Love and Truth (27 page)

Okay I’ll stop mind-fucking your man (temporarily anyway) and say that I’m happier than a nympho in a porno shop for you! Glad you took the leap into the world of hot guys and relationshipism. Now you see why I’ve been pushing you into it for so long even though you surely were never going to find a Jonathan Hayes here in this little podunk ass town, but hallelujah for you! So excited for your first official date, can’t wait to hear all about it

I know you said there’s been no sex yet because he’s trying to be all gentlemanly with your virtue now that you told him you’ve been hanging onto your v-card, but as soon, and I mean as soon as possible, when it does finally happen you better be calling my ass! Can’t wait to hear how mind blowing that man is in bed!

Glad dance classes are going well except for that bomb of a discovery about him working there, how chivalrous of him to quit his job for you! You must’ve really done a number on the guy, Nic! He’s going to want to take you down the altar before you know it. When you come home for your birthday you need to bring him with!!! I absofuckinglutely must meet this guy! I miss you tons and am so damn happy for you. Keep me posted and have fun tonight chica!

Hugs,

A

I loved her. She could always make me laugh, even in an email. She was crazy. I looked at the clock and realized it was almost time for Jonathan to be here. I had to get downstairs and face the Nakamuras. Hopefully, they would be as cool about this as Emiko said they would. I took one last once-over in the mirror and I grabbed my bag to head downstairs. I could hear the Nakamuras chatting in Japanese as I entered the room. They looked up at me and smile.

“Hello, Nicole San,” Mr. Nakamura said. “We missed you around here last night and this morning. Emiko filled us in on your eventful day yesterday. What a coincidence, Jonathan being the pianist at your school.” He folded his newspaper and set it aside.

“Yes, sir. It was quite the shock.” Mrs. Nakamura walked over and patted me on the shoulder.

“I’m sure it was, dear. Emiko tells us that Jonathan quit this job in order to continue spending time with you, is that correct?”

“Yes, ma’am. That’s right. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t hear of it. He says it was only a temporary job and not a big deal. But I still feel incredibly guilty about it.”

“Dear, don’t feel badly. Jonathan doesn’t need to work. He only does because he enjoys playing, but his real passion is with the music school he teaches at. These temporary summer jobs he takes on aren’t significant to him, so don’t fret over it.”

Mrs. Nakamura was so kind and she really seemed to have a soft spot for him. I was grateful for this.

“Mrs. Nakamura, Jonathan is taking me on a date tonight and I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind me staying at his house again this evening. He’ll take me to class in the morning.”

She sipped her tea before answering. “Dear, we aren’t your parents, so I don’t want to attempt to tell you what you can or cannot do at your age. I will tell you that you should be mindful of certain things, and never let anyone pressure you to do anything you don’t wish to do. With that being said, I‘ve known Jonathan since he was a baby. He was raised by strong grandparents and a very brave and loving mother. He’s a good boy and he really has a huge heart. I know he’s stumbled just as we all do, but I trust that he’s being a gentleman. So as long as you’re comfortable with staying with him, I won’t tell you to do otherwise. Although I do feel that you should tell your parents about him if you haven’t already.”

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you for being so understanding.”

I exhaled and relaxed. That went much better than I anticipated. The doorbell rang and my heart dropped. I knew I just saw him a few hours ago, but for some reason I was incredibly nervous. I was so nervous that I was regretting the high heels. I thought I might fall flat on my face in these things, with my knees shaking.
Geez, Nicole. Get it together already!

“Sounds like your date is here,” Emiko said, sauntering into the room with a huge grin on her face. “He’s going to die when he sees you in that dress. And those shoes are smoking hot.” She was in shoe-love with my heels.

Mr. Nakamura answered the door and the air rushed from my lungs. He stood in the doorway, holding a huge bouquet of white chrysanthemums, a pink ribbon tied around them. He wore black dress shoes with slate grey dress pants that fit him perfectly, and a white ribbed V–neck that hugged his chest and arms. He wore his wide-band titanium watch and the buckle of his black belt seemed to match it. He looked like he just walked out of a magazine ad. I eyed him up and down and he did the same to me.

“Hi.” He handed the flowers to me. I lowered my nose to the bouquet.

“Thank you. They’re beautiful.”

He leaned in and kissed me gently on the cheek.

“You look amazing.” I blushed and felt embarrassed that the Nakamuras were witnessing this. Jonathan turned and bowed to them.

“Okay, are you ready? Is this your bag?” He pointed to my overnight bag on the floor.

“Yes.”

He picked it up and placed his hand at the small of my back, guiding me out the door.

“Have fun,” Emiko said.

“Okay, Emiko, thanks for everything. See you tomorrow night!”

Chapter Nineteen

We pulled up at the restaurant and he told me to wait while he ran around the car to open the door for me. He wouldn’t tell me where he was taking me. The place looked small from the outside. It looked quaint, but nothing fancy. The sign said
Petit Sweet
and I wondered what kind of food they serve here.

“After you, sweetheart,” he said, opening the entrance door for me.

