a woman like Jain. Could I be that man? I didn’t know.
I hurried back to our table and sat down. Jain seemed upbeat and ready to put the incident behind her.
“I ordered for you,” she said.
“Great, I’m starved. What will I be eating today?”
“Eggplant parmesan. I’m a little obsessed with it. Is that okay?” She sat on the edge of her chair, waiting for my reaction.
“Of course, it’s one of my all-time favorites. What are you getting?” I inquired.
She giggled softly. “The same thing. I was going to get two different orders, but all I could think was I didn’t want to share. Sorry!” Her lilting laughter floated through the air.
A few minutes later, the waitress brought us our dishes and set them in front of us. “Can I get you anything else?”
I stared at the side order of spaghetti that sat to the right of my plate. I cleared my throat and asked, “Can you take this away?” I didn’t want to touch it, so I pointed instead.
“The spaghetti? You don’t want it?” She stood, hands on hips – daring me to refuse spaghetti in an Italian restaurant. “It doesn’t cost extra; it’s included with every entrée.”
“I’m not worried about the money. Can you remove it, now?” If she didn’t, I’d find the closest garbage can.
There must have been an edge in my tone, because she immediately said, “Yes, sir. Right away.” She reached over and took the plate from the table so fast, the spaghetti nearly came off.
“You really don’t like spaghetti, do you?” Jain’s lips pressed together in an apparent attempt to stifle her laughter.
“No. I don’t.”
“I almost ordered you spaghetti marinara for lunch.” She giggled.
I smiled a little. When she laughed, it was infectious. Only a few seconds before, I felt almost panicked. I needed the spaghetti gone, right away. Every time I saw it, I was brought back to the day that changed my life.
“I think I had too much spaghetti as a child. Now, I can’t even look at it.” I hoped she bought my excuse.
“I’m like that with oatmeal. I had it every morning for years, and now…” She shivered.
We laughed together for a moment. When the laughter subsided, we smiled at each other. The moment was powerful, because I realized we could be together and not try to fill it with idle chatter. Something threaded through me, a vague emotion I couldn’t quite get a handle on. Affection maybe? I’d never felt it before with a woman, so I was confused.
We continued to enjoy our meals in companionable silence. One thing was certain, Jain loved to eat. Every so often, she’d take a bite, close her eyes, and moan with pleasure. That’s how she’d sound… No. I wouldn’t go there. She’s too important. I wanted to keep her in my life, and that wouldn’t happen if we slept together.
“Jain?”
She seemed to come out of her food trance and looked up. But I swear her gaze lingered on my lips. Holy shit. Finally, her eyes made their way up to greet mine.
Her cheeks flushed pink. “Sorry, the food distracted me.”
“I’m glad to see you’re enjoying it.” I could sit and watch her all day.
“Thanks for taking me here, and, you know, out of that situation.” The color on her cheeks turned a darker pink.
“I was glad to.” I didn’t want to rehash the unpleasantness, so I continued with, “How about we discuss some of the details about your fundraiser?”
She smiled and put her hand on her chest.
God help me.
“I would love that. I don’t think we even talked about it at Starbucks the other day. I received a little lecture from Colin.” Her eyes warmed whenever she spoke of Colin. “Our meeting today should make him happy. She rubbed her palms together. “So, what’s first? We need a theme, correct?”
I chuckled. “Yes, we can start there.”
She continued to rub her hands. “It’s going to be on Valentine’s Day, so should we do a love theme?”
“Yes, I’ll have Todd work on that. Right now, we’re
I hurried back to our table and sat down. Jain seemed upbeat and ready to put the incident behind her.
“I ordered for you,” she said.
“Great, I’m starved. What will I be eating today?”
“Eggplant parmesan. I’m a little obsessed with it. Is that okay?” She sat on the edge of her chair, waiting for my reaction.
“Of course, it’s one of my all-time favorites. What are you getting?” I inquired.
She giggled softly. “The same thing. I was going to get two different orders, but all I could think was I didn’t want to share. Sorry!” Her lilting laughter floated through the air.
A few minutes later, the waitress brought us our dishes and set them in front of us. “Can I get you anything else?”
I stared at the side order of spaghetti that sat to the right of my plate. I cleared my throat and asked, “Can you take this away?” I didn’t want to touch it, so I pointed instead.
“The spaghetti? You don’t want it?” She stood, hands on hips – daring me to refuse spaghetti in an Italian restaurant. “It doesn’t cost extra; it’s included with every entrée.”
“I’m not worried about the money. Can you remove it, now?” If she didn’t, I’d find the closest garbage can.
There must have been an edge in my tone, because she immediately said, “Yes, sir. Right away.” She reached over and took the plate from the table so fast, the spaghetti nearly came off.
“You really don’t like spaghetti, do you?” Jain’s lips pressed together in an apparent attempt to stifle her laughter.
“No. I don’t.”
“I almost ordered you spaghetti marinara for lunch.” She giggled.
I smiled a little. When she laughed, it was infectious. Only a few seconds before, I felt almost panicked. I needed the spaghetti gone, right away. Every time I saw it, I was brought back to the day that changed my life.
“I think I had too much spaghetti as a child. Now, I can’t even look at it.” I hoped she bought my excuse.
“I’m like that with oatmeal. I had it every morning for years, and now…” She shivered.
We laughed together for a moment. When the laughter subsided, we smiled at each other. The moment was powerful, because I realized we could be together and not try to fill it with idle chatter. Something threaded through me, a vague emotion I couldn’t quite get a handle on. Affection maybe? I’d never felt it before with a woman, so I was confused.
We continued to enjoy our meals in companionable silence. One thing was certain, Jain loved to eat. Every so often, she’d take a bite, close her eyes, and moan with pleasure. That’s how she’d sound… No. I wouldn’t go there. She’s too important. I wanted to keep her in my life, and that wouldn’t happen if we slept together.
“Jain?”
She seemed to come out of her food trance and looked up. But I swear her gaze lingered on my lips. Holy shit. Finally, her eyes made their way up to greet mine.
Her cheeks flushed pink. “Sorry, the food distracted me.”
“I’m glad to see you’re enjoying it.” I could sit and watch her all day.
“Thanks for taking me here, and, you know, out of that situation.” The color on her cheeks turned a darker pink.
“I was glad to.” I didn’t want to rehash the unpleasantness, so I continued with, “How about we discuss some of the details about your fundraiser?”
She smiled and put her hand on her chest.
God help me.
“I would love that. I don’t think we even talked about it at Starbucks the other day. I received a little lecture from Colin.” Her eyes warmed whenever she spoke of Colin. “Our meeting today should make him happy. She rubbed her palms together. “So, what’s first? We need a theme, correct?”
I chuckled. “Yes, we can start there.”
She continued to rub her hands. “It’s going to be on Valentine’s Day, so should we do a love theme?”
“Yes, I’ll have Todd work on that. Right now, we’re
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