Autumn and Summer (12 page)

“Yeah, the windows are heavily tinted because it’s bad for the paintings to be exposed to direct sunlight. And I don’t want people staring in here when I’m here.  I have an apartment upstairs.”

My eyebrows shot up.
“Oh cool,” I said, not knowing what else to say.
Great, now I’m in a strange man’s home on the first date,
I thought cynically.
This is going to sound fantastic on the 11 o’clock news.

He laughed nervously and ran his fingers through his hair. “I promise this wasn’t a feeble attempt to get you to my place on the first date. There’s more to this. I promise. Follow me.”

He walked toward a back room and I followed behind him. When we turned into the room, I stopped abruptly. Thick rolls of plastic covered the floor and the walls.  There were no art supplies anywhere. The hair on the back of my neck stood up and I backed out of the room.

“What the hell is that?” I screeched, discre
etly opening my handbag so I could grab my keys. I kept my eyes trained on him.

Jordan stopped and turned around. “What’s what?” he asked cautiously as he opened a closet door. He pulled out two coveralls and shook them.

“Are you okay? We need to put these on because this can get messy.”

“No, I’m not okay! I know a kill room when I see one,” I burst out, gesturing to the plastic everywhere.

As I gestured,
I looked around and noticed the paint on the floor and the two white canvases leaning against the white wall. The easels and stools were in the corner, partially covered in plastic. The realization of my mistake hit me like a ton of bricks.

Putting my face in my hands, I shook
my head. “Oh no. No. No.”

Laughing hysterically, Jordan dropped the coveralls on the floor and prop
ped himself up against the wall.

The embarrassment swallowed me whole and I felt my entire body redden. 
I was so embarrassed that I couldn’t do anything but laugh. “I’m so sorry,” I apologized as I laughed along with him. His constant laughter fueled mine and I had tears dripping from my eyes.

“
You said…kill room!” He chuckled again, gasping for air.

“I…
have nothing,” I said, lifting my shoulders, shaking my head as I failed to explain the mistake. So I just apologized again. “I’m sorry. I completely misread this entire situation.”

“Yes, you did,” he agreed, still amused. “And you clearly watch too much Dexter.”

“Dexter, Law & Order, crime shows, horror movies…you know, I blame the entertainment industry for this mix-up,” I rambled, looking down at the pointed toes of my shoes. I wiped away the remaining tear that rested in the corner of my eye.

I heard hi
m move, but I was too mortified to look up and make direct eye contact.
I pretty much called Jordan a murderer,
I thought, preparing myself for the end of the date.
He’s so cute and gentlemanly; too bad I ruined what could’ve been an awesome date.

I heard the gentle scraping of the heavy coveralls sliding against the plastic. Even though I didn’t see him toss them across the room, I heard it when they noisily fell against the wooden stools.
Since his laughter had come to a halt, the room was completely silent.

Jordan’s footsteps were
steady and purposeful as he padded his way toward me. He stopped just in front of me and the tips of his toes met the tips of mine. Trying to shake off the embarrassment, I peeked up at him through my lashes.

Cupping my face with both of his hands, he lifted my head. His emerald green eyes sparkled as they searched my face.

“You are absolutely beautiful,” Jordan whispered, running his thumbs over my cheeks. Our faces gravitated toward one another and hovered with our noses just barely touching. “And you’re smart for being suspicious. It was stupid of me to bring you here on a first date. You don’t know me and the windows are tinted and there’s plastic all over the room.  I’m out of practice with this whole dating thing. Don’t be embarrassed. Please. It’s my fault. I was nervous to meet you and this painting date at my place was a lapse in judgment.”

My heart drummed in my chest as I
looked at him. The sincerity in his eyes coupled with the sweetness of his words took my breath away.
I pretty much called him Dexter and he called me beautiful. He has got to be the sweetest man I’ve ever met,
I thought as swallowed the lump in my throat.

His eyes dropped to my lips and then met my eyes again. “Forget the painting. Let me take you to the second part of the date. Is that okay with you?”

Scared my voice would break, I just nodded slowly.

We gazed into each other’
s eyes and all of my nerves dissolved completely. I’d never seen eyes that shade of green before and I was mesmerized. And then it hit me. I knew nothing about him besides his name and I wanted him to kiss me. In fact, I’d never wanted to kiss someone more than I wanted to kiss Jordan Moretti in that moment. Slowly, I licked my lips and waited.
Kiss me, kiss me,
I yelled silently.

“I want to kiss you,”
Jordan admitted softly, reading my thoughts. Letting my face go, he grabbed my hand and kissed my knuckles instead. “But you deserve a proper date first.”

Hand and hand, I let him pull me out of the back room, through the main room and out of the building without another word.

After locking the main door, he turned to me and smiled. “Ready for dinner?”

“
Yes.” I smiled up at him. “And I really am sorry about earlier.”

He squeezed my hand. “Don’t be sorry. But be ready to d
iscuss your love of horror movies and crime shows over dinner,” he quipped as we walked down the block.

“Ha! We can talk about anything you want.
”

“I will be holding you to that. But in the meantime, I need to know if you like Italian food.”

“I love it. It’s my favorite.”

“
Good,” he said, seemingly relieved. We turned the corner to a cobblestoned alcove that housed a few of the best and most highly regarded restaurants in the city. “Here we are.”

“Ciao Bella?” I said as we walked up to the door.

Jordan put his hand on the large knob of the restaurant and paused. “Have you ever been here before?”

“Yes. A few times and it’s magnificent.” I smoothed my hand over my dress.

