Elody’s POV

At seven on the dot, I hear a knock at the door. I answer it, and Brian is standing there, a dozen roses in his left hand. His right hand is holding a bottle of Jack Daniels. He knows me so well, already.

“A bottle of Jack, huh? I thought we were going out? You did tell me to dress semi-formal, right?”

“Yes, and we are, this is for later. I mean… if you’re up for it later.” He smiles, and hands me the roses. “I couldn’t resist buying these for you as well. You look beautiful, by the way.” I can feel my face getting red.

“You look quite handsome, yourself. Why don’t you come in? You can put the Jack in the freezer, if you want. I’ll be right back, I have to grab my jacket.” I let him in, and proceed to my bedroom, for my jacket.

“I guess I should’ve gotten a bottle of Coke, too!” I hear Brian call from downstairs.

“It’s alright. We can always pick some up.” I say coming back into the kitchen. “Ready?”

“Of course.” He smiles. He’s so adorable, I can hardly stand it.

--

We arrive at some fancy Italian restaurant, and Brian opens the door for me, and helps me out of the car. We get inside, and he says something to the hostess, who then leads us back into a secluded little room, that only includes a table set for two. It’s definitely big enough for a few more tables, but I’m sure Brian requested it to look just like this. The room is dimly lit, with a few candles burning on the table, and rose petals surrounding the candles. He pulls out my chair, and I sit down, as he sits across from me.

“I hope this isn’t too much. I really just wanted you to enjoy yourself tonight.” He says, as he looks at me, over his menu.

“It’s wonderful, Brian. I never realized how much of a gentleman you are.” I say, as I peruse the menu, myself. The waitress comes in, and we order our drinks and food. She then takes our menus, and disappears.

“After hearing about your love for Italian food, and how much you love pasta, I couldn’t resist bringing you here. This is one of my favorite places to eat. The food is divine.”

“I’m sure I’ll love it.” I smile. “You really didn’t have to do all of this.” I say, gesturing to the candles, and roses.

“I didn’t do it, the wait staff did.” He winks at me. “I like to make a good impression.”

“I never would’ve guessed that, when I first met you.” I laugh.

“I never apologized for that morning.” I give him a confused look, before I realize what he’s talking about. “I’m really sorry. If it helps, I didn’t sleep with her.”

“You didn’t?”

“No. You look surprised.”

“I guess I just assumed, when I saw you pulling on your clothes in the hallway, and trying to sneak out.” He laughs, a little.

“She was really wasted, she was trying to throw herself at me, but she fell asleep as soon as she got my shirt off, which she insisted on taking off, because she wanted to ‘see my tattoos.’” He laughs. “I also don’t like to sleep in jeans, because I find it uncomfortable, so I slept in my boxers, but I slept on the floor. I don’t think it’s right to take advantage of someone like that.”

“Wow. You just keep proving me wrong.” I laugh.

“You may not have been completely wrong. I went out with her, and had every intention of sleeping with her, had it not been for her getting trashed.I wanted to get under your skin.”

“Why?” I ask.

“I guess you could say I’m not used to females not flocking to me wherever I go. After you went off on me at the office that day, and I found out about you sleeping with Liam, I knew I wanted to make you jealous. I knew you deserved better than that scum.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Of course. I could tell he was just using you. I know I’m not the best man, but I knew I was better than him. I knew you’d be a challenge, I liked that about you. After seeing your face that first day we ran into each other, I couldn’t get you out of my mind. It was purely miracle, running into you at that office.”

“Well, I guess another thing I never realized is how enticing I am, apparently.” I laugh. “I’m glad you guys showed up at that office. After you caught me and Liam in the office, I realized how much of an idiot I was for ever starting a relationship with him. I wanted to end things immediately, but Liam didn’t like the thought of that. I’m glad you guys showed up, and saved me. Since we are on this subject…” I start to say, but the waitress cuts me off, by bringing our food.

“What were you going to say?” Brian asks, after she walks away.

“I…” I realize that if I tell him, he might look at me differently. I really don’t want to lose whatever we have going, so I decide not to tell him. “You know, this food made me lose my train of thought.” I laugh, and he does, as well.

“I always knew the food was good, but never that it caused short term memory loss.” He smiles. “Hopefully you will remember over dessert later.”

“Yeah, I hope.” I say, untruthfully.

Notes