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Not this time. I’ll wait to show her off when she won’t have to limp to our table on crutches.
Tonight, I want to give her a taste of life without letting her overstrain her ankle—which I know she’ll do given the slightest chance.
“Pascal’s?” she asks, reading the sign before turning to me.
“The best French restaurant you’re going to find outside of New York City,” I assure her.
“Sounds fun,” she agrees, her hand taking her door handle to pop it open.
But before she can get out, a server dressed in black slacks, a white dress shirt, and a red bowtie, his long apron stretching past his knees, scurries through the side door, heading straight for our car.
“Sorry for the delay, Signor Moretti,” he says breathlessly, handing me two large to-go bags of food.
“It’s quite alright, Sebastian. Have a fine evening.” I lean over the back of my chair, setting the food on the seat behind me, then turn to find Tia looking at me.
Her gaze is scrutinizing, her head cocked slightly.
“What?” I ask.
“It’s nothing. Just…”
I wait, refusing to head on to our next stop until she tells me.
“It seems you know everybody’s name—the men you work with, the help around your house. Even the servers who deliver your food,” she says, gesturing pointedly to the young server as he vanishes back inside. “It’s… impressive. And it shows you care.”
I smile, torn between telling her the truth of the matter and letting her think better of me. And though I find I quite like Tia envisioning me as a better man than I am, I don’t want to pretend with her. “One of the fastest ways to earn a person’s trust is to use their name when speaking with them,” I confess. It’s a tactic I’ve used countless times, a skill I honed from very early in life.
“Oh. Right,” Tia says, her eyes cast down to her lap.
“Does that disappoint you?” I ask softly, feeling the emotion radiating from her.
“No,” she says quickly, her gaze snapping up to mine. “I don’t know. I just… You’re so skillful at reading people. At knowing how to get them to do what you want. Sometimes, I wonder if…”
“I’m manipulating you,” I guess, understanding dawning on me as I realize she’s far more perceptive about my actions than I had realized.
Though in Tia’s case, I’m coming to terms with the fact that I don’t want to play with her, to solely make her do what I want. I’m intrigued by her, and I want to see just what she might accomplish when left to her own devices.
Tia nods, her eyes falling to her lap once again, and I reach across the console to trap her chin between my thumb and finger. Gently turning her head, I make her look me in the eye.
“I’m done manipulating you, Tia,” I vow. “I know I’ve hurt you, and I know that an apology can’t fix the pain I’ve caused. I can’t excuse the fact either. But what I can do, honestly and with every genuine bone in my body, is try to make up for my careless mistakes. Because I believe we might be better suited for each other than I could ever have hoped for. I think we might have a chance of making this a real relationship, a true partnership. And that’s what I want.”
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Tia releases it in one powerful huff. Then she smiles. “I want that too,” she agrees.
A smile breaks across my face, and I lean across the console to claim Tia’s lips in a soft, chaste kiss. “Good. Because I have more plans for you tonight.”
She grins as I put my car in reverse and head out once again.
This time, we drive past her father’s house as we head out of town. Sitting up, she watches as the dark silhouettes of trees race by, forming a thick black wall.
“Now, where are we going?” she asks, her voice hovering somewhere between giddy and nervous.
“It’s a surprise,” I state, following the curving New England road farther into the mountains.
Finally, we reach the turnoff to the lookout point where I intend to bring her. The road is steep, carrying us up to the mountainside. Then I pull into the flat parking lot, whipping the steering wheel until we’re facing back toward Piovosa.
Beneath us, the town looks like a field of fireflies alight with glowing bulbs. Nestled against the far mountain range, it’s almost quaint, idyllic. But the sunset is what makes Tia gasp. The brilliant hues of pink, orange, and gold kiss the mountain tops, casting dark purple shadows on the world below.
“It’s beautiful,” Tia breathes, her voice rapt, her eyes glued to the beautiful scene.
