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“Okay, fine.” My false indignation continued for a whole twenty seconds before my façade cracked. Erupting into a peal of laughter, I could no longer keep a straight face and admitted defeat. “Since my stomach has supposedly been rumbling, where do you suppose we eat? That is, I assume you’re asking me to have dinner with you?”
“Your assumption’s correct. I am asking you to dinner.” Lucas’s lips curved even higher, if that was possible. It only added to his sexiness and I had to swallow the urge to steal a taste of his full lips.
“There’s a cute bistro that’s not far from here. It’s small and there are only a handful of tables, but the food is the best that I’ve ever had. Oh, and their house wine is exquisite.” He pointed down the street to a location that I couldn’t see due to the distance.
To my surprise, the place Lucas escorted me to was the same bistro where I’d eaten lunch. A warmth spread through me as we approached, greeted by a scene that had been drastically altered since early this afternoon. Gone was the golden glow shining down upon the tables, diners, and the blaze of planted color that brought the space to life. In its place was the softness of burning candles and the romantic glow of lights strung over the dining area. The air was scented with the mouthwatering scent of toasted garlic and the earthy zing of freshly picked basil. Seeing the joy radiating off me, Lucas’s mouth tugged upward as his hand came to rest upon my lower back. It took everything in me to keep from outwardly reacting how such a simple touch set my body ablaze.
“I discovered it yesterday. And I can’t say it enough, the food is phenomenal.” He beamed as he led me to the same, small table for two that I’d sat at earlier. “I liked it so much that I came back for dinner,” he added, his happy, radiant eyes meeting mine. I shivered. He was so goddamned beautiful that I lost the ability to do anything but stare for a moment.
“I actually had lunch here earlier,” I admitted.
“Really?” He was genuinely surprised.
“Really. Same table too.”
“How extraordinary.” He sighed contentedly as he pulled out my chair, helped me sit, and held the chair again as I scooted forward to make myself comfortable. Once he was satisfied that I was set, he claimed the seat directly across from me.
While he attempted to get comfortable, I stole a moment to take a closer look at our surroundings. The overhead lighting, combined with the flickering candles, created the type of dreamy atmosphere that I’d only read about in romance novels. This is what I’d dreamed of when I’d imagined Phil and I on our honeymoon. Him sitting across from me, gazing at me with a honied expression and the love I thought he’d felt for me sparkling in his eyes. Instead, I was about to have dinner with a man that I barely knew, but one that I now realized had made me happier within the span of a day than Phil had in the last two years that we’d been together.
“You seem a thousand miles away right now,” Lucas said as he leaned forward, crossing his arms in front of him and resting his weight upon the table.
I didn’t answer straight away. Instead, I waited as a small, thinly built man set a bottle of sparkling water and two glasses down on the table.
He must remember Lucas from before, I thought before I finally spoke.
“I’m okay. It’s been a long day. A long few weeks, actually, but today’s been really nice. I didn’t think that I’d be capable of just relaxing and allowing myself to focus on something other than the disaster that my life has been. Thank you for showing me that it was possible.”
“I’m glad that I got to share it with you.” Grabbing his glass, Lucas raised it in toast. “To good days,” he said softly. “May they help us forget the bad ones.”
Without hesitation, I raised mine and lightly clinked it against his. We each took a healthy sip and relaxed back into our chairs. Lucas went to speak further but the server from earlier appeared at our table.
“Back so soon?” His thick, dark eyebrows rose curiously as he glanced back and forth between us.
“And I brought a friend.” Luke’s answer was sweet and friendly. A glimpse into the gentle, kind man that I was quickly discovering him to be.
“Would you like something else to drink besides water?” Our server eyed us with a knowing smile while waiting for one of us to respond.
“Do you have more of the house wine that you served me last night?”
″Si, of course. I’ll be right back.” Our tall, stocky server was off like a shot.
“I’m not much of a wine connoisseur,” I admitted after a short silent beat passed between us. “I’m not even sure that I like wine. It all tastes the same to me.”
“Well, then I’ll teach you. My father’s family were vintners. I spent every summer at my grandfather’s winery growing up. I can teach you how to appreciate wine. It just requires a little study and a dash of magic,” Lucas offered kindly as I conducted a study of my own.
Lucas was the most handsome man I’d ever seen. Everything about him screamed perfection, but instead he was real. He was attentive, kind, chivalrous, thoughtful, and interesting. Unlike Phil the Dud, Lucas actually listened when I spoke. He’d ask questions, probing deeper into the topic we were discussing. It was truly refreshing to meet a man who was interested in listening to what I had to say, rather than just biding his time until he could talk again.
I sucked in an appreciative sigh as I watched him sit across from me. The breeze picked up suddenly, carrying his heady scent of bergamot, aloe, and musk to my nose. I sucked in another deep breath, savoring the heady blend and how it tantalized my senses.
Mmmm. He smells so fucking good… I thought, unable to stop the words from running through my mind. A shiver of pleasure rippled up my back, instantly flaming my cheeks. My heart skipped with surprise. This morning, I’d wholeheartedly believed that I’d never react that way towards another man again. I was positive that my body had gone into a coma and would never wake up. Even worse, after suffering through what that fuckhead Phil had done, I was certain that my heart was irreparably shattered. Unfixable. Broken, leaving me destined for a long, lonely life.
The man sitting across from me, however, seemed to have other ideas. Or at least his cologne did. Apparently my body had already decided it was time to move on, and strongly encouraged my mind to follow suit.
Our server chose that moment to reappear, armed with a dark-colored bottle and two standard glasses. With the grace and finesse of someone who’d been doing this for a lifetime, our server, Matteo, offered us up each a sample while explaining the selection.
″The vino de tavola. A Sangiovese that is made just outside of Roma. It bears notes of sweet berries and goes best with the pasta al Pomodoro.”
I watched as Lucas stole a small sip, swished it across his tongue, and swallowed with an appreciative nod. “I’ll have that,” he said as he set his glass back down and allowed the server to pour him a healthy portion.
