“This is Paul Forte and his girlfriend, Kim Kelly. Guys, this is Kizzy Samuels.”
“Nice to meet you,” Kizzy said, and they all shook hands.
She seemed to be warming up to his friends. At least he hoped so. These people were important to him.
Just then, another buddy, Jeff, and his wife, Maria, strolled over. “Hey, Noah. Are you doing that hot dog eating contest next month for charity?”
“Yeah. I just signed up. Are you?”
“Wouldn’t miss it.” Just to emphasize the point, Jeff rubbed his belly and burped.
“Kiz, maybe you should be on hand in case anyone chokes. Kizzy’s an ER doc at Boston General,” Noah explained.
“Cool,” Jeff said. “We could have you on hand for all our hockey games too, in case anyone swallows some teeth.”
“Yeah,” Paul added. “You should talk to the coach when he gets here.”
She fidgeted and dropped Noah’s hand.Uh-oh. She’suncomfortable.
Noah quickly shut down the conversation, saying, “We just stopped by. I’m taking my lady out to dinner.”
He didn’t know if he was being rude by not introducing her to every firefighter in the bar, but if they were ever going to get out of there… Since she didn’t seem like she wanted to chat, he hoped he was reading the situation right.
“Yeah, yeah. We have eyes,” O’Rourke said as he brought over their drinks. “If I had a beauty like that, I’d rather spend my time with her too.” Several of the guys within earshot joined in with some good-natured ribbing and laughing.
Kizzy’s smile returned, and her olive skin pinked. She reached for the wine, and as soon as he had his beer, she held his free hand again. Noah picked up their clasped hands and kissed her knuckles. Then he turned toward the gathering and excused them.
Walking a few feet away, he asked, “Are you okay? You seem kind of shy.”
“That’s because I am kind of shy. I’ve always been an introvert.”
“Really? I wouldn’t have pictured you that way. But it’s fine. Don’t get me wrong, I can be a little shy in unfamiliar circumstances too.”
She loosened up during the time it took them to finish their drinks and was actually laughing and tossing back zingers when the guys were cracking jokes. Finally, he escorted her to the door and opened it for her, placing his hand on her lower back. He realized belatedly how possessive he was feeling. Hopefully, if she picked up on it, she didn’t mind.
“I didn’t make reservations for dinner, but it’s early, so most restaurants probably aren’t busy yet. Are you hungry?”
“I could eat.”
“Good. I’m famished.”
They reached the corner, and he hailed a taxi. When he had her safely inside, he sprinted around the back of the cab and got in.
“Is there any type of food you prefer, or anything you’d rather stay away from?”
“No. I can eat just about anything. I’m not especially adventurous though. No chocolate-covered bugs, please.”
He laughed. “There’s a nice American restaurant I like called Blu in the theater district. Do you know where it is?”
Kizzy said no, and the cab driver said yes.
Noah grinned. “Perfect. Let’s go there.”
Kizzy whispered, “I’m glad your friends didn’t think I was with Dante, since I was sitting next to him. Who knew he was going to talk a monkey down from the ceiling today?”
Noah didn’t know how to respond to that. “Yeah, that was pretty crazy. But hey, if anyone can charm the pants off anybody, even a monkey, it’s Dante.”
She laughed and let it drop.Thank the goddess.
