Taking Shots (Assassins, #1)(14)

“I’m fine,” she said breathlessly. He loved when she got that breezing tone to her voice.

“You look beautiful.” Her face flushed as she looked away.

“Thank you,” she said, still not looking at him, “You look great, too.” He smiled. He was wearing some ripped up jeans and a tee with his favorite black hat.

“Yeah, but I didn’t dress up. I’m sorry, I just came from practice.”

“Shea, you look good, don’t worry about it. I probably over did it,” she said, moving away from him, towards the front desk. She was messing with some papers when he came up behind her. When she froze, he moved her hair off her shoulder, placing a small light kiss on her bare shoulder since he didn’t want to scare her.

“I don’t think you over did it, babe, but then again, it is for my viewing pleasure.” He kissed her shoulder again, and she turned, leaning against the desk.

“I’m nervous, so I’m babbling.”

“Don’t be, you look great. I look okay, so let’s go, we’re wasting eating time.”





Like Elli could eat. Please. She was wearing a dress that showed off too much thigh, in her opinion, her breasts were about to fall out and the damn heels she was wearing were hurting her damn feet!

Damn Harper, this was all her fault.

Elli should have never worn this dress. She bought it back when she was a little thinner. Now she looked like a damn fat man in a little coat. God, she was nervous.

As they rode in Shea’s Range Rover, the first thing Elli notice was that it was super clean, and then that he had a picture of him with his niece and nephew. Her heart melted a little at the sight. It was nice to find a man that loved children as much as she did.

They arrived at Maggiano’s, a really great Italian place on West End. It was actually one of her favorite places to eat and when they entered the back way, they were personally greeted by one of the concierge. She figured that Shea came here a lot.

“This is my favorite place. I live about ten minutes from here.”

“My studio always orders from here.”

“It’s good food,” he said as the concierge lead them to a table in the back. She scooted into the booth, making sure her dress stayed down, as he scooted in beside her. Beautiful music was playing as the concierge went over the wine list.

“Do you want your regular bottle, Mr. Adler?”

“Please,” then he turned to her, “You like wine?”

“I do.”

“Moscoto okay?”

“Sure, is it good here?”

“Wicked good. I love wine. Grace says I’m a sissy boy for drinking it, but coming here all the time, it converted me.” Elli giggled as he smiled bashfully at her.

“I like wine, but a nice cold beer is how I end my night.”

Shea’s jaw fell open a little as he looked at her lovely, “Marry me, now.”

That had them both laughing, as she turned deep red, because she was pretty sure if Shea Adler ever asked her to marry him, she would die of a heart attack. “No, I love beer, too, but my classier side, is a vino.”

A waiter showed up with a bottle of their best Moscoto and poured both of them hefty glasses. Since Elli knew that it was a dessert wine and you were only supposed to get half a glass, she was surprised to see that she had a full glass. Elli brought it to her lips and took a sip. Both the waiter and Shea watched as her eyes opened in surprise and a little moan escaped her lips.

“My God, that’s good.”

“Told ya,” he said with a wink, and the waiter walked off with a grin on his face. Elli took another sip and smiled when she saw that Shea was still watching her.

“So, what are you going to get?” she asked, hoping he would look away. He didn’t.

“Chicken Parm, that’s what I always get.”

“I get the tilapia.”

“Good choice.”

“Usually with the zucchini fritters.”

“Sounds awesome.”

Elli smiled as the waiter came back. They ordered their food and the waiter ran off to fill the order. They sat for a few minutes, drinking and taking in the scenery. She looked over at Shea and noticed that his hat was low, covering his glasses, so she couldn’t see his eyes.

“I can’t see you eyes.”

He looked up at her with a sheepish look.

“I’m sorry, babe. I’m trying to make sure we aren’t bothered or I would take my hat off.”

Elli wanted to squeal. He called her “babe!” She had to keep her composure, though, so she took a deep breath before saying, “Oh, fans.”

“Yeah, they know I like this place. I don’t mind them when I’m by myself, but I don’t want any interruptions.” She smiled sweetly before reaching over and pulling his hat off. He looked at her surprised, as he ran his hands through his hair. She loved how it stuck up in all different ways.

“I’ll take the interruptions if I get to look into your eyes,” she practically whispered. He smiled, scooting a little closer to her, so that their legs were touching. She gazed into his sky like eyes as she took a drink of her wine. “How was practice?”

“Good, I feel good about this season.”

“Another cup?”