Love At First Glance (Love at Firsts #1)(20)

“Sorry.” I’m glad the lights in this place are dimmed so he can’t see how red I’ve just turned.

“Don’t be sorry. I’m glad I caught you staring, means you appreciate what you’re looking at.” He chuckles and winks at me before holding my chair out for me to sit down.

“Well Matt was right when he said you were good looking. I can’t deny that.”

“I’m glad you think so. Not sure how I feel about Matt saying that. He’s constantly taking the piss out of me.” He chuckles and shakes his head.

“I don’t doubt that for a second. He loves to torture me when we’re at work with a dirty joke at the most inappropriate time.”

“That’s him alright, he’s always been like that and will never change. I can picture him in a nursing home teasing the male nurses.” We both burst out laughing and receive a glares from an older couple seated not too far away from us.

“He would try to convert them all to his team.” I snicker.

“He keeps trying with me.” He whispers loudly as the waitress brings us the menu.

“Why does that not surprise me?” I grin and open my menu.

“Because it’s Matt.” He shrugs.

We sit in silence a few minutes choosing what we want to eat until the waitress comes back to take our drink order. He orders us a bottle of wine and our food. I settled on ravioli as it’s simple to eat and Spencer always tells me I eat like a pig.

“So, Haven, what do you like to do in your free time?” He looks with an intense look on his face.

“Well, the little free time I do have is spent with my best friend Spencer or Bernard, the man in my life.” I try not to laugh when I see the smile disappear from Vincent’s beautiful face.

“Bernard? Man in your life? Matt told me you were single.” He looks at me confused.

“I am. Bernard is my cat.” I grin innocently.

“Looks like Matt is rubbing off on you.” He taunts.

“I’m sorry. It was too tempting. I enjoy the normal things: concerts, movies, reading, cooking, and traveling, that kind of thing. What about you?” I smile.

“You’re evil you know that, right?” He chuckles.

“I’m an angel.” I grin and take a sip of my red wine the waitress has just poured for us.

“That’s up for debate.” He winks and takes a sip. “I love hiking, surfing, rafting, that kind of thing.”

“Ah, extreme sports junkie?” I grin.

“You could say that. I take it it’s not your thing?” He looks disappointed.

“Not really. Sports and I don’t really agree. Spencer keeps trying to get me to join a gym, but I try to put it off as much as I can. I’m a klutz, I’d end up injuring myself.” I shrug.

“That’s because you’re not doing it with the right person.” He smirks and I feel it deep in my tummy. What is this man doing to me?

“Who knows? Maybe I need the right partner.” I smirk playfully back. Well done wine. You’re doing your job well!

“Maybe we could try hiking sometime. Start with something quite tame.” He chuckles.

“Isn’t it a bit cold to go frolicking in the mountains?” What have I gotten myself into?

“Surprisingly, it’s actually the perfect weather for it. In the summer it’s too hot and makes it more difficult to hike. Cold weather is perfect and the views are breathtaking when the leaves change color.” Major swoon! Looks like I’m not the only fall lover.

“You make it sound so appealing.”

“It’s amazing, really.” He smiles and goes to grab my hand but our food is brought to us. Holy crap the portions are huge. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to eat all of this. Not because of my nerves which are much better thanks to the wine, but mainly because the portion could pretty much feed me for three days.

As we dig in we make small talk and I learn that he's always wanted to be a trigonometry teacher, which made me frown and him laugh. His parents are still together and living the life of Riley in Florida. He's been engaged once but she broke the engagement a week before the wedding because she had doubts about their relationship. He lets me try his pizza and tries my ravioli. The conversation is comfortable and it feels like we’ve known each other for a lot longer than an hour. I’m completely at ease with Vincent, which is refreshing. He’s managed to make me feel at ease and myself with him, which is incredibly rare for me.

We get the rest of our food to go because neither of us could finish our plate. We also order two cannoli to go. He’s been a perfect gentleman all evening, which is refreshing considering what I’m used to with how Adam used to treat me. He offers me his arm again and we walk back to my place, enjoying the peaceful evening.

As we reach my building, I turn to him and ask nervously, “Do you want to come upstairs?”

“I’d love that.” He smiles and opens the door for me. I don’t know why I asked him to come up, I’m not into having sex on the first date. I just hope I don’t ruin anything. When we get into the elevator, I press the button for the fourth floor and the silence on our way up is a bit awkward. I don’t know what kind of impression Vincent has of me because of this, maybe he thinks he’s going to get laid tonight. This is why I don’t date.