Queen Bee (Lowcountry Tales #12)(81)

“I do!” Ted said. He stopped and held me at an arm’s length. “Holly Jensen?”

“What? What did I say?”

“Nothing. You’re just a breath of fresh air,” Ted said. “That’s all.”

“Oh. Gosh. Thanks!”

We had to wait a few minutes for a table, but then we were seated in the back room over the dock. The restaurant was bustling, as it always was. A waiter with a tray loaded with platters of fried seafood passed and suddenly, I was ravenous.

We were looking at the menu and there were so many great choices, I couldn’t decide.

“If I don’t get some food right now I’m going to start crying,” I said and then looked up at him. Ted was staring at me. “Not really.”

“It’s okay. My stomach is growling like an idiot and I’m starving, too.”

“It’s the smell. There is nothing on this planet better than the smell of fried shrimp that were swimming this morning.”

“Except for a perfectly grilled steak,” he said. “I know red meat’s bad for you, but oh, momma, there’s nothing better than a big old bone-in ribeye.”

He had said, oh, momma. Really? Oh, momma? He was definitely a nerd like me. I started smiling and thought, Wow, I like him a lot.

“You know, I make chicken that’s so good it borders on the obscene, but I never really got into grilling.”

“Well, I’ll tell you what. Next time we get together, I’ll show you how to grill a steak to perfection, and the time after that, you can make your badass chicken, pardon the language, and I mean badass in a good way.”

“Of course,” I said and giggled. “But what makes you so sure there are more dates in our future?”

“Because I can tell you like me,” Ted said and grinned at me. “Don’t you?”

I couldn’t stop smiling.

“Maybe,” I said and turned red. “Maybe not.”

“Okay,” he said. “We’ll see what we see.”

Our server appeared and Ted ordered two Corona lights with lime and cold mugs, and two fried seafood platters, basically enough food for four people.

“Beer! What a great idea!”

“What do you usually drink?” he said. “I’m sure we can change the order.”

“No, beer’s great. Really! But that’s a lot of food, don’t you think?”

“So we’ll take it home. Tell me the truth. How come you’re not married yet?”

“I don’t know. You’d think someone as cool as me would’ve been snatched up the minute I graduated from college, right? How about you?”

“The same. Did you ever have any serious boyfriends?”

“Nope. Not one.”

“How can that be?”

“I think I’m too shy or something. How about you and women?”

“I dated a girl in college for a long time, but she and I just wanted different things out of life.”

“Like what?”

“You’re pretty nosy, aren’t you?” He was smiling, so I knew he didn’t mean it.

“Yeah, maybe. So tell me what she wanted that you didn’t.”

“She liked television, I like to read. I like to cook at home. She liked to go out all the time. I’m a dog person. She was a cat person. When we went somewhere in the car, she had to listen to the oldies station and sing along with every single song.”

“That’s the worst! It’s like being held hostage and if you say anything, you’re the jerk, not them.”

“Ah! It sounds as if you have some experience in this area?”

“Yeah, my brother-in-law.”

“What’s he like?”

I leaned back against the well-worn leather booth and considered his question. I wasn’t required to answer every single question in detail, and I liked Ted. So I gave it a moment’s consideration and threw what I thought was a pretty sassy answer out there for him.

“Ted? When I’m sure you’re desperately and hopelessly in love with me, I’ll tell you all about Charlie. In the meanwhile, let’s talk about you.”

“There’s not much to tell, ma’am. Not much at all.”

The waiter delivered our beers and we poured them into our chilled mugs. We toasted each other.

“I know that you sat behind me in English class and that you were a sensitive young man. I remember your poetry.”

“Oh, now I’m blushing! My poetry was terrible.”

“That’s why it’s so memorable!” I laughed and reached across the table, giving him a little push on his arm. “Just kidding!”

“Oh, Lord,” he said. “Hey, here comes our food.”

“Good thing, I was about to faint.”

“Don’t worry, Holly. I can give mouth to mouth. It’s all part of the job.”

Mouth to mouth. Oh, God! Was I expected to kiss him? How was that going to go? To say that I began to feel some stress would not do my shaking body any justice at all. I was coming undone. Why hadn’t I gone out with any of the ugly boys who’d asked me to go on a date, so I wouldn’t be such a newbie? Why had I saved kissing a boy until now? He wasn’t even a boy and I wasn’t even a girl. We were well into adulthood!