A soft knock at my door had me standing up and taking another deep breath. Being nervous was not Amelia Waldo’s style. Rolling my shoulders back, I walked to the door like a supermodel and opened it.
Titus stood there in a charcoal gray suit, minus the tie. His starched white shirt was open at the collar, showing a vee of tanned skin. The man could knock me over in his work clothes, but damn, he looked even better sporting a suit. His face lit up in a grin even as his eyes heated as he swept me with this gaze.
“You look absolutely stunning, Amelia,” he said, voice flowing over my exposed skin like warm honey.
I smoothed down the black dress, knowing it hugged every curve I had. That was the whole point of a little black dress. Stun the man taking you out and still allow for spilled food without ruining your dress. Romantic and practical.
Titus extended a hand full of lavender sprigs and white lilies. “These are for you.”
I took them, finally looking away from Titus’s face. There was something so fulfilling about seeing his expression change from happy to swamped with desire just from looking at me. I waved him in and spun to put the flowers in the ice bucket each of the rooms came with. I filled it with water, feeling Titus’s hot gaze on me the whole time.
“All ready.” I dusted off my hands and grabbed the purse just big enough to fit my license, a credit card, and my phone.
Titus didn’t say anything for a long moment. Then he stepped up to me and cupped my face, looking down at me with such fondness my heart skipped a beat.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy before,” he said simply.
My heart melted, right down to the heels that would be killing my feet before the night was over. Dating the nice guy was so much better than trying to reform the bad guy. I lifted up on my toes—because even in heels, Titus was much taller than me—and kissed him.
“Let’s go. The sooner we eat, the sooner I can persuade you to come back up here and get naked.” My heart felt like it might beat out of my chest.
He grinned and stepped back, grabbing my hand and pulling me out the door. The eyes of my staff were on me as we left the hotel, a wink here, a thumbs-up there. Seemed like everyone already knew about Titus and me anyway. Their approval shouldn’t have mattered, but it did. These people knew me well, even the scary Amelia who showed up when things went wrong and yelled at everyone. If they approved of Titus for me, that said something about my ability to make good choices recently. Frowning, I couldn’t think of one person in my life who’d said they liked Daire.
Not that I was comparing Titus to Daire. That wasn’t even a fair comparison as the two men were in different galaxies in my mind, but when a girl’s been duped by a guy, she tends to question her decision-making abilities.
When we got to the diner, Titus opened the truck door for me, helping me down and squeezing our fingers together tightly. Titus knew how to treat a lady and I was the lucky beneficiary of his mama’s good training. He opened the door to the diner and let me walk in first. The place transformed at night, the low lights and soft music giving the diner a more romantic atmosphere. Sure, we were a little overdressed, but taking a date here to the diner was almost a prerequisite for being a couple. And Lord knew you didn’t want to buck the time-honored traditions of Hell lest the older generation rain down judgement on you. Ever seen Yedda upset? Even her cats were scared of her in that state.
Titus had called ahead and reserved a very secluded table for two in the little glass rotunda that allowed in a steady stream of sunshine in the morning hours. A single white votive burned in the center of the table. Titus pulled out my chair for me and I sat down.
“My, my. Pulling out all the stops tonight, I see,” I teased him as he sat down.
He held out his hand across the table, the callouses formed by his occupation only adding to my attraction to him. There was something about a man who worked with his hands that just fired up the female libido. I laid my hand in his, watching as his thumb swiped across my skin.
“I’ve dreamed about taking you out on a date here for more years than I can count. Damn right I’m going to do everything to make you see how special you are.”
Oh, fuck.
Skip dinner. We should go straight back to my hotel room.
“And no. We aren’t skipping the date to get to the sex. I intend to fully woo you, Amelia Waldo.”
I couldn’t help the blush. Damn boy could read my mind.
The server came, and after deciding on what we both wanted to eat, Titus ordered a bottle of white wine for us to share.
“You sure you don’t want to change it to a red?” I asked him, knowing when I’d seen him drink wine, it was usually a merlot.
He shook his head. “Nope. Pinot grigio is your favorite and that’s what we’re having tonight.”
I smoothed the cloth napkin across my lap. “You know it doesn’t need to be all about me, right? I mean, I know I can be a pain in the ass, but this is about both you and me.”
Titus grinned lopsidedly. “I don’t really care about the wine choice. I just want to sit here and enjoy a good meal and talk to you.”
I shook my head slowly, but couldn’t help the smile reflecting all the emotions bubbling inside my chest. “You really are going for that BBE award.”
“Well, well, well. What
