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“Let’s have a bananas Foster and an order of beignets. Oh, with a side of the cinnamon ice cream.” She peered at him, her blue eyes bright. “Feel like coffee or wine?”
This early in the evening? When he was hoping to have more than dessert with her? “Wine.”
Madison clearly liked his answer. “A glass or a bottle?”
Fuck the glass. “Definitely a bottle.”
Madison flipped the menu over to the wine list. “Sweet or dry?”
Since he didn’t drink it much and wanted her to be happy? “You choose.”
She did, and since he didn’t know flip about vino, Matt had no idea what she’d ordered, but if she liked it, that was good enough for him.
The server left with a promise to return with their order shortly.
“So why pinot grigio?” he asked, more for conversation than any curiosity.
“It’s drier than a typical dessert wine, but it will balance out the sweetness of the other stuff. And I like it.”
“I’m sure it will be great.”
“Hopefully. I’m no wine connoisseur.”
“I promise, I’m even less of one. Whatever you chose, I’ll help you drink it.”
She cocked her head and licked at her pouting bottom lip, the one he’d already fantasized about kissing half a dozen times. “If you’re always this spontaneous, fun, and easy to get along with, I just might have to fall for you.”
“Are you looking for those qualities in a man?”
She shrugged. “I’m barely twenty-four, so I’m not thinking about settling down yet or anything, but yeah. I like guys who can have a good time. I mean, I like stable, loyal, and smart, too, but…”
“Twenty-four?” He laughed. “Now I feel old.”
“How old are you?”
“Thirty. Does that bother you?”
“No. That’s not old. Besides, I care about the person, not their age. A couple of years back, I dated a guy two years younger than me for a few months. The man I saw after him was a decade older.” Madison shrugged. “As long as whoever I’m with acts like an adult, their age doesn’t matter.”
“Fair enough.”
They chatted about nothing in particular until their dessert arrived. The waitress set the plates on their table, then returned with the wine, uncorking it and pouring some for Madison to sample. She nodded. They dug in.
“You were not kidding,” he moaned between bites of the bananas Foster and the cinnamon ice cream. “This might be the best dessert I’ve ever had.”
“Yeah! I’m so glad you think so.” She sipped her wine, then bit into a beignet. “One of my fellow schoolteachers retired after my first year and opened up this place with her sister. They serve fantastic prime rib on New Year’s Eve. And these desserts…”
Matt gulped back some wine, then refilled her glass. “Good call. So…tell me about your first kiss.”
“Oh, going for the deep, dark stuff, are we? All right. I was fourteen. I had been flirting all school year with this guy who’d just moved to town. He played football and looked hot in his uniform—very important stuff to a freshman in high school.”
“For sure.”
“On the last day of school, Haisley dared me to tell him that I liked him, so I did.”
“Brave of you. What did he do?”
She grinned. “He took my hand, led me around the corner, and asked if he could kiss me. I said yes.”
