"I think you make him nervous," Holly remarks and picks up her menu to cover her face.
"Do I make you nervous?" I push down her menu and her green eyes meet mine. What she doesn’t know is she’s the one who makes me feel exposed.
"Very. But I think you already know that."
"I don't want to do that. I want you to be comfortable around me.”
She clears her throat and nervously picks at the edge of her menu. “You want me to be comfortable around you? Does that mean you want to be a part of Matty’s life?”
"You think I actually called you to lunch to sign away my rights?” I place my hand over hers. “Come on.”
"No, I didn’t.” She wets her lips and glances at our hands. I subconsciously start rubbing my thumb over her knuckles. She makes no effort to move, and I make no effort to stop. “So, how do you want to go about this?”
“I’ve put a lot of thought into this. More than you can imagine. I want to be part of Matty’s life.” And yours.
“You mean that? I can’t have you popping in and out of his life when things get hard.”
“I’m serious." I grip both her hands and look her dead in the eyes. "I'm all in, Red.”
"So, I'm Red again?"
"You will always be Red, Holly."
"Why?"
"Because every time I see you, I think of you in that tight little red dress outside the bar," I say bluntly, and as she shifts in her seat all her exposed skin flushes.
Yes, that's the effect I want to have on her.
“Or how beautiful you look when your skin flushes when you get all shy or nervous around me. Though I rather see it flush for other reasons.”
Her mouth pops open, but then her cute little nose twists as the overpowering smell of cologne breaks our bubble. “Are you two ready to order?” Our waiter drops a breadbasket in the middle of the table causing me to have to let go of her hands. The greasyF fucker and his horrible timing. Holly picks up her menu to hide her face once again.
“We might need another minute,” I say through my teeth.
“We have a wonderful lunch special. It’s the…”
“Fine, we will both have that.” I cut him off, not needing to hear it. I just need him to go. “Thank you.”
Holly drops her menu with a loud thump and crosses her arms over her chest, as she narrows her eyes at me. She’s not happy. “He didn’t even tell you what it was. What if I don’t like it?”
“It’s going to be good. Trust me. The chef here is one of the best in the state. I wouldn’t have brought you if I didn’t trust the cuisine.”
“It’s the roasted king salmon, ma’am,” the waiter stutters and his eyes go wide as I glare at him. “I’ll go put them in for you.” He turns around and hurries off again. Leaving his scent in his wake.
“You’re lucky I like salmon.” She sighs and pushes back in her chair. “Are you some kind of control freak? Because I do like to order for myself.”
“He ruined a moment and I wanted him gone.”
“A moment?”
“You were flirting with me.”
Her mouth drops open and she shifts in her seat. “I wasn’t.”
“If you say so, Red.” I wink and she blushes all over again. It's too easy.
“We are supposed to be talking about Matty, aaaand you were flirting with me.” Holly picks up her soda and takes a long sip, her eyes darting up to me through her lashes.
“Guess I was.” I chuckle. “Now as far as Matty is concerned, what is there left to talk about? I want to be around. Support him. Be there for whatever he needs. Whatever you need. I’m sure me and you can work out something for visitation and child support.”
“Child support? I’m not worried about all that,” she says modestly. “I told you I'm not after your money.”
“I don’t think you are, but I’m going to take care of my child,” I admit, no longer seeing her as another Sara. “We can figure all that out later. For now, let’s just take it one step at a time.”
“Okay.” She smiles and plays with her silverware on the table. "Soo,” she draws the word out, “were kids something you ever wanted?"
"I have always liked kids, and the thought of having my own isn't so terrifying." Sara’s pregnant form pops up in my head, but I quickly wipe away the bitter thought.
"Well, Matty adores you if that means anything. He hasn't stopped talking about his Li-um. You even taught him something the last time you were together."
"Yeah? What was that?" I ask, pride bursting from my chest.
"Something that began with the letter f."
The pride bubble deflates instantly as shame washes over me. The only thing not making me feel completely awful is the sly grin she's trying to stop from curling on her lips.
"F, huh? Is he a master in finance now?"
“It was a word.”
“Fingers? Farmer Fred?”
She shakes her head, trying to keep her laughter at bay. "No, it was closer to fudge."
“Frosting?” I chuckle and she swats my hand with a giggle herself. "Sorry. I didn't think he was listening to my phone call. Otherwise, I would have tried to watch what I said."
She smiles. "It's alright, you'll just need to watch your language around him. He's like a sponge."
"I'll do my best next time."
"It's a hard habit to break. I had to threaten my bestie with a swear jar after she spent one hour with him and every time he opened his mouth for a week 'damn it’ was what came out. All because she
