Catching Whitney (2 page)

“No, I’m from Missouri. I’m just here visiting Blaine.”

I sneak a glance at Blaine, who has since scooted his chair next to Lindsey’s and has an arm draped around her shoulders.

Aidan takes another drink. “Tell me more about you.”

I smile shyly. “I’m not sure there is much to tell. I’m a school teacher, I love to read, and, to be completely honest, this whole bar scene is not really my thing. I’m a closet introvert with a penchant for yoga pants and sappy movies at home.”
Nice going, Whitney. Could you be more average?

Aidan chuckles. “It’s refreshing to see a beautiful woman admit she’s not into partying. I’ll admit I appreciate a quite night at home myself.”

I smile at his admission and go to take another sip of margarita only to find I’ve hit bottom.
Damn. When did I empty that? I must be emotionally drinking. Is that a thing? Like emotional eating, but with alcohol?

Aidan reaches across the table and takes my hand in his once more, this time rubbing his thumb over the back of my knuckles. “Do you want to get out of here?” My eyebrows shoot up in surprise. He blinks for a moment, then laughs. “No, I don’t mean like that. I mean, do you want to go somewhere quiet? Maybe get something to eat? Somewhere that’s a little more our speed?”

Honestly, the idea of food and less noise sounds amazing. “I’d love to. Where did you have in mind?”

“There’s a little cafe just down the street. I saw it as we drove in. I think it’s open twenty-four hours. Blaine would know.” He turns his attention to his friend. “Blaine, is that little diner down the street still open?”

Blaine nods his head. “Sure is. They have amazing pancakes. You guys gonna go eat?”

Aidan looks at me, and I nod. He smiles and says, “Yeah, we’re hungry and would prefer someplace a little less busy.”

Lindsey looks at me, then at Aidan. “Hold up, I’ll walk you guys out.” She stands and grabs my arm, locking it with hers as we head for the door. Aidan and Blaine are right behind us; Blaine is talking about the variety of pancakes that can be had at Eliza’s Cafe. He’s obviously a pancake connoisseur. Once we step outside into the warm summer air, Aidan takes the lead and heads toward his car. When we get there, Lindsey puts a hand on Aidan’s chest. “Hold please.” She pulls out her cell phone and snaps a picture of his face, then walks around him and takes a picture of his car and his license plate. She smiles sweetly at the three of us. “Insurance. If you don’t bring her back to me in once piece, I have these to give to the police.”

Lindsey always seems like a wild child, but she’s not completely without common sense. Hugging her, I say, “My cell is on, so feel free to call and check in.”

“Ditto,” she says.

Aidan opens the passenger door for me, and I climb inside. His black Lexus has a soft leather interior that I immediately melt into. It feels like Heaven, especially compared to those wooden bar chairs. He speaks to Blaine and Lindsey for a moment before sitting in the driver’s seat. “Ready?” he asks. I nod my head as I buckle in.

We are only about a block away when my cell beeps telling me I have a text from Lindsey. It’s a selfie of her and Blaine with the words “Just in case.” I smile and push the phone back into my purse.

Aidan gives me a sidelong glance. “Everything cool?”

“Yeah.” I’m nervous. I remind myself once again that I don’t really know this guy, but we’re going to a very public place, so I should just relax. I let out a breathy sigh, frustrated that I can’t seem to lighten up for once.

He looks at me again but doesn’t say a word. Is he regretting this already? Now I’m not only nervous but self-conscious too. It takes a few minutes more before we pull into the small parking lot next to Eliza’s Cafe. He moves swiftly as he gets out of the car and opens the passenger door for me. Taking his hand, I step out of the car, and he shuts the door behind me. He pushes the lock button on his key fob and leads me to the entrance - his hand is still warmly clasped around mine. I try to ignore the shivers traveling up my arm, into my shoulders, and back down my spine. I’m a dork. A huge, first-class, grade-A dork. He’s only holding my hand. It’s not like he’s making love to me, for crying out loud. That thought decides to travel to regions recently unexplored, and I feel a blush rush to my cheeks.

