Mr. Wrong Number(63)
What the hell?
Five minutes later, as I was still freaking out, Colin texted me.
Colin: Three things: 1. Don’t freak out. 2. Send me a pic. 3. Can I take you to dinner tonight?
I smiled in spite of myself and texted: 1. I’m not 2. Perhaps later 3. Depends. Where are you going to take me?
His response was immediate. Name the place, Marshall.
I’d barely gone out at all since moving back, so I had no idea what a good dinner-date restaurant would be. I remembered Dana telling me that she and Will got a $150 gift card to Fleming’s and it didn’t even cover their dinner, so I shot for the moon.
Me: Fleming’s.
I expected him to balk or redirect me to the bar and grill down the block from our building, but he just responded with:
Oh, I see—it’s like that. I’ll pick you up at 6.
I laughed at his response and set my phone down on the counter. That seemed a little early for someone like Colin; he seemed like a dinner-at-eight kind of guy.
Just as I thought that, my phone buzzed again.
Colin: You still eat early, right?
I set my phone down again and gnawed on the inside of my lip. He remembered from when I lived with him that I ate early? Perhaps I’d underestimated him.
17
Olivia
I wasn’t proud of it, but I pounded three glasses of wine while I waited for Colin to arrive.
I just needed to calm my nerves, which was weird in and of itself.
Because I was completely relaxed around Colin; I was used to being with him. But I just didn’t know if Date Colin was going to be different from Regular Colin. I’d known him for a large portion of my life, but this was uncharted territory.
The wine worked, though, and I was relaxed for the most part when I heard his knock and opened the door.
“Hi,” I breathed, incapable of more than a single syllable because Colin looked so good. Like, not just his usual handsomeness, but he looked cool. He had on slim black pants and a bomber jacket, the opposite of his usual work attire.
And he was wearing his glasses.
I sort of wanted to call off the date and just stay home. In my bedroom.
“Wow,” Colin said, looking me up and down and making my skin feel hot. “You look really nice, Livvie.”
I’d borrowed an off-the-shoulder red cashmere sweater from Dana, along with a black skirt and a pair of suede ankle boots that were to die for. Her clothes made me feel put-together and beautiful and I never wanted to give them back.
“So do you.” I looked at his belt buckle and said, “Your abs don’t look too terrible in that shirt.”
“But still disgusting, right?”
I grabbed my purse and coat from the counter. “I think I’ve made my stance clear.”
“You gave me a stomach hickey.”
“I said what I said.”
We were both smiling as we exited the apartment. I asked him, “Does Jack know we’re going out tonight?”
“No, but he was gone when I got home. I’ll tell him.” He pressed the button when we got to the elevator bank and then grabbed my hand. He laced his warm fingers through mine, spreading that warmth throughout my entire body.
I giggled.
“Something funny?” He looked down at me, his lips in a tiny smile, and I giggled again.
“Don’t you find this bizarre? Like, Jack’s friend who told me when I was in seventh grade that my crimped hair looked like burnt French fries is holding my hand.”
He gave a deep chuckle and dropped my hand. “Wait, that’s you? I’m taking out the girl who ran over her own foot with a car?”
The doors opened and we got in the elevator. “Technically it wasn’t my fault. The Dodge Colt always slipped out of gear.”
“Sure it did.”
“It did.” I put my hands in the pockets of my jacket.
Colin turned and stepped closer to me, moving us and pressing my body against the elevator wall with his as he caged me in with his arms. “Y’know, we could have a lot of fun in here, Marshall.”
“That’s pretty inappropriate for a first date,” I said, betraying my words with my hoarse voice as he lowered his mouth and pressed a featherlight kiss on my neck.
We small-talked all the way to the restaurant, and it wasn’t until we parked that I even remembered we were on a date. Colin came around to my side of the car just as I was getting out, and as soon as I stood, he slammed the door and reached for my hand.
He threaded his fingers between mine again, and butterflies went wild in my stomach as we walked toward the door, hand in hand like a regular couple. The cool night breeze made my hair tickle my cheeks, and I glanced at him and said, “This place looks pretty swanky. Have you ever eaten here?”
Colin
Had I ever eaten there?
Um, since my parents’ house was three blocks away, I’d eaten there a hundred times. My grandparents had rented the entire restaurant for their anniversary party, and the firm had their Christmas party there every year.
The chef was my uncle Simon’s golf partner.
But Liv already thought of me as pretentious, so I wasn’t thrilled for her to find out that the overpriced steakhouse was where we’d had my high school graduation lunch.