dropping lower. So low that moisture pools in my panties.
I play off the mood with a laugh. “Whatever, Mitch.”
There is a moment when he just looks at me. His gaze raking up and down my body, his teeth sinking into his bottom lip. For those few seconds, my body comes alive. Eventually, a slow smile spread over his face, replacing the charged energy that was just lingering.
“Come on,” he says casually, like he didn’t just have my pussy throbbing. “I have one more place I want to take you.”