A sweet looking elderly woman waved us in and smiled. “Take a seat anywhere, folks. I’ll be right with you.”

Aidan turns to me. “Any place particular you’d like to...” He stopped before finishing his sentence and stared at me. Oh no. Is my mascara running down my face like a deranged clown? Do I have something in my hair? Is it sticking up all crazy and wild looking? He continues to stare, but I realize he’s specifically looking at my cheeks, and then my eyes. I stifle a huge groan. I must still be blushing from my sex thoughts, and now that I’m thinking of them again I can feel my face heat more. With any luck, my head will explode, and we can call it a night.

Aidan squeezes my hand and smiles in a seductive way that only fans the flames of my lonely libido. I’m pretty sure if my face gets any redder, that waitress will grab the fire extinguisher and ruin my new blouse.

“Where would you like to sit?” he asks as he continues to stare into my eyes.
Oh... the places I’d like to sit. No, stop that, Whitney! None of that. You’re having dinner, or whatever this late night meal is considered, and talking. That’s all there is to this. Just a friendly chat with food. With a ridiculously sexy man.

I point to a booth in the corner, afraid if I actually try to pronounce words they will resemble things I should never say in public. Walking to the booth—my hand still firmly clasped in his—he motions for me to sit, and I let go of his hand as I scoot in on one side. He sits down on the opposite side, and I once again find him staring at me. It’s sexy, the way he’s looking at me, and I can’t seem to help but stare back.

The waitress, with the name tag of “Mabel”, clears her throat and we both jump a little. She smiles down at us. “It’s so wonderful to see a young couple in love. How long have you been together?” I open my mouth and can’t think of how to respond. To keep from looking like a trout, I snap my lips shut quickly and look at Aidan.

He smiles at me, then aims that deadly charm at Mabel. “We’ve been together for about a year. It was love at first sight. I met her in a bar and couldn’t take my eyes off of her.” She sighs in this fluttery, “how romantic” kind of way. I revert to looking like a trout.

Mabel hands us both menus. “Take your time looking over the menu. Just give me a wave when you’re ready to order.” She walks away with a little more spring in her step as if the idea of young love has made her night. I can’t seem to close my mouth.

“Why did you tell her that?” I squeak out.

He laughs. “It made her happy, and I didn’t want to embarrass her by telling her she was wrong.”
I think I just fell a little bit in love with him.
He continues. “Besides, no one knows us here. We can be anyone we want to be tonight. Think about it. If you could be anyone, or do anything, what would you be?”

I look at him warily but realize he’s right. I have no reputation to protect here. No one knows me. Even Aidan doesn’t know my last name. I can cut loose a little and pretend. It might actually be fun to pretend I’m not stuffy and boring Whitney Dawson for a change. In fact, I’m convinced this is exactly what I need right now. I look at Aidan and smirk. “Well, honestly, I like the idea of being in a love-at-first-sight relationship. My guy adores and worships me. He spoils me with his undivided attention. And he doesn’t care that I can kill a short stack of pancakes faster than he can.”

Aidan throws back his head and laughs. It’s a deep, rumbling sound that once again makes me think of things I probably shouldn’t. “I like that. Please continue.”

I notice the smile reaches his eyes, and I get the feeling that this is his first genuine, non-guarded smile all evening. I decide I want to make him smile like that more, so I continue as he requested, “Well, I guess I’d still be a teacher; I do love it. But if I had to choose a different job, I’d probably be a cat wrangler.” He laughs again, and I feel myself smile and really relax. Like really,
really
relax. It’s nice.

Mabel approaches the table. “Would you like something to drink while you decide?”

“Coffee for me please,” I say.

Aidan nods. “Yes, I’ll have the same. And I think we are ready to order.”

I look at him surprised. He smiles at me and winks. “We’ll both have a short stack, please.”

I smile and nod my head. Game on, Aidan. Game on.

Once Mabel walks away, Aidan gives me his full attention. “So tell me, what does being a cat wrangler entail?”

