Her Lifelong Dream (14 page)

The waitress had returned, carrying the bottle of wine.
She poured a small amount in a glass and handed it to
Terry. He sniffed it, dramatically, and then took a small
sip. "Perfect," he said, giving the waitress a wink. She
poured more wine into his glass and then some in Leedy's. She took their dinner orders and headed back for the
kitchen.

"I'm never sure how I'm supposed to behave when they
hand me the wine," he confessed. "I've even thought of
gargling with it, but ..."

"No, silly," Leedy said. "You want to smell it first, to
make sure the bouquet is pleasing, then take a small sip
and aerate it, like this." She took a sip from her glass and
demonstrated the technique as he watched in fascination.

"That's revolting," he said, grimacing at her in mock
horror.

"Revolting or not," she said. "That's the way it's done."

They talked about the class lecture, but not for long. The
subject matter suddenly seemed not nearly as interesting as
each other's company. Soon, the waitress arrived carrying
a large tray of food. She set a plate of pasta covered with
garlic, tomatoes, and gigantic shrimp in front of Leedy, and
a plate of artichoke chicken before Terry. "This looks wonderful," he said.

"It is wonderful," the waitress said before she went back
to her work.

Leedy was so hungry, it was all she could do to keep
herself from wolfing down the delicious food. "This is so
good," she moaned. "I would love to ask the chef for the
recipe for his tomato sauce."

"I can get it for you," he said. "Of course, I will not tell
him that you're going to be his biggest competition some
day."

"Maybe in a few months?"

"Or longer."

"I hope my restaurant is as nice as this one."

"It will be," Terry said, digging into his plate of food with equal gusto. "Mmm," he said and offered her a forkful
of chicken. She took a bite and, it too, was delicious. Leedy
ate until her belly was full and then ate some more. When
the meal was done, they drank coffee and shared a cannoli.

"Thank you for a lovely dinner," she said. "I can't remember the last time I had a meal this wonderful."

"My pleasure," he said. His eyes met hers and, once
again, Leedy had the sensation that she was falling. Falling.
Falling. Terry's eyes were incredibly blue and he was looking at her with a look of yearning in his eyes. A look that
surrounded her ... engulfed her. As if he were trying to
drink her in.

Terry leaned closer to her and softly ... gently ... kissed
her.

Leedy kissed him too. His lips were warm and delicious
and irresistible. His mouth opened slightly against hers and
she melted into him, returning the kiss with a passion that
surprised her. He lightly cupped his hand under her chin
and pulled her closer to him. His tongue probed her mouth
and she felt her insides catch fire with a passion she had
never felt before. It felt as if she had never been kissed
before. She let her hand slide to his trim waist and felt his
glorious body so close to hers.

"No," Leedy moaned, suddenly coming to her senses.
"We shouldn't ..."

She pushed herself away. Terry reluctantly eased back
into his chair. He looked around the dining room and saw
Trish and the waitress were standing in a nearby corner of
the room, smiling at them. "I guess you're right," he said,
color rising in his cheeks.

Leedy nodded. "We shouldn't," she said again. "I
mean ... you're my teacher. And my loan officer ... How would this look? People would say I was kissing you to
get a good grade or to get my loan approved ... Not that
that would work."

Terry looked at her curiously for a moment. "You
wouldn't do that," he said, decisively. "You're not that kind
of person."

"No," she said. "Of course not." But she couldn't help
but think ... would she? She wanted her restaurant with
every breath in her body ... had dreamed of it for most of
her life. If kissing Terry, a gorgeous and exciting man,
helped to secure a loan, would she do it?

She felt her face flush with guilt. She could never become romantically involved with someone to further her
career! Especially someone she had grown to respect.
Someone she had even grown to care about. She swallowed
the lump that had formed in her throat. Her head ached
with the sudden realization that she liked Terry, maybe
even cared for him beyond a mere friendship. It was an
insight she didn't want to acknowledge because it made her
yearn for him more. But she wanted her restaurant too. She
couldn't imagine kissing him to further her chances of securing her loan. That would be despicable. She could never
do anything like that!

Could she?

Terry was watching her from across the table. It was all
she could do to keep from jumping into his arms, if only
to prove something to herself. "We could go somewhere
else ..." he was whispering.

Just then there was a soft ringing of his cell phone coming from the pocket of his jacket.

"You better answer that," she said, trying hopelessly to
slow the pounding of her heart.

"I would rather ignore it," he said, but the other diners
were looking at them so he answered it anyway. "Hello,"
he said, with a slightly impatient edge to his voice. And
then, just like the night when Leedy was at his house, the
phone call seemed to have an almost imperceptible influence over his demeanor. His body stiffened slightly and his
voice dropped an octave. "No," he said. "Is this something
that can wait until Tuesday? ... No ... I would like to help
you, but ..."

It was her again. Krissy. Somehow Leedy knew, but she
didn't know how she knew. The person on the other end
of the phone was Krissy Montgomery. Terry would never
have been so perturbed if the call had been from Deanna,
or from a co-worker. Leedy remembered the way Krissy
leaned toward him when she spoke, lightly touching his
elbow and whispering in his ear.

She also remembered the look on Brian's face during the
final months before their breakup. "It wasn't anyone you
know," he had told her. "Just an old friend from school.
What's with you these days? You've been acting so suspicious lately. It was just a phone call from a friend. Don't
you trust me?"

Leedy felt an icy chill come over her that made her
shiver. She watched Terry as he spoke quietly into the
phone and felt her throat tighten.

