Page 31 of Love’s Strongest Soldier

“I’m meeting someone here. I’m not sure if he’s arrived already or not.” I could feel Ghost’s eyes burning a hole in the back of my head. Good. “His name is Robert Parkings.”

“Oh, yes. He arrived not too long ago. I’ll take you to your table.”

Turning to Ghost, I said, “You can just stay up here. I’m sure you have the perfect view of the entire restaurant from here.”

Ghost’s jaw muscle tightened. I didn’t give him time to say anything before I fell in line behind the hostess. She walked me over to the table where Rob sat. His eyes lifted to mine when he sensed my presence. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Rob was a light bright. He had the perfect beard that connected and was a bit on the slender side.

The only thing that threw me off was the nose piercing. To me, only men that liked other men wore nose piercings. Every time I saw a man out who had one and claimed that he was straight, you just knew he was bussing niggas in the ass behind closed doors. That was neither here nor there, though. I had zero intentions of getting to know Rob, so his little nose piercing was safe.

“Your pictures don’t do you justice,” he said and rose to his feet.

“Thank you.”

Reaching over the table, he pulled me in for an embrace. I rolled my eyes over his shoulder and then peeled away from him. Looking back, I saw Ghost staring at us.

“How are you tonight?” Rob asked as we took our seats.

“I’m good,” I replied and grabbed the menu to see what I would want to eat. There were so many options.

Rob lifted his hand and beckoned for the waitress to come over.

“Yes, sir?” she said when she approached.

“I think my date here wants to order a drink.”

Yes. That was the only way I was gonna be able to get through this date.

“Uh, can I have a glass of your best red wine? Thanks.”

I took my attention back to the menu.

“I’m so glad that you agreed to come out with me tonight.” Ignoring him, I continued to stare at the menu. “What do you like to do in your spare time?”

“Murder men like you,” I mumbled.

“Excuse me?”

There was no way in hell I was about to tell him what my real hobbies were. For one, he wouldn’t understand, and two, I wasn’t trying to set myself up to get robbed later, so I kept it brief.

“I garden, cook, eat . . . stuff like that.”

“Seems like you need some more hobbies.”

I peeked at him over my menu. If this man didn’t sit his ass down somewhere. He looked like his hobbies were playing basketball and gaming. See, if I was really interested in getting to know him, I would’ve asked, but I didn’t really care.

“So, you own your own business?”

That part, I hated to tell men because they were often intimidated by women who had their own motion. Normally, I’d attract the wrong man. A man that barely had his shit together and wanted to humble a woman. Those were my favorite types because I loved hurting their little feelings in the end.

“Yeah. I do well for myself.”

Finally, I found the steaks on the menu. I looked over and saw that Ghost was still watching us, as he was supposed to be. He didn’t look annoyed enough for me, so I decided to place the menu on the table and reach across the table to Rob. My hand covered his, and I gently stroked it.

“You’re handsome.”

His entire face turned red like tomato paste. I didn’t lie there, so I wasn’t sure why he was blushing like a schoolgirl. I was sure he’d heard compliments all the time.

“Thanks, but I think I’ll look better with you on my arm. How come you’re single?”