Date Night (Wish Come True Book 1) Page 4

  I suppressed my urge to pout and reluctantly admitted to myself that I had really wanted another kiss. I would not soon forget the heat of his lips and the way they brushed softly over mine again and again, tugging and nipping. Was it wrong that I desperately wanted to know what it would feel like if he slipped his tongue into my mouth? A little nagging voice at the back of my head screamed unequivocally ‘yes’. It was wrong.

  I glanced sideways at JT through thick eyelashes while Mrs. Walberg led us to her office. He was wearing a smug smile and it made me chuckle. Even with just his profile visible, one could see he was a handsome man. His square jaw line and chiseled nose combined with his tousled brown hair made him a near dead ringer for Rob Pattinson. I had been so right when I made that connection. But I had been so wrong about one thing; my feelings for JT were far from those for my brother. In fact, I struggled to define what I was feeling at the moment.

  Mrs. Walberg’s office was spacious and inviting. She ushered us to a large mahogany table situated near the window overlooking the extensive lawns of the property. It was cluttered with various brochures and wedding pictures taken at the gazebo, in the wedding chapel and throughout the banquet hall.

  “Oh my…check these out JT.” I pointed to the layout of pictures depicting the garden gazebo in all of its glory. The assortment of photos was amazing and offered great insight into how different color options played off of the backdrop.

  “The gazebo is a lovely choice for a summer wedding,” Mrs. Walberg said. “As you can see, it can be decorated many different ways to give it your own personal touch: flowers, balloons, garland, fabric. We’ve seen it all.”

  “The etched glass in the wedding chapel is gorgeous too,” I said, turning to JT. “What do you think?”

  He didn’t hesitate, “Definitely the gazebo. Why would we want to be cooped up inside when we can be out in the fresh air? We can always take pictures in the church after the ceremony.”

  I smiled at how smooth he acted and nodded my head in agreement. “I think so too.”

  We spent the next hour talking through all of the options for the wedding ceremony. My head was spinning with all of the choices I had to make: wooden chairs or fabric covered chairs, flowers or bows decorating the aisles or nothing at all, colors, music…and on and on. I was sincerely grateful to have JT with me to lend a hand in deciding. And he offered his opinions freely—whether or not they mirrored my own.

  “Are you making your own arrangements for an officiator?” Mrs. Walberg finally asked.

  Good question. I hadn’t thought about it yet. Not having any older siblings or cousins who were already married, I hadn’t appreciated how much work went into planning a wedding. It could get complicated if my future fiancé had strong religious preferences that differed from my own. Or maybe the situation was unlikely to occur? It would probably mean we weren’t compatible. Either way, my head spun thinking about it.

  “Well,” JT said, winking at me. “Our priest is already booked on our wedding day, you know with us making the arrangements last minute and all. Do you offer to make the arrangements?”

  “Of course.” It was obvious Mrs. Walberg was dying to ask the reason behind our hastily planned wedding, but she remained professional and held her tongue. “We have a non-denominational officiator who can conduct the ceremony with as many or as few religious tones as you prefer.”

  I sighed with relief. The further I got into planning for the wedding, the more I began to wonder if the idea was as far-fetched as JT thought. What man would propose to a woman within a few weeks of meeting her and then readily agree to a pre-planned wedding in which he had not played any part in? Perhaps a man who was deeply in love? And therein lay the problem. Who fell in love in a matter of weeks? But for Grannie’s sake I still had to give it my all. If nothing else, at least Grannie would have participated in the planning, much of which I could carry out when and if I ever did get married.

  “Perfect,” I said. “It’s one less thing for us to have to worry about.”

  JT reached out and squeezed my hand as if to say everything would turn out just fine. How was he able to read my mood so well? I glanced up to find Mrs. Walberg smiling at us gently. We must look to her like a normal, loving couple. JT was fulfilling his role to a T. I owed him big time for tonight.

