I pulled Laura’s chair out to help her get seated and she blushed again. It gave me such a thrill in my chest to know that I was able to make her blush so easily, that I was impressing her with my behavior. I wanted her to be impressed with me, not with my wealth or connections, the way so many other people were, but with how I had matured and changed. I wanted her to see that I was finally ready to commit to our relationship and to her. Nothing would get in the way of us being together, not if I had any say in the matter.
I sat down and we ordered. Or, well, I ordered. Laura seemed nervous and when I asked her what she wanted she simply asked me to pick whatever appetizers I thought we would enjoy.
Usually, Laura always had an opinion, and that included her food. She was never demure. The opposite of Della, honestly. She must be really nervous if she didn’t have an opinion, especially about what she wanted to eat.
“I’ll be honest,” I whispered to her conspiratorially after we’d ordered, “I have no idea why people say oysters are sexy. You have to swallow the whole thing, so I always worry that people are going to choke on them.”
Laura stifled a laugh, looking around to see if any of the servers might overhear us.
Our sommelier brought us the wine and poured for us. I raised a glass, “I’d like to propose a small toast. To second chances.”
Laura smiled at me, but there was something nervous in her face that continued to worry me. “To second chances,” she echoed.
We clinked our glasses and savored our wine. Laura finished her sip and then set her glass down. “I know you say, ‘to second chances’, but…what do you mean by that?”
“You want to know my intentions?”
Laura nodded.
That was perfectly understandable. “I want a second chance with you. I know I screwed up our first time, and I can that I was young back then, that I didn’t know what I was doing. But it doesn’t change the fact that I hurt you. I’d like to move past that, if we can. Because the truth is, I’ve never met another girl like you.”
Laura blushed. “Come on, Cade, I’ve seen Della. I’m sure there are dozens of women as sophisticated and lovely as she is. And you could have them. You don’t need to flatter me.”
“I’m not flattering you,” I assured her, my voice quiet but firm. I wanted her to know how serious I was. “I’ve never forgotten you. I’ve never dated anyone seriously because they could never measure up to you. Della and I knew from our first date what we were doing—that we weren’t doing this because we had any feelings for each other but because our parents had expectations from us, and it was easier to just…go with it.”
I reached across the table and took her hand. “Laura. You’re smart, confident, funny, and sexy as hell.”
Laura blushed again and squeezed my hand. “Thank you.”
Then she slid her hand from mine. “Even though I appreciate your compliments—and I do, really Cade—it doesn’t change the facts of our life. Your life is in D.C. and I’m not going to give up my business to relocate to a new city. I’ve built a good life here and a sizeable clientele. To uproot everything and move to a new city, I’d have to start over. I’d have to build connections with suppliers, caterers and venue owners. I’d have to sell my house and my office and find someplace new. And I couldn’t ask you to uproot your life and move back here either.
“And what if it doesn’t work out? We can’t move in together right away. That wouldn’t be smart. I don’t want to rush into anything. But a long-distance relationship is hard, and I can’t ask for that. Besides…” Laura took a deep breath, “I should be honest and tell you that I’m not looking for a relationship right now. I’m looking to build my business. That’s my main focus.”
I had to work hard to fight off my disappointment. This was just the beginning of our new relationship, after all. Barely into our first date, I shouldn’t expect her to be convinced so easily. If I really wanted to be with her, then I had to be willing to put in the time and work, and that included convincing her that we were going to be amazing together.
“Let’s forget the ‘r’ word,” I told her, smiling. “We don’t want to think too far into the future and forget to enjoy the present moment. Why don’t we just enjoy tonight and focus on that? Let me spoil you a little. I always wanted to when we were together the first time, but I never did, and I’d like a chance to make up for that now.”
Laura blushed and smiled again, and I felt like I’d said the right thing. “Okay.”
Our appetizers arrived and I insisted that she try them first. I explained how the wine I’d chosen would pair well with the food and complement it. Laura admitted that she only knew the basics of wine since she’d never really had to help choose it for her clients—she could only guide them on the food, but the wine was above her pay grade.
“I could teach you,” I assured her. “It would be a good set of skills to know for the more high-end clients you’re hoping to court.”
We had fun going over the wine menu, and I made fun of a lot of them, doing a horrible French accent for her that had Laura covering her mouth so that
