When the food arrived, the tenderloin was, if anything, bigger than Nick had described.
“How do you even eat this?” she asked. The bun was lost in a sea of breaded meat.
“I usually cut the tenderloin in half and eat part of it as a sandwich and then the rest of it plain,” he said. “But I’ve seen people try to wrestle the whole thing up to their mouths.”
“I’ll take your advice,” she said, and cut it. Then she slathered it with ketchup and took a bite. It was indescribably delicious: Just fried breaded meat, bun, ketchup and onions. It hit the spot. Nick had dived into his sausage and eggs first, joking that the pancakes would be his dessert. Julie sighed. How men like Nick could stay thin eating like this was always irritating. But she was too hungry to care, and the food was comforting and satisfying. When she was full, she still had the rest of the tenderloin and most of her coleslaw. She picked at the huge pile of fries.
Nick had put more butter and syrup than Julie would have thought possible on his stack of pancakes and was eating them with obvious delight. He’d already ordered a second glass of juice.
“Are you going to finish that?” he asked, pointing to the bunless portion of her tenderloin.
“Go for it,” she said. He pooled more ketchup onto his plate and dipped the chunk of tenderloin into it as if it were a giant french fry. She took one more bite of her coleslaw and pushed it aside.
“You don’t like the slaw?”
“It’s good, but I’m full,” she said. He slid it over to his side of the table and started eating that, too. She wondered if he would finish her fries as well. She got her answer when he finished the tenderloin and coleslaw. He merely raised his eyebrows and looked pointedly at her unfinished pile of fries, and she nodded. They were gone in a flash.
“They have really good apple pie here, too,” he said.
“I think I’m good,” she said, but he motioned the server over and ordered a slice. With ice cream.
“You have to take at least one bite,” he said, so she did.
“You’re right, it’s good.”
“Next time, save some room for pie. I always have a piece for dessert here, even for breakfast,” he said. Next time? Julie wondered if she heard him right. Surely there wouldn’t be a next time. She’d been an awful date. She’d barely asked him a thing about himself, she suddenly realized.
“What made you decide to be a software engineer?” she asked out of the blue.
“Honestly, my high school counselor suggested it based on my grades and interests, and I didn’t question it. It seemed to be as good an option as any other.”
“So if your counselor had suggested pastry chef?”
“I’d be able to make my own apple pies, yeah.” He was finishing up his pie and Julie thought she better at least try to show some interest in his life before the night was over. Perhaps she could make up at least a little bit for the horrible impression she’d made by screwing up the date.
“As great a skill as pie-baking no doubt is, I think you’re better off with software engineering. You can always buy a pie. But do you really think you’d have been either more or less happy with some other kind of job? If you’re an engineer, you probably had the grades for med school or law school or any kind of STEM, right?”
“Good grades were always easy for me. Honestly, I was always one of those kids who never had to study until I hit some of the higher-level classes later in college. Then I suddenly had to figure out how to do it. Major shock. I guess I’ve mostly just skated through life. That sounds terrible, doesn’t it?”
“You never had any kind of big thing to overcome?”
“Not really. My parents were pretty comfortable until the divorce so I didn’t lack for anything growing up. Mom and Dad split up when I went off to college, and that was kinda sad, but he honestly had never been a big presence in my life. Unfortunately, after the first year he stopped covering my tuition and dorm. He wasn’t exactly family-oriented and probably should never have married. I was always closer to my mom. She’s turned to hard-core politics since the divorce, so Patty and I have both withdrawn from her a little. I think it’s a reaction to the divorce. Some people throw themselves into dating or gardening. For Mom, it was getting angry at the talking heads on TV all day. It’s all she ever wants to talk about. You?”
“Well, I got good grades, but I always had to work at math. Our parents split when Jolene and I were young, and our dad has hardly been in our lives. Mom had a little family money to fall back on when she had to, but there were always strings attached, so she worked hard to get by without it. Still, her parents — my grandparents — paid for Jolene and I to go to school. But my grandfather was mad when my engagement ended and I headed back to school. He said I’d been a fool. Maybe I was.”
“For getting a degree in art history, or for not getting married?”
“Oh, both. He made it sound like it was all my fault Derek got another girl pregnant and ran off with her. I’m not quite sure how that was on me.”
Nick made sympathetic sounds and shook his head as Julie continued. “We were supposed to get married after I finished college. His family had money and they were good friends with my grandparents. But while I was picking out flowers and invitations he was sneaking off with a girl who worked at the dollar store. Oops. He got her pregnant and ran off with her. I wasted no time and went right back to school in the fall.”
Julie realized she was talking about herself again.
“I didn’t mean to go into all that. Tell me some more about yourself. Please.”
“I’m a software engineer. I have a good job. I live with my sister … um, I like pie.”
“Keep going.”
“I didn’t think I would like helping take care of little kids. I do, though. I had assumed I wouldn’t ever want to get married or have kids, but now I’m thinking I might, at least someday. I see now that my dad totally missed out on a lot of good stuff.”
“I don’t think I’m going to have kids.”
“With a job like yours?”
