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“Hi, Tanner.” I smiled up at him, the sheer pull of attraction hitting me in the gut, his magnetism causing me to sway in his direction.
He must have thought I was trying to hug him because he opened his arms and embraced me. I closed my eyes and buried my nose in his neck. I inhaled an intoxicating scent of Mountain Cliffscape, the new men’s cologne they’d been sampling over in the fragrance department. On Tanner it smelled like heaven.
I realized belatedly that I’d held on too long. I let him go and both Tanner and Faye gave good-natured chuckles like Tanner would have that effect on anyone.
Faye clasped her hands together in front of her. “You two should get going. You don’t want to be late for your reservation.”
“No, we do not. Thanks, Faye.” His eyes twinkled at the older woman and my heart said “aww” at their friendship.
“Don’t forget to hold hands when you cross the street!” she called out in a pleasant tone as we turned to go.
Tanner laughed and took my hand in his. “She worries too much.”
I laughed too, and moments later we were through the crowd and walking across the cold city street.
“It’s definitely colder up here than it ever gets in Atlanta.” My breath puffed a steam cloud in the frigid air.
“You poor thing.” He let go of my hand to wrap his arm around me and hug me into the warmth of his side. I snuggled in close. There was definitely something about being nestled under the strong arm of a very hot man to make the night feel magical.
“Yeah, you give it to him, sweetheart!” yelled a voice from across the street in a thick NYC accent.
I stopped to see who was yelling, but Tanner guided me over the curb. “Ignore him. People will say anything in this city to provoke a response.”
I nodded and kept pace with him, the tightness in my shoulders relaxing once we were inside the restaurant. The warm air enveloped us, and I inhaled the delicious aroma of garlic sautéing in a pan.
We stood at the hostess stand, and I took off my coat as I waited for Tanner to tell them we had a reservation. When no one said anything, I looked up to find all eyes on me.
“Oh. Party of two. I believe the reservation’s under the name Tanner?” I glanced at Tanner who confirmed with a nod.
The hostess wrenched her eyes from Tanner—not that I blamed her for staring. She’d probably never seen anyone so gorgeous in real life. Or maybe she’d seen him in the window before and couldn’t believe she was really meeting him. She tapped her touchscreen. “Ah, yes. Here it is. Party of two?” She raised her eyes to Tanner and stared at him.
“That’s right.” I tilted my head and leaned toward her, trying to intercept her gaze and snag a little of her attention. “Is our table ready?”
She blinked at me before bobbing her head. “Right this way. We have a cozy little table for two all ready for you in the back.”
Tanner and I followed her to our table. More than the usual number of heads turned to watch us as we strode past. Oh, the double-edged sword of dating a hot model. I only hoped we could get through dinner without Tanner getting mobbed by admirers.
The hostess placed our menus down in front of us. The table was so small there wasn’t enough room to lay both menus flat, so they remained stacked. I picked up mine and put the other in front of Tanner who opened his. “Your waiter will be right with you,” she said with a last cloying look at Tanner.
“You must get that all the time,” I said when she’d gone.
“What?” he asked, lowering his menu, his expression blank.
I nodded in the direction of our departed hostess. “The way she stared at you. Her flirting.”
His eyebrows went up. “Oh? I didn’t notice.” He returned his attention to the menu.
I smiled inside. Gorgeous and humble. This guy was ticking a lot of my boxes. I opened my own menu and scanned the list of entrées. “What’s good here?”
He glanced up. “I don’t know. I haven’t actually been here before.”
“Oh, really? I assumed when you picked it that it must be one of your favorites.”
He closed his menu and set it down. “No. I just see it a lot when I’m posing in the window at work, and I’ve always wanted to try it.”
“I’m so glad you’re getting the chance. And that you brought me.” I felt myself blush.
His eyes lit up, and he covered my hand with his. “Me too.”