Feeling less like Whitney, or maybe really more like Whitney than ever before, I give him a detailed explanation, letting loose all of the random thoughts I usually keep bottled up. “Well, cats are hard to catch, but I have a way with them, you see—they tend to like me. I’ve learned they like me most when I’m wearing something dark-colored. It’s almost like a moth to a flame. I can sit in a chair wearing a black sweater, and suddenly any cat within a five-mile radius is in my lap and rubbing against my shirt. Sometimes I’ll go home with enough hair to build a cat of my own.”

Aidan watches my animated face with a big smile. “So what happens if you’re wearing a light-colored shirt?”

I nod and make a serious face. “That does happen from time to time. At that point, I have to resort to cat traps. What’s great about those is that they are very inexpensive and almost always effective. I don’t even need bait; I simply place an empty box out, and like magic there is cat sitting in the middle of it. If I’m being totally honest, anyone can set the cat traps, so I should probably stick to teaching.”

Aidan laughs again and lightly claps his hands. “Now that’s living large, Whitney. An adoring man, short stacks, and wrangling cats. I can’t imagine a more perfect life.”

I wrinkle my nose a bit at him and laugh. “Yeah, I’m all about dreaming big.”

Mabel places a cup of coffee in front of each of us, sets a container of creamer down, then points out the various sweetener options. “Your short stacks will be right up.”

We thank her and both busy ourselves with doctoring our coffees. Taking a sip, I tip my chin up. “Now it’s your turn, Aidan. If you could be and do anything, what would it be?”

He smirks as he stirs his coffee. “A lot of things come to mind. I’d have to think about it a little more before I could give you a definitive answer.”

I squint my eyes at him suspiciously. “Are you dodging the question?”

“Oh no, not at all. I just need a little more time. This is a big deal. It’s who I plan to be - at least for the rest of the night.” He winks at me.

The look in his eye and that inviting little smile gives me butterflies in my stomach. And I’m pretty sure the engineer running my nether regions is loading the furnace full of coal again. Wow, am I pathetic.

He takes another sip of his coffee. “I promise to have made up my mind by the time we’re done eating.”

As promised, Mabel arrives with our pancakes. I load up on butter and syrup, then start cutting my stack into bite size pieces. I look up to see him looking at me expectantly. “What?”

“I’m waiting on you to shoot the starter gun.” Then he poises his knife and fork over his plate, ready to take me on.

I laugh. “Go!” I shout as I dive into my first bite. The next several minutes are quiet at our table, with the exception of the sounds we make stuffing our faces with sticky pancakes. I stop midway through my stack to see Aidan cramming another forkful in and then stop to look at me. He’s approximately halfway through his stack as well. We both have our cheeks full of pancake, and syrup is pretty much everywhere. We both start laughing while covering our mouths and trying to finish chewing. I look up to see Mabel looking at us like we’re nuts. This only starts the hamster wheel in my head spinning out of control.
Does she think we’ve escaped from a psych ward somewhere?
More than likely she’s inwardly using every curse word she’s ever heard and wondering what it’s going to take to get the syrup off the seats. I envision her approaching our table and scolding us like children. This image only causes me to laugh harder, and I release a rather loud, unladylike snaugh. You know, the kind of laugh that hits you so hard you snort, then you keep laughing because you snorted?

Aidan looks at me surprised, and then he starts snaughing too. I might have fallen in love a tad bit more.

I set down my fork and dab my now watering eyes with a napkin. This turns out to be an effective method of transferring even more syrup to my face. My eyelids are now sort of sticky. I look up at Aidan again, and he’s digging money out of his wallet and placing it on the table.

“I’m giving her a huge tip. She deserves it after putting up with us.” He laughs again and looks down at his clothes. “I think we both need some cleaning up. Do you mind if I stop by my hotel and change before we meet back up with Blaine and Lindsey?”

“Uh... sure. I can’t change, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to use your bathroom. Maybe I could get some of this syrup off of my face and out of my hair.”