  “Well,” Mrs. Walberg said. “That’s all we need to discuss for the ceremony. Jordan you have a copy of the banquet menu so you both can decide if you’d like buffet style or the plated option. I have you down for the plated option but if you change your mind I just need to know two weeks ahead of time. We’ve notified the bride and groom that you’ll be attending the banquet to taste the food tonight. We would ask the same courtesy of you on your wedding night if the need should arise.”

  “Of course,” I said. “It’s important to pay it forward.”

  The evening turned out far better than I could have imagined. I loved the cozy feeling of the soft white Christmas lights twinkling from the ceiling. There was still time to think about my table centerpieces but I was leaning towards a fresh flower arrangement like the current bride had chosen. The seductive smell of the flowers combined with the splash of color was enchanting.

  The food was delicious; I should know since I ate every last bite on my plate. And the bride and groom graciously invited us to stay the whole evening to enjoy the live band. That was another item on my list which needed to be taken care of, along with the flowers. After dinner and several drinks from the bar, JT pulled me out on the dance floor. We danced all night long—even the silly chicken dance.

  I glanced over at JT as he pulled the car into my driveway well past midnight. I couldn’t stop myself from grinning ear to ear.

  “I had a great time. Best date I’ve had in a long time.”

  “Me too.” His words were softly spoken and full of some emotion I couldn’t define. He reached out to caress my cheek with the back of his hand. “I’ll see you at the restaurant on Tuesday.”

  As I settled into bed that night, I replayed the events of the evening in my head. The evening had been perfect. Why then did I have the feeling JT was somehow sad or full of regret when he had dropped me off? Hadn’t he enjoyed it too? I’ll see you at the restaurant on Tuesday had been his parting words.

  Tuesday.

  And then it dawned on me.

  Tuesday was date night.

  Maybe—just maybe—JT had indeed enjoyed the date as much as I had.

  Chapter Four

  Before Midnight

  J.T.

  I watched as Jordan drummed her fingers idly against the bar waiting for her Tuesday night flavor of the week to appear. She usually waited out in the lobby for her date but after fifteen minutes of sitting out there alone, I convinced her to enjoy a drink on me at the bar. What kind of a jerk doesn’t show for a blind date; especially with the amount of money he must be dishing out for the dating service? The guy would be kicking himself in the ass if he knew what he had missed out on. Jordan looked hot in her little white camisole covered with a form fitting knit sweater in hot pink. She had paired it with white Capri pants and rhinestone studded heels. Her hot pink toe nails peeked out over the edge of her shoes.

  After thirty minutes it seemed pretty safe to assume the date was a flop. I walked over and sat down next to her. It was a pretty slow night and I was between tables so I had time to kill.

  “Hey gorgeous,” I said, trying the cheer her up. I shoulder bumped her while giving her a sideways smile. “Sorry about the date, Jordan. What a bummer you had to get all dressed up for nothing.”

  “Whatever.” She ran her hand through her hair and faced her body towards me, giving me a sad attempt at a smile. “Maybe I’ll go to a movie. I wish I could call Leah but she doesn’t get back from her vacation until next week.”

  “Let me ask Chloe if she can cover my tables and I’ll go with you,” I heard myself say. I could already feel adrenaline beginning to rush through my body. She seemed so sad and I
easily convinced myself I was just doing a friend a favor. “It’s pretty quiet around here. I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”

  “Really?” she asked with a brilliant smile spreading across her face.

  Now that was more like it. Her smile was lighting up the room again. “Sure. I haven’t been to a movie in a long time. Why not?”

  “You’re sure you can handle it?” Jordan teased. “I was planning on seeing a chick flick. Seems like a lot to ask of a guy unless he’s my boyfriend.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure,” I said with a smile tugging at the corner of my mouth. If she was opening up the door to flirting then she’d better watch out. “I’ll let you extend the temporary fiancé thing if you tack on dessert at the end of the meal you owe me.”

  She laughed and held out her hand to shake mine. “It’s a deal.”