“What did you like best about it?”

“The food. Best
lasagna in DC. Hands down. Probably the best lasagna anywhere. Oh, and the breadsticks!” Subconsciously, I rubbed my belly as the realization that I hadn’t eaten since breakfast hit me. “I’m definitely getting lasagna and breadsticks.”

             
And a safety pin to keep my dress from popping open when I burst through the seams,
I thought as images of me devouring breadstick after breadstick in the skin tight dress flooded my brain.
I have to be strong. This date has already started off wrong!

“Good to hear.” Letting go of my hand for the first time
since we left his building, Jordan opened the door of the restaurant for me.

“
Have you been here before?” I asked, inhaling deeply and smelling the delicious Italian cooking wafting in the air.

He nodded.
“I’ll be right back,” Jordan announced before walking to the hostess stand.

I
took a seat on the bench and watched him shake hands with the man in a black suit. As he talked to the maître d, I let my eyes run over his body. Jordan wore a black, button-up shirt with a pair of denim jeans and black dress shoes. In this formal setting, he looked casual and still completely in his element. Watching him gesture around the room, I could see his muscles underneath the material of his shirt.

Yum
, I thought as he ran his hands through his curly hair. My eyes glazed over as I settled into a fantasy of him shirtless, kissing me. I bit my lip to keep myself from grinning like a giddy school girl. My eyes traveled from his fitted shirt that seemed to gently stretch over his biceps to his long jean-clad legs and then back up.  When my eyes returned to his face, I noticed he was looking right back at me.  I averted my eyes quickly.
Yep, he caught me. I can’t stop embarrassing myself in front of this man.

Jordan walked over to me and
helped me out of my chair by pulling my arm.  Once I was standing, he leaned close and asked, “Do you have a problem eating outside?”

His minty breath
tickled my ear and sent shivers down my spine. Keeping my voice as calm and steady as possible, I said, “No, not at all.”

Grabbing my hand again, he walked me to
the back of the restaurant.
Oh, I’ve never seen this part of the restaurant before,
I thought as we walked past the restaurant’s bathrooms to a small cove. A hidden doorway opened to a dimly lit spiraling staircase. Climbing the flight of stairs carefully until we made it to a heavy metal door, I felt a sense of excitement course through me.

“You ready?” Jordan playfully asked before pushing the door open.

Black, wrought-iron tables and chairs lined the edge of the wall, leaving just one table for two sitting in the middle. My mouth fell open as I took in the candles and flowers that adorned the tabletop.

“Wow,” I breathed as I took everything in. I was so caught up in the
view that I didn’t even realize that I had made it to the table.

“This is beautiful,” I gushed as he pulled my chair out for me. I sat down and my eyes swept across our surroundings. “How did you pull this off? I didn’t even know this place had rooftop dining! This is…wow!”

Chuckling a little, he said, “I’m glad you like it. Hopefully, it makes up for the painting mishap.”

“Totally,” I affirmed with a nod. “But how did you pull this off?”

“It’s not too difficult when you own the place.”

My eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. And I’m also the head chef so I’m glad you said the food was the best thing about this place.” He smiled charmingly while giving a sharp nod, beckoning to someone behind me.

A waiter appeared with water
, only to leave and quickly return with wine and breadsticks.

Jesus be a fence,
I thought as I eyed the garlic and butter covered bread.

Grabbing my glass of water with a shaky hand, I took a sip before looking Jordan in his eye and apologizing again. “I’m sorry about the way I reacted earlier. You have been nothing but sweet and creative and I reacted
—no—I overreacted.”

He was able to take a potentially date ending reaction and laugh at it.
If I had a checklist, he would be nailing everything. Handsome. Check. Sense of humor. Check. Gentlemanly. Check. Romantic. Check. This was a good pick. Jordan is definitely the cream of the crop,
I realized as he waved off my apology.

“Stop apologizing. I mean it,” he demanded as he sipped his wine. His eyes danced as he watched me. “
Although I want to paint with you at some point, we’re not going to talk about painting or what happened earlier anymore tonight. But I do have one question.”

The w
ay he looked at me made breathing a little more difficult. “What’s that?”

“
How long have you been a fan of Dexter?” he joked, unable to keep a straight face.

I put my face in my hands and peeked at him between my fingers.
Giggling, I responded, “I read the book first and then got hooked on the series.”

“
I haven’t read a book in forever. Truth be told, I hate reading.”

Well
, that’s disappointing,
I thought as I found my first negative in a sea of positives.
Boris reads…

“
Clearing his throat, he looked at me sincerely. “I want to know more about you. Tell me a little about yourself. Where are you from?”

“Well, I’m originally from North Carolina. I moved here a couple of
years ago.”

“Is that where that cute little accent comes from?” Jordan interjected flirtatiously, taking another sip of his wine.

I laughed loudly. “I do not have an accent!”

Jordan raised his eyebrows.
“You don’t? Okay well say ‘do’ again.”

I sighed dramatically and rolled my eyes.  “Whatever Jordan!” I enunciated each syllable slowly eliminating any hint of an accent and making him laugh. 

He is seriously the total package from what I can tell,
I thought as I listened to him laugh.
And he thinks I’m funny. Check.

“You just think I have an ac
cent because you have an accent,” I countered. “Where are you from?”

“I’m from New
Jersey. I went to college in Jersey and then culinary school in New York. I lived in New York for the next few years and business was booming. I loved it. But I needed a change so…”

College educated. Check. Business savvy. Check.