They Say Love Is Blind (6 page)

"Would you like to order drinks? Tapas are complimentary with a drink order." She had an accent...not quite like Lee who only had an accent when speaking Portuguese, and Tory could sense a different dialect.

"Sangria for the lady and
cerveja
for me."

"
Cerveja?
Você é Português
?
"

"Portuguese
, yes
."

"Ahh." She gave him a lingering look and Tory crossed her feet under the table in annoyance. No this woman was not flirting with her
date right in front of her?! The waitress
smiled at Lee. "Any particular brand of beer?"

"Do you have Super Bock?"

"But of course." She paused and when no one responded she spoke in a rush. "I'll be right back with your drinks and two complimentary tapas." Tory hid a smirk. Lee would not be giving that one any secret looks.

"Do you care if I move my chair next to yours? I feel like I'm on the other side of the world."
"The other side of the world with this little table? Our knees are practically touching."

He moved his leg back and forth against her knee. "I know. But more of us can touch if I'm sitting next to you."

Again she was at a loss for words. "That would be nice." He brought his chair around so that they both were facing the dancers and
stage where the
band
would later appear
. When he was settled he put his arm around the back of her chair and spoke next to her ear. "This is better. Now I can talk to you without screaming."

Chills traveled up her body as the slight puffs of air
from his mouth
touched her skin, and not to mention the way
the sound of
his low voice reverberated through her body. She nodded, knowing that he was close enough that he would feel
even her slightest tremble
.
Feeling adventurous, s
he suddenly turned and placed her lips next to his ear to whisper.

"This is much nicer than sitting across from each other. Good idea." She enjoyed feeling his hard body right next to hers. His
arm draped over her chair allowed his hand to rest
lightly against her shoulder and she decided that she loved touching and being touched by him.

Lee's body was moving to the beat of the music. She could tell that he longed to be out on the floor dancing. Her body began to sway unconsciously along with his.

He put his hand on her arm and leaned in to whisper to her again. "I am going to teach you how to dance the way we do back home."

"Oh...kay." Was her nervous response.

"Don't be afraid. Trust me."

The waitress returned then when they were whispering to each other. She slid two plates onto the table.
"I trust you." Tory whispered back.

"Good, because I want you to have fun."

"Um..." The waitress spoke. "It's happy hour. Your beer is on the international menu so it doesn't normally count for one dollar but I can hook you up." She winked at him. He was smiling as he turned his gaze to the waitress.

"Thank you. One dollar beer and free tapas? Great deal, isn't it,
b
ela
?"

"It is." She snuggled against him and smirked at the waitress. "We'll definitely have to come back."
The waitress gave her a confused look. It said, 'here I am with my tiny waistline and I'm available'...well that's what Tory read into her look.

"Sorry," the waitress spoke in a clipped tone. "Your drink wasn't on special. That will be six dollars please."
Lee reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He thumbed through several bills and when he reached the last; a ten, he gave it to her. "Can you bring us two glasses of ice water? We're about to work up a big sweat. And keep the change please." She took the money and left.

"Mmm, smells good. What is it?" He asked.

"Um...mine is a plate of potato chips. Yours is wontons and a dipping sauce."

Lee reached for one of her chips and placed it in his mouth. His brow went up. "No, not
just
potato chips; HOMEMADE potato chips. This place is known for their handmade chips deep
fried in duck butter and there should be a shaving of white truffles over it."

She gave him an openmouthed look. "Computer research
, or are you just that good
?"

He chuckled.
"I research pretty much everything. Try it. It's good."

She put a potato chip in her mouth. "Mmm." She chewed, savoring the taste. It was warm from the fryer, crispy yet moist and the duck oil added a hint of flavor that was hard to place. And white truffles? "This is free?"

"Yep." He said after chewing another chip. "The white truffle adds a hint of salt."

"Is that the white truffle? I wasn't sure. Wow, that's good."

He drank some of his beer and she picked up her glass of sangria and took a short drink. Then she took a longer one.

He gave her a steady, expectant look. "Do you like it?"

"It's good. Not too strong, and fruity...just what I wanted." He nodded.

"Shall we try the wontons...um, when I did
the
research I read that these are probably deep fried mushroom ravioli and the sauce is a mayonnaise aioli."

She chuckled. "That sounds a lot more appetizing then potato chips and wontons." The waitress returned with their ice water. She placed it on the table and disappeared without a word.
They drank, and munched and just when her cheeks began to feel flushed
from the liquor
and her feet kept tapping to the rhythm of the music, Lee stood and took of his jacket, placing it neatly behind his chair.

She was so busy looking at the outline of his muscles through the short sleeved shirt and the definition of his chest muscles that she didn't immediately notice that his hand was held out to her.
"May I have this dance?"

She sputtered, expecting this but still not prepared to shake her 'stuff' on the dance floor with people watching. "Guys usually say that when there is something slow playing..." The current song had a funky, hip hop beat and the band members were chanting something in a foreign language. The crowd had picked up the chorus and was chanting along. She placed her hand in his and came to her feet.

