“You have two choices. We can grab a pizza and bring it home to eat, or we can go to Lawd’s and eat BBQ. Your choice.”
“Oh, now I have a choice?” she asks, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Thank you, oh great one, for bestowing that privilege upon me.” She places her hands together like she’s praying. “I don’t know what to do with that kind of power.”
“Okay, three choices Dimples.” I stop at the end of the driveway and look at her. “Pizza, BBQ, or you keep being a smart ass and I kiss the fuck out of you.”
“Colton,” she warns, but that warning sounds thick with arousal, which causes my jeans to suddenly become too tight.
“What’s it going to be?” I prompt, and her eyes drop to my mouth.
“BBQ,” she whispers, staring at my lips.
“You sure that’s what you want?” I question, and she licks her lips once more before looking away.
“Yes.”
Hitting my turn single, I pull out onto the road and drive us to town.
When I pull up and park outside of the restaurant I shut down the engine and get out. Meeting her at the hood I take her hand and lead her inside where we are seated immediately.
“Hey, Colton. How’s it going?” our waitress greets as soon as she arrives at our table.
“I can’t complain,” I say, and she smiles then looks at Gia.
“What can I get you to drink, darlin’?”
“Diet Coke if you’ve got it.”
“I do.” She beams at Gia before she looks at me once more. “What about you?”
“I’ll take a Bud.”
“Got it.” She jots both orders down on the notepad in her hand. “Do you need a minute to look over the menu, or are you ready to order?”
“We’re ready,” I reply, and she looks at Gia again.
“What’ll it be?”
“I’ll have the pulled pork sandwich with curly fries,” Gia says, closing her menu.
“What about you?” she asks me again.
“The same, but add an order of fried pickles.”
“Be back in a minute with your drinks.” She smiles at both of us and takes our menus before walking off.
“Do you know everyone in town?” Gia asks, looking around while taking off her coat and tucking it into the booth next to her.
Looking around myself, I notice there are a few people looking at our table, trying to make it look like they aren’t doing just that. “I grew up here, and my family has always lived here. I don’t know everyone, but I know a lot of people.”
“Small town,” she says thoughtfully.
“That’s part of it.”
“What’s the other part?”
“Right after college, I joined the Marines. Six years in and my second tour overseas, I was shot. It was bad. I couldn’t walk. When that happened, my mom held fundraisers to make some money for my recovery. People who didn’t know me knew of me after that.”
“You couldn’t walk?”“Nope.”
“God, I’m so sorry.”
“I’m here now,” I tell her, and the waitress comes back, giving us our drinks before taking off once more.
“What happened with you and Lisa?” she asks out of the blue, and I feel my muscles get tight. The last thing I want to do is talk about Lisa, but I know that if this is what I think it is, I need to be upfront with Gia about that part of my history. “You don’t have to tell me. Forget I asked,” she backpedals, dropping her eyes.
Grabbing her hand, I wait until her eyes meet mine. “We were together in high school. I asked her to marry me when I got home from my first deployment. Six months after that, I got orders overseas again, so we decided to wait to get married until after I got home the second time around, only that didn’t happen. I was shot. I was sent to New York for recovery, and the doctors thought I wouldn’t walk again. Lisa couldn’t handle that idea, so she ended things with me when I was laid up in the hospital.”
“That bitch,” she whispers, and I find myself smiling, because that’s the first time I have heard her curse.
“I’m glad I found out who she was before I tied myself to her, gave her my name, and had kids with her,” I reply honestly, and she shakes her head.
“I get that, but seriously, who does something like that?” she asks, but doesn’t let me answer before she answers herself. “Never mind, she’s a bitch, so she would do something like that, and obviously did. I only met her once and knew then she was not nice.”
“You’re right; she’s not nice. I didn’t see it before, but I see it now, and I want nothing to do with her,” I tell her straight, because I know Lisa. I know that even though she is only guessing that something is happening between Gia and me, she will try to put an end to it. She will try to scare Gia off, and if that happens, I won’t be as nice as I have been. “I don’t even like breathing the same air as her. There is no coming back from what she did.” I squeeze her hand. “Ever.”
“Good,” she retorts, before looking over my shoulder and saying quietly, “Food’s coming.”
Letting her hand go, I lean back, taking a pull from my beer and watching her take a sip from her soda.
“I hope you two are hungry,” our waitress singsongs, setting our food in front of us and the fried pickles in the middle of the table, along with a stack of napkins.
“I’m starving,” Gia tells her, looking at her sandwich and mound of curly fries.
“You won’t be when you leave.” The waitress grins.
“So you’re starving?” I ask with a raised brow when the waitress disappears.
“Whatever.” She rolls her eyes, cutting her sandwich in half and taking a big bite. Laughing at that, I dig into my own meal and spend the rest of dinner just enjoying her company.
“Thanks again for dinner,” Gia says as I hit the remote for the garage, opening the door.
“Anytime.” I pull inside and shut down the engine. Opening my door, I hear her do the same then her feet hit the concrete when she jumps down. I wait for her to reach me before I open the door to the house, and then smile as Loki greets her with his tail wagging.
“Hey, boy, I brought you something,” she tells him, walking into the house and opening the paper bag she brought in. Giving him what’s left of her sandwich, she laughs when he swallows it down in one gulp. “You should slow down to enjoy it.” She rubs his head, and he takes a seat, looking at the bag on the counter. “Sorry, that’s all I brought.” She takes off her coat and boots, carrying both to the door where I’m still standing.
“You want to watch a movie?” I ask, and she looks at me, the TV, and then the couch before deciding.
“Sure, I’m just going to change first,” she answers, heading for her room.
Watching her go, I kick off my boots then run up and change before coming back down and finding the remotes for the TV and DVD player.
“What do you feel like watching?” I ask when she comes back out wearing a T-shirt and sweats, both too big on her.
“What is there?”
“Not much. I have a few scary movies and a couple comedies.” I show her the DVDs I own and she looks them over.
“This looks good.” She hands me one of the scary ones before tucking in near the arm of the couch. Putting the movie in, I start it up then take a seat next to her. She doesn’t say anything about me sitting so close, something I’m thankful for when the movie starts to get scary, because when that happens, she curls herself into my side and hides her face in my chest. Which means I get to wrap my arm around her and smell her hair, the source of the vanilla scent I’ve recently become obsessed with.
“I’m going to have nightmares,” she tells me, leaning back to look at me when the movie comes to an end and the credits start to roll. “It didn’t even have a happy ending. Everyone died.”
Smiling at her, I mutter, “Dimples, you picked the movie.”
“I know.” She shakes her head. “Why on earth did you let me do that?”