“At one time, I did. But I got a bit soured on the whole thing. It’s a huge gamble, to decide to have children with a man. It’s tough to have a career while you’re caring for small children. I know lots of women do it, but it takes everything they’ve got and then some. When I agreed to marry Derek, I was agreeing to put my career on the back burner and to go through all the physical demands of pregnancy and childbirth, which are considerable. I was agreeing to depend on him to support me and our future babies, so I could devote myself to caring for them. I was trusting that he’d still be there when I got older and the children were grown, so I wouldn’t be destitute after devoting all those years to my family instead of to a career. And I was ready to sign up! I was going for it. And then it turns out he couldn’t commit at all. I just missed being in Jolene’s exact position, and it’s scary.”
“When you put it like that, yeah. Patty plans to go back to work in a couple of years, but she knows there’s a trade-off, that she’s probably not going to make as much money in her career as she would if she didn’t take time off. I guess I hadn’t even thought of what would happen to her if Brad just walked away. She’d be screwed.”
“It happens. It happened to my mom. And to Jolene. I mean, it’s hard to blame women who have concluded it’s too much of a risk. So, yeah, my life is going to be very different than I thought it would be.” She suddenly realized she’d as much as announced, on a first date, that she didn’t trust men and would never do so. Great follow-up to the crying. So much for trying to get him to open up about himself. “But that’s enough about me. There’s more to you than software engineering and pie. Tell me more.”
“I gotta say, I’m feeling almost inadequate at this point. I’m not passionate about my career. I haven’t had any big life experiences. I’m feeling a distinct lack of good stories about my life. Maybe I should join the Peace Corps or take up skydiving or something.”
“Wh
at about baking a pie? That’s a safe place to start.”
“Oh, I’ve never cooked anything, other than nuking leftover pizza or heating canned soup. I wouldn’t have any idea how to do that.”
“Come on. You’re a smart guy. You do … whatever computer stuff it is you do. Baking pies isn’t rocket science. You should try baking one. Maybe you’re a natural. Maybe you’ll start baking every weekend. You might end up giving up the computer thing and opening your own bakery.”
Nick laughed. “I kinda doubt that. Have you ever made a pie?”
“I’m no expert, but sure. I’ve made a few here and there. I’m positive you could do it. Maybe you’ll get good enough that Vinnie’s will start subcontracting its pie-making out to you.”
“I will bake a pie if you’ll help me. How’s that?”
Julie hadn’t expected that. Did that mean he wanted to see her again?
“Well, OK, as long as you understand I’m no baking expert.”
“Can you come over tomorrow afternoon? Patty and Brad will be cool with it.”
“I … sure.” Julie found herself agreeing not only to making a pie, but to hitting the grocery store with him so as to get the right ingredients.
The waitress, who Julie expected to begin cracking her gum any minute, presented their bill and Nick immediately paid it over Julie’s protests. She asked that she be allowed to chip in for the tip, but he said it was already taken care of, so she just thanked him.
“It’s not too late to go dancing now if you want to,” Nick said. “Or, if you’re tired, we can call it a night.”
Julie felt she needed to muster up some enthusiasm and show how fun she was. “Oh, dancing sounds great!” she said. They walked back to Nick’s car, and she made every effort to impersonate a wide-awake date who was looking forward to dancing. She got in, fastened her seatbelt … and woke up sitting in Jolene’s driveway.
“What happened?” she asked, alarmed.
“You fell asleep as soon as I started driving, so I thought it might not be an ideal time to dance. I just drove you home and decided I’d let you sleep as long as you wanted to. You looked like you needed it. You’ve been out for an hour.”
“I keep embarrassing myself tonight,” she said. “You just sat here and watched me sleep?”
“I read stuff on my phone for a while,” he said. “Either I’m the world’s most boring date or you’re the world’s most exhausted woman. Not totally sure it’s not a combo deal.”
“No, please don’t think that. I just haven’t had a chance to sleep through the night in so long. I’ve really been a terrible date. I’m so sorry.” Her body felt stiff, and she stretched as much as she could.
“You can make up for it tomorrow with pie,” he joked. “For now, I think you should go to bed or you’ll be no good at pie-making tomorrow.”
“I promise to stay awake the whole time.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Nick said. “We’ve had one date and I’ve already seen you sleep a lot.”
“I’m going to take your suggestion and head straight to bed,” she said. “Good night.” She wondered if he would kiss her. She didn’t have to wonder long.
He inclined his head toward hers and she prepared for the same soft, gentle kiss he’d given her the night before. And it did start out the same, but it didn’t stay that way.
He might look charmingly boyish, but he was a man, and he was kissing her like a man. She quickly revised her opinion of him. She had to, because her body was telling her she needed to figure out a way to sneak him into her room. He was kissing her deeply and urgently. He didn’t kiss with just his mouth. His whole body was into it. His arms were around her, stroking her hair and back. His whole body moved closer to her, seeking as much contact as he could get, which wasn’t much with a gearshift situated between them.
But his arousal was obvious, and it ignited hers. It had been ages since she’d felt such desire. There had been nothing to bring it out in her. But now her body responded naturally, leaving no doubt that she felt as much passion as he did.
