I placed my hand on hers, needing her warmth. “I’m sorry you had to hear all of that.”
She seemed to understand and linked our fingers together as we finished the journey to the car.
“I understand how this feels,” she said, looking up at me with profound sadness in her eyes. “I fight with doctors all the time these days,” she smiled lovingly.
I wasn’t ready to leave Caitlyn, nor did I want to make the long, lonely drive home. “Are you hungry for dinner? We had our karaoke buffet quite a while ago.”
More than anything, I wanted her to stay with me. I needed someone to talk to. I wanted to stay close to her, and I certainly didn’t want to go another week without seeing her again.
She bit her bottom lip. “Let me just call in and check on Gran.”
Right, she had family obligations, of course. Sometimes I was so selfish.
“It’s okay if you want to make it for another time.”
She squeezed my hand before pulling out her phone. “Hi Athena. It’s Caitlyn. I’m just checking in on how Gran is doing?”
I watched Caitlyn’s face as she received the answer. It was grave and sullen, but she wasn’t in tears.
“Okay. If she’s sleeping now, is it possible that I can be out for a few more hours? Would she be lucid enough to call me if something happened?” She bit her bottom lip again as she listened. “No worries. I have someone I can call. Thank you so much, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
With a sigh, she disconnected the call.
“I’ll just take you—”
She shook her head. “It’s okay. I can stay. Gran is okay. She’s been asleep most of the day. The only real concern is if she wakes up and needs to go to the bathroom.” Another beautiful smile lit up her face. “She’s such a character. She refuses a catheter. She swears she’d rather be dead than use one. She’s already pulled out two.”
“We could order delivery,” I suggested.
She pushed her hair back from her face, seeming to consider my offer. “I never get to leave the house. I just go to the center and stay with Gran. I really could use the break.” She peeked up at me through her lashes. “She told me she didn’t want me coming home until tomorrow.”
“She’s a smart woman.” I couldn’t believe I let myself say that. “I mean, if you weren’t you… I mean… if you wanted to stay over… the night… ah fuck.” I gave up.
She shook her head, a grin playing on her lips. “And then, there’s that,” she said as she dialed her phone again and spoke to someone named Tammy. She glanced over at me. “I have a favor though. I hate to ask, but um… I’d like to go to dinner with a friend.” She listened and her eyes grew wide. “What? Yeah, it’s him.” She planted a hand over her face, and I would have given just about anything to have heard what her friend was saying. “No! It’s just dinner. Seriously.” I chuckled and Caitlyn shot me an embarrassed glance. “Anyway, could you watch Gran just for a couple of hours? She’ll probably sleep through…” She sighed. “Yep. Just gonna eat. Love you too.”
I laughed. “My reputation proceeds me, I assume.”
She stuffed her phone in her bag. “Well, you don’t give a girl a million bucks without a few repercussions. Anyway, we’re good, she’s gonna Gran-sit for a few hours. Where do you want to go?” She seemed very excited and genuinely happy to go to dinner with me.
“How about Dockside Seafood and Grill?” I asked, thinking a moonlit night on the water would be sexy. I might have been temporarily neutered, but I was still me.
She beamed and placed her hand on my arm. “I love that place.”
Fifteen minutes later, we were seated at a nice table right by the water. It was peaceful and calm with the full moon shining on the surface. It was actually painfully romantic. The irony wasn’t lost on us when the hostess put us at a cozy table for two, secluded from the other patrons. Caitlin looked over the menu and ordered lobster, while I decided on steak. We shared a bottle of wine and drank in the view. Neither of us seemed to be in a hurry to make idol conversation, so we just enjoyed the moment, the view, and the company.
“Thank you. My friends Rick and Tammy and I do a lot of barbequing at home, this is a really nice change of scenery.” She looked over at me, the candlelight casting a radiant light on her beautiful face.
I was feeling that insatiable tickle in my belly, and my overconfident cock started to swell. I took a deep breath and tried to steer our boat in a more comical direction, otherwise I would be propositioning the little Prince Slayer all night.
“I’ve heard a rumor that this place serves much better food than that dive off of I-95,” I said, giving her a side eye.
She threw her cloth napkin at me.
I shot her a fake surprised look. “So violent.”
She stuck her nose in the air. “The service isn’t as good.”
“On the contrary, the waitresses might actually serve their customers, rather than walk out on them,” I teased.
The nose went higher. Her fake snooty look was adorable. “Well, if the customer wasn’t such an ass—”
“And if the waitress didn’t have such a nice one,” I added, taking it a step too far.
She lifted a brow high on her forehead. “The former waitress turned almost millionaire wouldn’t have to be such a prudish Ninja… no, sex warrior, if the customer just acted like a decent human being.”
If there had been a mic available, it would have been dropped. We laughed.
I raised my hands in surrender. “I know I’m ridiculous.”
She did the same. “I’m guilty too.”
We drew a splash of unwanted attention from patrons at nearby tables, and I’m sure we looked very weird, but it was all in good fun.
The waitress brought a captain’s tray full of seafood samplers as an appetizer.
“This looked good. I hope you like to eat.”
She had a perfect figure, but she was a busy woman. I hoped she wasn’t overconscious about her weight as most of the people in my industry were.
“Oh, I can eat,” she assured me. “I hate the gym, I like to hike and bike, so I get my exercise, but I know when to salad and when not to, and this looks good,” she said as she dove for a piece of Cajun shrimp.
I grabbed one too. “Thank god. So many of the women I work with just eat air.”
“All things in moderation.”
A smudge of grease coated her lips, and my cock pulsed at the sight. My sex starved mind envisioned the glistening on her lips as a nasty breech of table manners as she dove under the table and used that well-lubricated mouth to ease my suffering cock. Too soon, her napkin had wiped away the gloss I so desperately wanted to lick off her.
When I took a deep breath, she noticed. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” I lied.
She frowned. “Can we get real for a moment, or is it too awkward?”
I braced myself. “Let’s get real, just don’t eviscerate me. I don’t think I can take it tonight.”
“I won’t,” she said kindly.