Reflecting On Wishes (The Wishes Series) (5 page)

Laughing, she shook her head
before saying, “You did well. I’ve never had a guy take me somewhere so nice. I appreciate it. I have to admit—I think it’s incredibly cute that your mom told you where to take me.”

He was really trying to play it cool but he was smiling so much his cheeks hurt. Their waitress came to take their drink order and he was pleasantly surprised when instead of ordering
wine, Angel ordered a
Corona
. He grinned and ordered the same thing, opening his menu and began looking over the appetizers. They decided on marinated olives and bruschetta on ciabatta bread with tomatoes, basil and olive oil. Once the server left, Angel set down her menu and crossed her arms over her chest defensively.

“Why are you laughing at me?”

“I’m not laughing at you, baby. I’m adoring you actually.”

“No, you’re laughing at me for ordering a beer aren’t you? You should realize now that I’m not some delicate flower of a girl that wants wine and roses and all that shit. I grew up around men, drinking beer and playing football.”

“I never thought of you as a delicate flower. I can’t imagine a delicate flower working in a motorcycle shop or driving nearly two hundred miles per hour down a racetrack. For your information, I’m not into girls that are all about fancy things. I happen to think you’re pretty damn perfect just the way you are.”

Her mouth opened
and then shut. He could see the wheels turning in her head while she decided whether or not to be offended.

“So why did you bring me to a fancy place if you aren’t into it?”

He leaned towards her, his hand brushed along her jaw, thankful they had privacy in the little alcove where they were seated. “Because I wanted to make a good impression. You’re a special woman and I like you. You deserve the best, so I wanted to spoil you. Is that okay, Angel? I hope you won’t mind that even though you aren’t into fancy things, once in a while I am going to do special things for you just to show you I care.”

She was fidgeting with her hands, stopping the moment his eyes left hers and caught her. Quickly
she picked the menu back up, avoiding his gaze.

“As long as you know that sometimes I’ll want to go out for a burger and sit by the lake
, feeding the ducks my french fries while wearing something simple like shorts and a tank top with my toes in the dirt.”

He chuckled and picked up his menu
. “Duly noted. In fact, I like picnics by the lake and I like the idea of you in those short cutoffs you had on earlier today. Mhmm, I like that very much. I think maybe we should take some bread for the ducks though. French fries can’t be good for them.”

She smirked at him, stifling a grin
. “Fine, bread it is. We can’t have chunky ducks that aren’t able to waddle.”

“I’m curious now though…”
The grin on his face was mischievous.

“Curious about what? The fact I’d rather drink beer than wine?”

“No, the fact you play football.”

“Hey, I’m pretty good at it too
. Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean…”

“No, no, no, that’s not what I mean, little
Miss Defensive
. I’m just wondering if it’s tackle football.” He watched her swallow, her eyes fluttering briefly.

“Why do you want to know?” She leaned a little closer to him, biting her bottom lip as she tilted her head to the side, “You planning on joining us one day and play against me?”

“I admit I rather like the idea of tackling you. It may not be appropriate to do that in front of your family though.”

Suddenly the server was there, bringing them frosty mugs of ice cold beer and the appetizers. She took their dinner orders and left quietly. Angel speared an olive and leaned towards him again, offering him the savory bite.

“I agree there’s probably a better place and time for a good tackling to happen.” She watched him take the bite, her eyes even darker now than they normally were.

Dakota picked up an olive with his fingers, the olive oil dripping from
them as he held it out to her. He gave a low groan when she sucked it from between his fingers, her tongue swiping over his thumb and forefinger before she pulled back. They continued taking small bites here and there from their appetizers, while not talking much at all. At least not with words spoken out loud, but their demeanor and eye contact spoke volumes. Once the entrees were brought out, they started talking again between bites, still sharing tidbits of the delicious foods. Dakota had a creamy
Seafood Risotto
with shrimp, mussels, scallops, and sweet peppers with a tomato and roasted garlic sauce over garlic–parmigian risotto. Angel dined on
Seafood Charmaine
, a spicy blend of shrimp and sea scallops sautéed with sun–dried tomato, spinach and jalapeno cream sauce over fettuccine. Once the main course was over both were too full for dessert, deciding instead to go to a dive bar that played live Latin music.

Chapter 4

Amante
was a fairly small nightclub off Highway 129. It didn’t take much for Angel to convince him to take her there. The thought of her shaking her hips was something he couldn’t resist seeing. It was raining by the time they got there so he pulled up to the awning covering the entrance and dropped her off while he parked the truck. Once he locked the truck, he quickly ran through the rain to meet her at the door. The smile she gave him melted his heart. Her soft hands wiping the raindrops from his forehead and cheeks, then curving around his neck to bring him close for a kiss was something he only dreamed of and was extremely happy to accept.