"That would be fine," he was saying, glancing up at her
and smiling awkwardly. "We'll talk about it on Tuesday
... I'll see you then. Good-bye."

He hung up the phone and took Leedy's hand into his.
"Sorry about that," he said. "I forgot to turn the stupid thing
off."

"That's quite all right," she said but, even to her own
ears, her voice sounded formal and prim.

"Are you cold?" he asked, gently rubbing her hands.
"We better not take the top off on the way back."

Leedy carefully removed her hands from his and gave
him a weak smile. "I think I'm just tired," she said. "Maybe
we should be getting back now."

He looked at her, a wounded expression on his face. But
all she could think about was the phone call he had just
received. How many times had Brian received phone calls
from friends and co-workers?

"Are you sure you don't want another cup of coffee?"
Terry asked. "Or we could go for a drive ..." He leaned
in closer to her, trying to recapture the moment they had
before the phone call, but she pulled away.

"No, thanks," she said. "I better not."

"Can I get you two something else?" the waitress offered, carrying the check in a long black leather sheaf.
"More coffee?"

"No, nothing," he said. "It was a wonderful dinner."

"Thanks for coming," the waitress said. There was an
amused smile on her face and Leedy didn't understand it
until she remembered the kiss she and Terry had shared.
She looked around the room and saw that a few of the other
customers seated nearby were watching them with the same
silly grins on their faces too.

Terry smiled, pulled out her chair and offered her his
hand. "Thank you for a lovely evening, Ms. Collins," he
said, but there was a hesitation in his touch. As if he
thought she might suddenly slap him.

"Thank you," Leedy said, taking his hand. They weren't
dating, after all, she told herself. He's free to talk on the phone with anyone who calls him. Even Krissy Montgomery. Terry wrapped his fingers around hers and squeezed
softly. They both could sense that something between them
had changed. He took her by the hand and led the way
back to his car.

"I'm sorry if I was out of line," he said, as they walked
back to his car. "I shouldn't have kissed you right there in
the restaurant. I'm sorry if I embarrassed you."

"You weren't out of line," she said. "At least not any
more out of line than I was."

"And that phone call . . ." Terry said, too quickly. "I have
a situation at work that's giving me some trouble. It's nothing I can't handle though." He slipped his arm around her
waist. Her body stiffened and she gingerly slipped out of
his embrace.

"I lost my head for a moment back in the restaurant,"
Leedy said, trying to keep her voice even. "I shouldn't have
kissed you ... and I will not let it happen again."

Terry stopped and turned to her. "I wouldn't mind if you
did let it happen again, Leedy."

She wanted to say more. She wanted to tell him that his
kiss was the most wonderful kiss she had ever known. She
wanted to tell him that she was insanely jealous of the
woman on the other end of the telephone and she couldn't
stand it if there was another woman in his life. She wanted
to fall into his arms and have him hold her with his strong
arms and kiss her and tell her that everything was all right.
But the words remained unspoken. Instead, she looked at
her shoes in awkward silence.

Terry watched her for a moment, a confused expression
on his face. "Okay," he said, finally. "I ... um ... understand. I guess. I'll take you back to your car."

He led her through the parking lot in silence. Leedy
thanked him politely when he opened the car door for her.
The night had turned cold. It was a good thing Terry had
already put the top back on the Corvette. It didn't seem
possible that just a few hours earlier, they had been riding
through the night with the roof down. She remembered how
happy she felt. How excited. She reached across the seat
and unlocked the door to let him in. "Thanks," he said as
he started the engine. They drove away, neither one knowing what to say. It was a much more sullen trip than the
ride in.

"It is getting chilly, isn't it?" Leedy asked, trying to
make small talk.

"It sure is," he said, his voice puzzled. She looked out
the window and pretended to be engrossed with the view.
She couldn't bear to look at him. She knew if she looked
at him too long, she'd want to kiss him again. Then she
remembered the phone call.

When they finally got back to the parking lot where she
had parked her car, she got out of the Corvette quickly.
"Thank you for a wonderful dinner," she said, climbing out
before he could come around and open the door for her.

"Leedy, I'm sorry about the kiss," Terry said, stumbling
out of the car behind her. "No!" he said suddenly. "I take
that back. I'm not sorry I kissed you. I want to kiss you
again ..."

"There's no need to apologize," she said, her words
catching in her throat. "It was just a kiss. It didn't mean
anything." She climbed into her car and started the engine
before Terry could say another word. She waved good-bye
and pulled her Jeep out of the parking lot, all the while
wishing he would somehow stop her.

Terry followed behind her until she was almost home.
At first, she thought maybe he was going to follow her to
her apartment, but he turned off onto the highway before
they reached her street. He gave three quick beeps of his
horn and waved, as if nothing had changed between them.
She watched him through her rearview mirror as he drove
away, thinking about the kiss she could still taste on her
lips.

"T
hen what happened?" Brittany asked.

"Nothing," Leedy said.

"Nothing?"

"He took me back to my car and I went home."

"He didn't kiss you again?"

"No. He didn't kiss me again. I guess it was just one of
those ... moments."

"One of what moments?" Brittany asked, looking disappointed. "How come you two didn't smooch a little in
the parking lot?"

"Because," Leedy said, too sharply. "I don't smooch in
parking lots! And he's my instructor ... and the loan officer at the bank. Besides, I'm not a sixteen-year-old, you
know."

"So what?" Brittany scoffed. "You don't have to be a
teenager to enjoy a good old-fashioned smooching in a
parking lot. In fact, don't knock it until you've tried it! And, may I remind you, there is only two more weeks left
of your night class."