Adam stared at the clock and tapped his fingers on the counter—6:00…6:01…6:02. He checked on the food and glanced at the clock again—6:03…6:04. He ran his fingers through his hair.
Maybe she changed her mind and wasn’t coming. Maybe she was purposely being fashionably late.
He jumped when he heard a knock on the door. His eyes darted to the clock—6:05. He breathed a sigh of relief. When he opened the door, he inhaled sharply at the sight of her. She looked absolutely stunning.
He tried not to appear like a total Neanderthal as he forced his eyes to look at her face first. It lit up with that dazzling smile again, and he could tell she had spent a little extra time on her hair and makeup. Her normally straight, blond hair curled subtly and fell whimsically around her face and shoulders. She had applied more of an evening look with her makeup, a smoky gray around her eyes that brought out their brilliant blue color and gave her a sensual look. Her full lips were tinted with a shimmery gloss that made him want to kiss her deeply.
Later. Take it slow.
He then let his eyes drift to the tastefully sexy little black dress that showcased the curves of her voluptuous body perfectly and showed just the right amount of cleavage. He had to fight the urge to take her in his arms and take it off her. But he refrained. He wanted to savor the evening. He noticed that she held a bottle of wine in one hand and her violin case in the other.
“Good evening, Ms. Madeline. You look absolutely stunning, as always. Welcome to Casa de Lancaster. Your table awaits you. Please allow me,” he said in mock formality.
He reached for the wine and violin case.
She smiled that beautiful smile that he loved so much and said, “Thank you. It smells wonderful in here. And by the way, you’re looking pretty gorgeous yourself.”
She winked at him as she walked past.
This is going to be an amazing night.
She followed him to the kitchen. Along the way she said, “The place looks great. I love all the candles.”
Thank you, Claire.
“I know you told me not to bring anything, but I wanted to contribute something to the meal, so I brought my favorite wine for you to try.”
“That sounds great! We can have some while I finish cooking dinner.”
As Adam examined the wine label, it occurred to him that he didn’t have a corkscrew.
Damn!
After all of the planning and preparation to make the evening perfect, he couldn’t believe he had missed that important detail. The last time he had looked for a corkscrew in his utensil drawer, where he would normally keep it, he couldn’t find it.
He was almost positive it had disappeared during one of the wilder parties he had hosted, but he decided to look one last time. He opened the drawer and dug around just in case he had missed it before. Finding nothing that even resembled a corkscrew, he leaned down for a better view, looked in the back of the drawer, shuffled things around, and looked again. No corkscrew.
Damn!
“You know what, Maddie, I’m sorry but I don’t think I have a corkscrew. It disappeared during one of our particularly rowdy parties and I’ve never replaced it. I hate to ask, but do you have one?”
She stepped toward the drawer and said, “Well, let me see if I can find it,” as she began rummaging.
Convinced that she wouldn’t find a corkscrew in the drawer, Adam started to protest, “I’m pretty sure you’re not going to find…”
But before he could finish his sentence, she said, “Oh here we go,” as her hand emerged from the drawer holding a corkscrew.
Adam’s eyebrows shot up as he stammered, “What the..? How did you..? Wow, am I going blind or what? I can’t believe you found that. I’ve searched that drawer a few times and I’ve never seen it. You look for a microsecond and immediately find it. How did you do that? I swear you’re a magician or something. Was that a sleight-of-hand trick? Come on, spill it. First the Shark Fin beer, then the corkscrew. What’s your secret?”
She laughed the same way she did when she had amazed the band members with the Shark Fin beer at rehearsal and said, “I don’t know. I guess I have good searching skills.”
Adam glanced at her sideways. He thought too many strange coincidences occurred in Maddie’s presence. But what else could explain it? He got the slightest feeling she wasn’t being truthful with him. Not in a malicious way, but in a way he couldn’t quite explain. He could have sworn there had not been a corkscrew in that drawer. Why would she lie, though? That would be a weird thing to lie about. He decided to let it go.
He shrugged and said, “Allow me.”
She handed him the corkscrew. As he opened the wine, he noticed that the corkscrew didn’t look like his. Maybe somebody had left one in the drawer the last time he had guests over. But he had just looked in the drawer and he didn’t see it. He scratched his head.
Oh well. That was just strange.
He went on about the business of opening up the wine. He poured them each a glass and she gave him a lesson in the etiquette of wine tasting. Although he didn’t normally drink wine, he was open to trying anything once, especially since she had brought it.
She said, “This is Beringer, Cabernet Sauvignon—Private Reserve, Napa Valley 2001. I usually only buy it for special occasions.”
Adam was definitely not a wine connoisseur, but even he could tell it was what he considered an expensive bottle of wine. Warmth spread through him, partly from the wine, but mostly because she had considered their first date to be a special occasion.
Their eyes locked for a moment as they sipped the wine.
She is so
