“Yes,” she answered finally. And she didn’t know how to feel about that.
Risking a glance up at him, she found him regarding her with understanding. A far cry from the Holy-crap-she’s-talking-about-marriage-on-our-first-date look or the Hot-damn-I’m-gonna-get-laid look she had expected to find.
“I can see how you might find that a bit unsettling,” he told her, unperturbed.
A bit unsettling was an understatement. “What did you think when you saw the visions?” she asked, curious.
His eyes twinkled with mischief. “You mean besides wanting desperately to see those visions play out?”
She grinned. “Yes, aside from that.”
He seemed to think about it for a moment. “I was surprised the visions were so clear.”
“They usually aren’t.”
“And when you told me your visions always come true, I wondered the same thing you did—if your gift was telling you we’re destined to be together.”
She carried another forkful to her lips, chewed, swallowed. “It isn’t just the nature of the visions. It’s that this has never happened before. Usually I get feelings or impressions or cloudier visions of other people’s futures. But I’ve never been given such vivid glimpses of my own. I just don’t know how I feel about it.”
A twinkle of mischief entered his deep brown eyes. “You’ve seen your own future and can’t decide whether or not you’re happy with the choices you’re going to make?”
She smiled, feeling another rush of amusement. “No. It isn’t that. It isn’t you. I don’t know how to explain it.”
“I think I know what you mean.” He paused to consume a bit of mouthwatering chicken, then sighed. “I’ve been alone for a long time, Dana. But the fact that I haven’t been dating doesn’t mean that I’ve not been searching for someone I could love. Someone whose company I can enjoy so much that I never want to be without it. Someone I could easily imagine spending the rest of my life with.” He set his fork down. “And now that your visions are telling me I may have found her. Found you. That you’re the someone I’ve been searching for…” He gave her a wry smile. “I find I’m a bit torn.”
That shouldn’t hurt, should it? Because it did. Enough to surprise her.
Leaning forward, he braced his forearms on the table. “Part of me is overjoyed. Part of me is thrilled that I may have finally found someone who makes me laugh and feel happy in a way I haven’t in a very long time. Someone I can look forward to spending all my days and nights with.”
Her treacherous heart began to pound again.
Lowering his eyes, he touched a finger to the breadbasket. “But there’s another part of me that I have to admit, much to my surprise, wants to dig in his heels. Because somehow acknowledging the visions and going along with them feels like I’ll be forfeiting free will.”
“Yes!” Relieved that he really did seem to understand, she set her fork down and leaned closer. “That’s it exactly. You’ve described it perfectly. I like you, Aidan. And I like the idea that we may find something meaningful together if we keep seeing each other. But the idea that I may not have any choice in the matter just doesn’t sit well with me.”
Smiling, he rested a hand on the table, palm up in invitation.
Dana placed her hand in his and felt that tingle of excitement she always did when she touched him.
He curled his fingers around hers. “You have choice.”
Her heart leapt when he slid his thumb across the back of her hand in a soft caress.
“You just have to decide which part of you is speaking the loudest.”
The one that wanted to see him again. “Which part of you is speaking the loudest?”
He smiled. “The part that wants to see you again. The part that enjoys your company.”
Happiness and relief filled her, until she realized he had just echoed her thoughts. “Wait. Are you reading my thoughts again?”
His eyebrows flew up. “No. I said I wouldn’t. Why?”
She sent him a wry smile. “Because you just echoed them perfectly.”
A boyish grin lit his face. “So you’re saying I don’t suck at dating?”
She laughed. “No, you don’t.”
He winked. “Then let’s abandon all thought of fate and just enjoy each other’s company, shall we?”
She nodded.
Giving her hand a squeeze, he released it and tucked into his meal once more.
Dana did the same. And as the night progressed, she tried to remember if she had ever had a first date—or any date for that matter—in which her companion had enchanted her more.
Aidan was charming and funny and so damned handsome. He was smart, too, which she found as great a lure as his physical appearance. Ignorance had always been a deal-breaker for her. If she had to pick one or the other, she would always choose brains over brawn. But with Aidan, she didn’t have to.
Once he finished his dinner, he reached across the table once more and clasped her hand in his. Such a simple touch. His thumb caressing the back of her hand as he laughed over a story she shared about the time in high school she had had a vision of a male acquaintance getting pantsed by his so-called friends. She had tried to warn him, only to find herself accused of being the mastermind behind it when the vision came true.
And she, in turn, laughed when he admitted that whenever his brothers didn’t want Aidan to read their minds, they pictured themselves naked to dissuade him.
Dana didn’t realize how much time they had spent talking and laughing together until Sergio returned to ask them if they’d like to order another dessert.
They had already devoured two, something she would likely regret when she got on the scale in the morning. But she had been having a wonderful time and hadn’t wanted it to end.
“What do you think?” Aidan asked. “Would you like to try something else?”
She glanced at her watch. Her eyes widened. “We’ve been here five hours?”
Aidan grinned. “Time flies when you’re having fun, doesn’t it?”
Yes, it did. And they had been having a lot of fun. But it was probably time for the restaurant to close.
She looked at Sergio. “No, thank you. I’m good.”
Aidan rose and held out a hand. “Shall we go then?”
Nodding, she rose, looped her purse strap over her shoulder, and placed her hand in his.
His was so much bigger than hers that the whole of her hand could fit in his palm. But it felt absurdly wonderful when he twined his fingers through hers and escorted her after Sergio.
The large front room was deserted as they passed through it.
Once ensconced in Aidan’s car, Dana began to feel both nervous and excited.
Since he had seen the vision of the two of them naked in bed, would he expect her to make love with him tonight?