I looked around and realized it didn’t look like a restaurant at all. The floors were shiny dark hardwood, and there was French and Belgian artwork on the walls. Bakery shelves were lined with the most intricately decorated pastries in so many different varieties that I could barely take it all in at once. I could see what looked like pastry chefs working behind a glass window to the back of the counter. Soft music played and the atmosphere was very relaxed. There were two tables for two and two tables for four, off to the side. There was only one other couple here. I looked up at Jonathan with confusion.

“Are we having dinner here?”

“Yes, we are. I hope dessert for dinner is okay with you.” I furrowed my brow and he continued. “Growing up my grandmother or mother would always bring me here for celebrations. If I did well on a report card or after music recitals, we would come here. When I graduated high school, we all came here. I’ve been coming here since I was little, and it was always for happy reasons. Anytime I think about
Sweet Petit Patisserie,
I’m instantly reminded of good memories and happiness. When I was trying to decide where to take you tonight, many expensive fancy restaurants came to mind, but they don’t mean anything to me. This place has always equated to something good happening in my life. Since you’re the best thing that has come into my life in a very long time, it only seemed right for this to be where we shared our first date together.”

Warmth flooded my heart and I was pretty sure I had stopped breathing. This man was so romantic that I could barely contain the emotions I felt right now. Dessert for dinner,
yes
! I wanted to wrap myself around him and kiss him to pieces. He looked at me and I looked back at his handsome face, tilting my head.

“It’s perfect, Jonathan. I’d love to have dessert for dinner with you.”

He leaned forward and gave me a soft kiss before a pastry chef popped out from behind the counter. He was a tiny older man, wearing thin-rimmed glasses and a chef’s hat. His face lit up with a wide, gleaming smile when he saw Jonathan.

“Jonathan san!
Kanbonwa
!” He bowed to Jonathan. They proceeded to have an animated conversation in Japanese until Jonathan motioned to me.

“Arakaki San,
kore wa watashi no
Nicole
des
,” Jonathan said. The man bowed to me and I bowed back.

“
Konbonwa,
Nicole san.” Jonathan smiled proudly. “Mr. Arakaki has known me nearly all my life. He even knew my father. My mother brought my father to
Petit Sweet
when he was stationed here when they were dating.”

I was shocked. This place did hold a lot of memories for him.

“Let’s see what you want and we will go sit down.” It made me feel special that he chose this place for tonight. He guided me over to the refrigerated glass case. It was filled with what looked like edible pieces of heaven or small works of art.

“Gosh, Jonathan, I don’t know. It all looks amazing. Why don’t you choose for us?”

He beamed and ordered for us. He looked happier than I had ever seen him.

“Mr. Arakaki will plate it for us and bring it over to the table,” he said. “I ordered sparkling blueberry soda for our drinks. I hope that’s okay with you. Do you like blueberries?”

“Yes, I love blueberries, but I’ve never heard of blueberry soda. It sounds delicious.”

“Well, it’s not really like the kind of soda you’re thinking about. They make it homemade here. It’s sparkling water that’s been flavored with fresh blueberries, then they add a touch of sweetener to it. You’ll like it.”

We sat down at the back table. Jonathan slid his chair around so we were sitting side-by-side instead of across from each other. He reached out to rest his hand on my leg under the table. My thoughts began to swirl at his touch. He seemed to be fearless and comfortable with sharing all of his feelings. He traced tiny circles on my thigh with his fingers. Waves of heat sprinted through my inner thighs, sprinkling tingling sensations all over. I smiled at how proud he seemed.

“Thank you for accepting my invitation to stay over tonight,” he whispered and kissed me just below my earlobe. I turned into him to meet his eyes. A subconscious voice echoed in my head and I froze.
You love him, Nicole. You love this handsome, beautiful, caring, rough-around-the-edges man, who cherishes you completely.

Mr. Arakaki approached the table suddenly and placed two beautiful china plates before us, carrying two flutes filled of bubbly liquid and fresh blueberries resting at the bottom. It looked like the rims of the glasses had been garnished with sugar crystals. The little delectable sweets on our plates looked scrumptious.

“These are blueberry tarts,” Jonathan said. “Then we have miniature fresh crème cakes and this is pineapple bread. I also ordered the sweet potato bread pudding, which they bake fresh so it’ll come out last.”

He grabbed a blueberry from the top of his tart and popped it in his mouth. He gave me a flirty wink. “So what do you think? Too much sweetness all at once, Ms. Harrison?” He ran his hand under the edge of my dress and I gasped.

“Jonathan, we’re in public.”

He leaned over close enough so no one could hear him.

“No one can see my hand, baby. It’s concealed by the table cloth. Therefore, no one can see me do this.” And I knew he had gone off the deep end. His hand slid further under the hem of my dress and I gasped.

“Jonathan!” I yelled, grabbing his hand and pushing it back. He chuckled and took another bite of his food, with the hand that wasn’t torturing me.

“What, sweetheart?” His hand didn’t budge from my leg.

“I’m serious,” I said. He grabbed a blueberry from my plate and put it to my lips.

“Open up, babe. Eat and get out of your head. You know just as well as I do that no one can see my hand on your leg right now, nor can they see this…” I whimpered as I bit down on the blueberry. The juices exploded in my mouth while his finger grazed the silk of my panties. I felt like I might melt from the heat radiating through my body. Sweet lord, he was insane. My breathing sped up and I thought my face revealed my panic, because he suddenly retreated.