  And like the time before, I shook her hand firmly then lifted it to my lips for a soft kiss. My eyes never left her face as my lips grazed her skin. Her lips parted ever so slightly at the moment of contact. There was no doubt in my mind she was reliving the feel of my mouth on hers. I dropped her hand before she could feel the way mine trembled from the thought of our kiss. It was all I could think about for the last three days.

  I cornered Chloe a minute later and all but begged her to cover my tables. I would’ve gotten down on my knees if I had to, but thankfully she agreed under a condition that was not ideal but still palatable. All she wanted was to be allowed to come over and plant flowers in front of my house for Derek’s graduation party. She’d been bugging me about it lately and I kept putting her off, insisting it was an unnecessary expense.

  I didn’t have the heart to tell Chloe that gardening had been my mother’s favorite pastime and the idea of planting flowers seemed sacrilegious to me. My mother’s garden had been immaculate and I couldn’t envision doing her memory an injustice by planting flowers which were sure to be lacking in comparison. But I was willing to face those demons for another chance to spend an evening alone with Jordan.

  My subconscious was cursing at me something fierce; warning me I was playing with fire. But in some sick and masochistic way I needed to know if the trembling she’d started in my gut the other night was a fluke. What I planned to do once I had my answer? Well I hadn’t gotten that far yet. I guess I’d cross the bridge when I came to it. Right now I just wanted to feel the trembling again.

  We drove in separate cars to the movie theater and met outside the box office. Doing so made it feel less like a date and eased my conscience whenever I thought of Jared, who I tried hard not to think about. Jordan had arrived first and, to my dismay, had already picked up the tickets. So I pitched in for the Slurpee’s, hotdogs and popcorn since neither of us had eaten yet.

  “So what movie are we seeing?” I asked as we settled down into the middle section of the back row. Tuesday nights were pretty slow for the movie theater as well. We were only one of four couples in the whole place.

  “Before Midnight. It’s the sequel to Before Sunrise. It picks up the story nine years later. Did you see the first movie?”

  “Definitely not,” I said, glancing at her with a devilish grin. “I didn’t have a fiancé back then.”

  She chuckled and elbowed me before taking a bite of her hotdog. She filled me in on the premise of the first movie so I wouldn’t be completely lost and we debated which movie was the best chick flick of all time. It wasn’t a fair debate, considering I hadn’t seen a quarter of the movies Jordan rattled off, but I tried my best to argue the merits of Knocked Up as the best chick flick. Not only did it deliver romance, I argued, but it was funny as shit. Seth Rogen and his buddies were hilarious. But Jordan assured me it wasn’t even in the top ten. Still it was fun yanking her chain and listening to her fits of giggles.

  When the lights dimmed and the movie preview trailers started, I leaned back in my chair and stretched out my legs. With my head resting against the back of my chair, I turned to gaze at Jordan. I wondered how she would feel if I fell asleep during the movie. It wasn’t my intention, but I’d been known to crash during particularly boring movies. She gazed at me too and we stared into each other’s eyes for a few seconds with silly grins on our faces. I felt a slight trembling in my gut and returned my focus on the big screen. It was there. The feeling I’d had when we kissed the other night. Only this time all it took was gazing at her.

  The movie was better than I expected and even made me laugh in a few spots. It was the sexual tension vibrating between us that I hadn’t expected. It was especially torturous during those moments in the movie when Celine and Jesse were kissing…on the bed…while they were walking. It didn’t matter where. It was the fact they were kissing. And we were seated in the back row. Alone.

  I don’t know how I made it through one hundred and nine minutes without pulling Jordan onto my lap and making out like I was a senior in high school again. But I knew the answer to one question. The trembling was not a fluke. What I was going to do about it—well I needed to think on that a bit.

  ***

  Jordan

  I rested my arms on the table and leaned in hoping it would give the impression I was actually interested in hearing what my date had to say. I was seriously considering cutting my date short for the first time since I had started using the dating service. Could a guy be any more boring or disgusting than Zachary? I doubted it. Five minutes before I had watched him turn discreetly toward the back of our booth to fish out a booger and wipe it under the table. How I had contained the violent gagging noise threatening in my throat I could not say. At least he’d made some small effort to conceal it. For that I was grateful.

