Page 53 of Bad Blood Bear

Chapter 23

She mattered.

And Tank was holding her hand gently, like it was a precious butterfly that he might crush if he held it too hard. Lissa felt like she was in a fairy tale, in a ball dress with a handsome prince beside her.

Her life wasn’t supposed to be like this, and for once, she didn’t know if she could forget the past and the future and make the most of this. It was hard to live in the moment when the moment was so amazing, and she knew it could never last.

Tank walked right up to the hostess station and said, “Two, please.”

The hostess looked up from her little podium. “Do you have a reservation?”

She looked incredibly elegant, in a slim black dress with simple gold jewelry, her hair in a sleek bun. Yikes, Lissa thought. I never thought I’d be in a restaurant where the employees dress better than me.

“No,” Tank said, a small frown crossing his forehead.

The hostess frowned as well. “We normally only take reservations…”

Tank hesitated, then stepped in closer. “Here’s the thing,” he said. “I surprised my girlfriend with a spontaneous road trip—no luggage, if you know what I mean.” He winked at Lissa. “She really wanted to eat here, and I just bought her this new dress, and I’m trying to keep the romance alive. Is there any way you could help me out?”

He slipped her a folded bill, and the hostess smiled up at him, looking mesmerized. “I’ll see what I can do.”

She walked off into the dining area.

Wow. Not that it was surprising—Tank was a complete hottie. A few more melting looks like that, and the hostess wasn’t the only one who was going to do whatever he asked.

Lissa slipped her arms around Tank’s huge one and hugged it to her. “This imaginary lost weekend is getting more and more romantic,” she said. “I can’t wait to see what happens next.”

In a couple of minutes the hostess was back. “Come this way, please.”

She led them to a secluded table in a corner, and Tank thanked her before moving around to hold Lissa’s chair for her. She felt like a queen.

He sat down across from her and smiled, his green eyes sparkling in the candlelight. Just seeing him look like that made her feel all quivery in the pit of her stomach.

Then she opened the menu and saw the prices. Panic hit her.

“Tank!” she whispered. “We can’t stay here. Look at how much all this costs!”

He put his menu down, frowning. “It’s fine,” he said. “I knew how much it cost before we came in. Do you want some wine?”

Lissa flipped to the wine list and gasped again. Nine dollars just for a glass of wine? You could get four bottles of Two-Buck Chuck in Trader Joe’s for less than that. She started doing math in her head.

“Tank, if we had entrees and wine and dessert, it would be over a hundred dollars just for the two of us!”

“Don’t forget appetizers,” he said.

“They cost a week’s worth of tuna and crackers and Ramen,” she informed him.

Tank stopped, and put his hand over hers.

“Hey,” he said softly. “Look at me.”

She met his eyes, still feeling like she was going to hyperventilate at the idea of someone spending the equivalent of a month’s worth of food on one meal for the two of them.

“This is a date,” he said. “And call me old-fashioned, but on a date, the woman isn’t supposed to have to worry about how much it costs. It’s my pleasure to take you out, and you can trust me not to spend more than I can afford. Okay?”

She tried to slow her breathing down, but with Tank holding her hand and looking across the table at her, looking all hot in his new clothes and with all that sweetness in his eyes, she just kept breathing faster.

“Okay,” she said.