She signalled her acceptance for more by letting her hands roam his body. She wondered briefly how he managed to look so thin but feel like such a hardbody, but then she was thinking of nothing except how alive her body felt and how much she wanted to feel more of him. She slipped her hand under his shirt so she could better trace her fingers over his muscles. Her body approved of his, and he responded by placing his hand just on her waist before he broke the kiss long enough to ask, “May I?” In answer, Julie lifted her blouse and placed his hand on her bra cup as she softly breathed the word “yes” into his mouth.
“God,” he said, his hand exploring her breasts through the bra and feeling the soft swell of her bare breast above the cups. Everywhere his fingers traced left a trail of desire, and still his mouth explored hers. There was nothing tentative or inexperienced about any of his movements. He knew exactly what he was doing and it was obvious what he wanted.
Each time his lips left hers briefly he made small sounds of desire, and she answered every soft moan. She was more than ready to take this to the next step. But they were in her sister’s driveway. It was dark, but not that dark. And they both knew this was going to end in tortured, interrupted desire.
He finally pulled away. “Why do we both live with our sisters?” he asked, a touch of humor battling with his frustration. “If you only knew how badly I want to touch you more.”
It was on the tip of Julie’s tongue to suggest they just go get a room. Her body was feeling things she hadn’t felt for so long. She hadn’t so much as kissed anyone after her engagement broke, and several years worth of buried desire had come back to life and were coursing through her body. But then the porch light came on, and she saw Jolene glance through the window in curiosity. It was time to end the delicious torture, and they both knew it.
“So. Tomorrow. Pie,” she said, and gave him one last quick smooch on the lips before jumping out of the car.
“I’ll text you,” he called after her.
Chapter 7
Fortunately, Jolene had withdrawn from the living room, and Julie was able to escape to her room without seeing anybody else. She was in no mood to chat. Tomorrow she would think about how to talk to Jolene about what she suspected about Ken. Tonight, she wanted to sleep. Jolene had promised to get the children out of the house alone for church, and the prospect of sleeping all through the night until mid-morning was at least as attractive to her as anything Nick could have offered her if she’d found a way to stay with him. She slipped into the bathroom and washed off what little of her makeup was still on her face, got ready for bed and practically dived into her futon, remembering for once to lock the door. Sleep came over her within seconds.
Is there anything better than 12 straight hours of sleep? Maybe 13 straight hours of sleep, she thought. She had been asleep by midnight and did not wake up until she heard the noise of Jolene and the children returning home from church around noon. She stretched in satisfaction, loathe to leave her not-really-that-comfortable futon just yet. Her thoughts turned to last night. Nick had surprised her. She hadn’t thought he was particularly into her, and she hadn’t thought she was particularly into him. And she’d done pretty much everything a girl could do wrong on a date. Talk too much about herself? Check. Talk about the ex? Yep. Cry so hard they couldn’t do what they’d planned? Oh, yes. Fall asleep during the date? Uh….
Still, the chemistry had been there from the moment they’d touched. And, he’d asked to see her again today. Maybe just to learn how to make pie, but still.
But his kissing … that had taken her by surprise. She assumed he was a couple of years younger than her, if he had just started his first post-college job, and she had seen him more as a cute boy than a hot man. That is, before he made her want him so much she considered dragging him right to her futon. She hadn’t discussed with Jolene what the overnight guest policy was, but she had a good idea Jolene wouldn
’t be keen on her children witnessing boyfriend sleepovers. The subject had never come up because Julie hadn’t dated a soul since Derek and hadn’t wanted to.
They hadn’t set a time to meet today, but when she picked up her phone to search for pie recipes, she saw she’d received several texts from Nick, one proposing he pick her up at 1:30. That was only an hour away.
She texted him back: “Slept 12 hours! Just woke up. That time works. See you soon!”
Then she settled into the tub instead of showering so she could give her hair a conditioning treatment while she shaved her legs and everything else. While she was letting the stuff do its magic on her hair, she picked up her phone from the small table next to the tub that held kiddie bubble bath and a pile of rubber ducks and perused a few baking sites so she could sound like she knew what she was talking about. Pies weren’t so hard.
With her bath done, she dressed in jeans and a nice shirt instead of her usual yoga pants, and took the time to style her hair. It was the first time in ages she had taken the time to do her hair, not counting the ‘80s hairstyle of the night before. Messy buns were her daily go-to and that probably wasn’t going to change, even if she and Nick continued dating, but after the fiasco of at least part of the previous night’s date, it might be nice to make a better impression today. She even put on some makeup, but far less than she’d worn the night before. With luck, she’d get through the whole time with him without sleeping or crying.
Jolene and the kids were eating tuna noodle casserole and Julie took a plate and joined them. The kids were chattering amongst themselves and she pulled her chair closer to Jolene’s.
“Thank you so much for making sure I could sleep in,” she told her sister. “I know you’d wanted me to go to church with you this morning, but I was about as tired as I’ve ever been. Which is saying something. I hope it went OK for you on your own.”
Perfect Fit (Small-Town Secrets-Fairview Series Book 4) Page 7