“Of course I am. Anyway, I need to get that cutie pie home and in bed, it's getting late. It was a great idea to do this while the boys had their time together.”
She gives me a huge hug, then goes to pick up Ava while trying not to wake her to carry her out to the car. Thankfully, Ava is out like a light and never stirs. Gina made her brush her teeth after dinner and she was already in comfy clothes, she will just get her right into her bed when they get home. I follow with their stuff and help get them allloaded in before I wave them off. Her words stay with me though the rest of the evening as I get situated for bed. Gina always knows how to ground me and get me out of my own head. My phone pings, and I pick it up, grinning when I see it's from Taran.
TARAN
Hey pretty Firecracker, how's your girls night going?
It's all very top secret girl stuff, if I told you I'd have to kill you
Rude!
In all seriousness, it was a lot of fun, they just left. How are you, handsome?
Blushing because you called me handsome. You say I'm the shameless one. What are you doing Thursday night? Want to go on a proper romantic dinner date after work? We can chat more and have some fun before you meet everyone on Saturday (if you're still ok with coming)
I'd love to, and yes I still want to come Saturday
Fantastic. How about I pick you up at 7 on Thursday?
I'll see you then. G'nite, handsome
Goodnight, gorgeous
Chapter 19
Taran
I’m humming along to my dad's playlist as I pull up to Lyra's for our date. Stepping out of the car, I retrieve the bouquet of roses I got her from the backseat and straighten out my collar before I get to her door. I don't know if I'll ever get over the anticipation of seeing her, and this time it's heightened. Tonight is our first date since she became officially single, and we had our first kiss. I want to make it a perfect night that sweeps her off her feet. When she opens the door, I'm struck dumb, like I always am when I look at her. Her purple curls bounce around her luminous face when she takes a step back to let me in. The radiance and confidence in her big smile is a shot of electricity to my chest. I'm not exaggerating when I say it truly looks like her eyes hold a galaxy of stars in them. Her warmth and confidence is such a fantastic contrast to how sky high her walls were when we first met, and it makes my heart quicken that she feels comfortable enough to let her guard down a little with me. My eyes do a slow, unabashed, perusal of her curve hugging red wrap dress before they go back up to meet hers.
“Take a picture, it'll last longer,” she teases, her nose crinkling adorably in amusement.
“Just needed to take in how amazing you look, Firecracker. You're stunning,” I tell her as I hand her the bouquet.
She ducks her head into the blooms to hide her blushing smile as she murmurs her thanks, so I get into her space and lift her face with my fingers under her chin.
“I mean it. You stole my breath just now when you opened the door.”
“You look amazing, too, Taran,” she says with a shy smile, her eyes still glittering.
She lets me in, and as soon as the door shuts, we're kissing with intensity. Her plush lips open on a groan as our tongues slide together. I crowd her against the door and bring my hands down to her perfect, round ass, giving it a healthy squeeze. We keep making out for another couple of minutes before I reluctantly pull away.
“If we keep going like this, I'm not going to want to leave.” I'm practically panting as I say it.
“Dinner might be overrated at this moment.” Her reply is just as breathless as mine, and I can't help but smile about it.
“Come on. Let's get some food, and then we'll see where the night goes,” I tell her as I drop another quick, chaste kiss to her lips.
“We'll see where the night goes is very cute code for ‘I hope we can pick up where this left off later’,” she says with a wicked gleam in her eyes.
“Never pretended I was subtle,” I reply with my own wicked grin as I give her ass a little tap, which makes her let out the cutest yelp. She levels me witha playful glare as she goes to the kitchen to put the bouquet in a vase. Then she grabs her coat before taking my hand to head out.
“So, where are you taking me?” she asks as we hit the road.
“It's not too far, about 30 minutes away. I found a really nice Lebanese place called Sa'ada a little north of here. I introduced you to Salvadoran pupusas, so I was hoping you could show me all about Lebanese food.” I shoot her a grin as I see her eyes light up. There are those gorgeous galaxies again. Then she whips out her phone as she asks me to spell the name of the restaurant, and a minute later she makes a triumphant sound.
“I love the name, it means Happiness. The menu looks amazing!”
“What are your favorites that your Nana made? We should get them if they have them.”