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“Yes, I am. I’m supposed to be meeting someone. I’m not sure if he’s here yet.” I craned my neck and tried to search the room.
“Do you have a name?”
As I opened my mouth to answer, the man from the photos stepped forward. He was dressed in an impeccable black suit with a striped tie. He filled the outfit out nicely with his broad shoulders and chest. He was tall, too.
“I’m here. Thank you,” he said to the waiter.
I held my breath as his blue gaze took me in. How was it possible that he looked better in real life than on his video? Confidence flowed off him in waves, but I didn’t sense any arrogance in his countenance. Still, I was intimidated by him. He was so put together while I was a total mess. I mean, was he even nervous?
After a moment, he said. “You must be Olivia?”
I snapped myself out of it. “Oh! Yes, hi.” I shook his hand . . . like I was in a damn business meeting. What the hell was I doing?
Emmett shook my hand but held onto it and patted it with his other hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Would you like a drink before we sit down? There are still some other diners at our table.”
“Sure.”
He didn’t let go of my hand as he led me over to the bar and I noticed how large his were. They almost swallowed mine. “What are you drinking?”
“I’ll have a house red, please.”
Before I could check the price of the drink, Emmett handed some money to the barman and ordered for the both of us.
I took a shaky breath. “So, ahh . . . how does this work again?”
We laughed.
“I think we get to know each other a little bit and see if we’d like to repeat the process again on a second date.”
I slapped my hand down on the bar. “Right, got it! Simple.”
“Right.”
Silence fell between us and we both laughed again.
“Sorry!” I hid my face behind my hand. “I’m so bloody out of practice.”
“I guess it’s been a while?”
“Since I last went on a date? Yeah, you could say that!” I sipped from my wine.
“May I ask how long?”
I bit my lip. “Six years.”
Emmett nearly choked on his drink. “Wow!”
I arched an eyebrow. “You?”
“Two years.”
The server from before came across to us. “Excuse me, sir, ma’am? Your table is ready.” He bowed slightly and led us across to a small timber table out on the deck overlooking the ocean. Emmett set his drink down and pulled the chair out for me. I was pleasantly surprised.
“Thank you.” I lowered myself into the chair and he pushed me in.
I couldn’t take my eyes off him as he took his seat. I wasn’t sure why I was so mesmerised by him. I guessed being celibate all these years was having an effect on my reactions.
“So, your profile didn’t say a whole lot, but you like the beach, huh?”