"What are they saying?" She asked as she led them to the dance floor.

"I...uh...better not say."

"Oh my goodness." She stopped when she found a place where she hoped they wouldn't get trampled.
"Watch me." He brought his arms up, clapped his hands repeatedly and began gyrating to the beat...just like everyone else. His hips moved seductively, yet to the tempo of the music. Then he slowed his movements down a bit and reached out for her. She placed her hand in his and he put his other hand on her hips.

"Do what I do!" He yelled above the music.

She watched the way his feet moved, shuffling and stomping and mimicked it. Once she stopped
,
worrying about how she looked,
but before too long
she felt the music guide her movements and then the steps became
more
natural.

His hands on her hips monitored her movements and he smiled. "That's it! You're doing great, Tory!"
She laughed. The sangria, the music and the closeness of Lee's body made everything feel dreamlike. Watching him move so confidently and effortlessly loosened her up, allowing her to express herself in a way that she'd never felt comfortable doing before—not even in the privacy of her home.

They danced and as the music moved from one song to another, so did his movements. He pulled her gently into his arms and she discovered that a fast song could also be danced to by two people in perfect synch. He slowed his movements and made them simple and repetitious until she was dancing in his arms.

"I'm going to spin you."

"Not in these heels!"

"To late..." He spun her and when she stumbled he saved her easily with his strong arms around her waist. "When I'm done with you Tory, you will be doing three spins effortlessly."

"Not tonight, I won't...unless you want me
to get
sick on you."

All amusement left his face. "Oh, I don't intend to be done with you in just one night."

Instead of being shy and embarrassed, Tory slid her hand up to his shoulders. "I'm glad. I think I'd like to learn to spin three times."

"I can teach you that, and more. Like how to dip. Shall I?"

"Ok."
He suddenly clutched her to him. One hand stayed around her waist, the other slid down the side of her body, over her rear end, down her thigh. He tilted her backward just as his hand on her leg lifted it enough that her inner knee now straddled his thigh.

She gasped and put her arms around his neck, clinging to him before she went crashing to the floor.
"I got you. You're not going to fall." He held her firmly in his grip for a few moments before he righted her. Tory's breath came in excited gusts. His hard body had been flush against hers...and he felt so good. She had never wanted to kiss someone so badly in all of her life. When his face had been inches from hers and his hooded eyes were on her; his attention on her and no one else...she had felt that they were the only two people in the world.

"Getting tired?" He asked.

"Can we sit down for a while? I can use some of that water."

"Let's go to the bar and get fresh drinks. I don't want anyone slipping you a roofie." She wondered who would want to slip her a roofie with all of these gorgeous women in the room...half of which was looking at her man. If anyone needed to be careful of a roofie it was him!

They got their water and sat down at their table. Their plates had been whisked away leaving them room for their bottled water. He put his arm around her again and unconsciously she leaned into his body.

"I hope I didn't tire you out too much."

"No. I've been missing my workouts, so I needed it." He didn't comment and after a lengthy pause she decided to ask him a question that she'd been curious about.

"Lee, what is Azores?"

He seemed happy about the question. His thumb stroked her shoulder lightly, where it touched his arm as it rested along the back of her chair.

"Do you know what an archipelago is?"

"Uhm...no."
He smiled. "It's
basically
a cluster of islands.
The
Azores is a Portuguese archipelago
made up of volcanic islands i
n the North Atlantic Ocean
. I grew up on the Flores Island. There are others; nine
major ones in all
.
I grew up on Flores; named this because of
the
many beautiful
flowers."

"That s
ounds beautiful."

"It's small and it is beautiful. There are not even five thousand people on the entire island.
And because the
Island
s are volcanic,
there are hot springs.”

“Oh you can bathe in them!”

“
There are some very nice bathing spots
called
termas
.
But there are also some springs that are so hot that they are only used for cooking;
furnas.
My family would
travel to the spring in the morning and put a pot of stew in the earth and six hours later there was lunch. Azore
an
s
are very proud Portuguese, just as there are proud Brazilian Portuguese. But we see ourselves as very uniquely different. We’re as proud of our culture as we are of our island
s
. We have
some of the tallest mountains in the entire world, which means we also have some of the
best
waterfalls. Everything is either volcanic rock or lush green.
”

He spoke with so much pride that Tory found herself smiling.

“So why did you leave such a beautiful place?”

“My parents
moved us to the States so that they could make money. But once we were here, me and my brothers and sisters integrated into the American culture while my parents
later
returned to the island to retire.
We have a saying in the Azores.
Vou morrer pra minha terra
;
I will die in my homeland
.
My parents live by that saying.
”

She gave him a steady look.
"
You miss it don’t you
?"

He nodded. "Being blind on an island is great. I can run, sprint even. And the only thing to run into is...the end of the Island." He had a wistful look on his face. "
In my village everyone knew me and I knew them.
People would yell out, 'watch out for that! Don't knock that over! You're going to step on that!'
Even though there are a lot of tourists and Island living is very modern now, there is still a very quaint quality about it.
”
She found herself wishing that she could see this beautiful paradise.