  My dates seemed to be going downhill lately; Tuesday’s date was a flop and now this. In fact, the only decent dates I’d had since starting this adventure had been with JT on Saturday and Tuesday evening but those didn’t qualify as real dates. I peered over Zachary’s shoulder and my eyes connected with JT who was motioning for me to come to him with his crooked finger. The conspiratorial grin spread across his face was inspiring. Maybe he had a plan to save me from Zachary because justified or not, I didn’t have it in me to dump a guy in the middle of a date. It seemed impolite. But I had no problem telling a little white lie.

  “Um,” I said, unable to meet his eyes. “Can you excuse me for a few minutes? I need to go to the restroom.”

  “Sure, no problem.” Zachary pulled a device out from his pocket as I stood up. “Take your time. No hurry.”

  Was it a Nintendo DS? I rolled my eyes and then followed JT as he led me over to the bar on the far side of the restaurant. I tried to focus on his broad shoulders as we walked but my eyes slipped down and down again until I found myself narrowing in on his perfect butt, the outline of which I could just make out in his relaxed fit jeans. He didn’t need to wear tight jeans for me to know what it looked like; I’d seen him work out in biker shorts with Jared often enough in our basement. I plopped down on a stool and the bartender slid a strawberry margarita in front of me.

  I eyed it skeptically. “This place is a brewery. What’s up with the fruity drink?”

  Mike grinned and winked at me, “I thought you might need something a little stronger.”

  “Thanks Mike, I hope you mean this has a lot of alcohol in it.”

  “JT told me to make it a double shot. But I’ve been watching you and decided maybe a triple was in order. Rough date, huh?”

  “Don’t get her shit-faced,” JT scolded as he leaned against the bar next to me. “She has to drive home tonight and she’s already had one beer.”

  He was so close to me I could smell his fresh masculine scent. I had no idea what soap he used but he smelled yummy and I couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to snuggle into his chest and inhale deeply.

  After taking a long draw from the straw, I swallowed and allowed the alcohol to wash over me. It tasted really strong. I could drink these all night and was sorely tempted to do exactly that. And while I was at it, I might allo
w myself to daydream about the movie theater with JT. Only since it was my daydream, this time he would lean over and draw my face to his for a long, searing kiss followed by a full-on make out session in the back row. I finally snapped out of my daydream to find JT and Mike staring at me curiously.

  I cleared my throat. “By the way, do you guys ever wash underneath your tables?”

  “Shut up!” Mike’s eyes widened to the size of half dollar coins. “He didn’t go fishing and leave some bait behind did he?”

  “A fairly sizable one far as I could tell,” I said, shuddering and then stared at my date. I took another fortifying sip of my drink. “I can’t believe he brought a Nintendo DS with him. How much do you want to bet on which game he’s playing? Please give something fun to salvage this disastrous date.”

  “My bet is on Angry Birds,” JT said. He ruffled my hair and then left to check on his tables. I sighed at the feel of his hand in my hair, imagining he just couldn’t resist touching me.

  I sipped on my drink and dug deep into the recesses of my childhood memories. “I have five bucks that says he’s playing Super Mario Brothers.”

  “I’m in,” Mike said, looking over to my date. “The dude looks like he wants to blow something up. Mark my words. He’s playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Can’t you just see him hooked up to his station at night with all the special headgear on and talking smack with his buddies? Come on, Jordan. Tell me you’re not dying for some of that?”

  I snorted as I wrote our guesses down on a napkin. I pulled out a five dollar bill and placed it on top. Mike slapped his five bucks down, which was quickly followed by another fiver from Chloe.

  “What are we betting on?”

  “The Nintendo DS game Jordan’s date is playing while he waits for her to return,” Mike said from across the bar as JT rejoined us. “He doesn’t even realize Jordan hasn’t made it back to the table yet. What a loser.” We all stared across the restaurant in amazement and laughed.