“You are quite the gentleman,” she whispered,

“You are quite the lady,” he replied, leaning down to brush his lips against hers once more before taking her hand and leading her inside.

The steady beat of the bongo and conga drums seemed to thrum through the bodies on the dance floor
. The club was busy of course; it was expected on a Friday night. He noticed Angel didn’t seem to mind. She took the lead, winding her way through the crowd to the bar where she ordered two shots of tequila and two
Corona’s
. Dakota dropped a twenty on the bar for their drinks and tucked a five in the tip jar. Gathering their beverages, they found a corner booth and scooted in beside each other with him on the outside.

“You know I was planning on buying our drinks. That’s why I ordered them,” Angel
said tilting her head, looking at him with a soft smile on her face.

He curled his arm over her shoulders and tucked her close to his side. “Tell you what, nex
t date you can buy the drinks, deal?” The grin he gave her was a confident one, not quite cocky, but sure of himself and the connection that was building between them.

“Deal
. Now, you do know the proper way to drink tequila right? I mean, if you don’t, this could really reflect badly on you.” The look in her dark chocolate eyes was playful and sexy.

“The proper way to drink tequila?”
His eyebrow rose in question. He was having a hard enough time concentrating on anything when she gave him that sweet smile but he definitely didn’t want to make a bad impression or look like an idiot in front of her. “Well, back in college I would have said I would lick your neck, dash on some salt and put a wedge of lime between your beautiful lips. Then I would down the shot, lick your neck, suck the lime, and take the opportunity to kiss you. But, we’re grown folks now, so I’d do something a little classier—with spice of course.” He marveled in the way her eyes darkened and the sensual slip of her tongue gliding over her bottom lip. “I’m going to go with the traditional way. Lick your hand between your thumb and forefinger, dash it with salt and hold the lime between your thumb and finger.” He paused a moment, brushing her hair back and tucking it behind her ear. His thumb skimmed down her jaw slowly as he looked into her eyes, his next words coming forth with a definite pause between each word. “Lick, drink, bite, suck.”

She swallowed visibly, clearing her throat before she spoke. “That’s
…uh, one way you can shoot tequila.” He couldn’t take his eyes off her when she reached up and ran the tip of her finger over his bottom lip. He wondered if she felt it tremble under her soft touch. The air felt as if it were sizzling between them with arcs of electricity bouncing back and forth.

“But that isn’t the proper way?”

“Not if you like spice and heat. Do you, Dakota? Like spice and…heat?”

It was his turn to swallow
and look away for a minute so he could clear his throat before he replied, “I do tend to like things spicy and hot.”

The smile she had on her face was something he would love to see every day. In fact, he would make it his
lifelong work to keep her happy and brightening his world with that sparkling smile that lit up the entire room. She leaned across the table to grab a bottle of
Tabasco
sauce and her hair slipped from behind her ear again covering her face. He reached out and tucked it back again, running his fingers through the satiny length. She looked at him while she opened the bottle, “Two shakes or three?” She shook three times over her shot, a smirk on her face that showed her playful confidence.

“Same as you hot stuff, but please tell me we aren’t mixing that with the lime wedges.”

“Ugh, that would not be good. The lime is for the beer.” She gave him three shakes of hot sauce in his tequila shot and then squeezed the lime slice down the neck of the beer bottle. “Cheers! To good times, fast bikes and a little added spice to our lives.” She slid his shot to him and picked up her own, holding hers up until he clinked their glasses together. They downed the shots, smacking the glasses back on the table and then looked into each other’s eyes.

“
Wow that was definitely spicy.” Dakota laughed, then took a drink of the icy cold beer.

“Mhmm, hot, spicy and so damn good.” Angel tilted her head and kissed the corner of his mouth, taking him by surprise.

“Yes, just like you.” Not one to be outdone, he turned his head, slid his hand behind her neck and pulled her mouth to his. He grazed his lips over hers so slow and sultry it left them both breathless. When he broke the kiss, he drew his thumb down her jaw as he spoke, “I agree, so damn good.”

Her rosy cheeks complemented her sun-kissed skin tone
, but it was the fact that he had brought forth that glowing look that had his chest puffing out like a proud peacock. He had been on his share of dates in the past but no one had ever affected him quite like Angel did. By the glowing look on her face he was having a positive effect on her as well.

“I know you like motorcycles, you were a track star in school and you’re a physical therapist, but the big question and probably the most important is—do you dance?” she asked, taking a sip of her beer.

Again, he was smiling at her. “Do I dance?” he laughed in a cocky sort of way. “
Oh I dance
. Come on beautiful; let’s see what kind of magic we can make on the dance floor.” Her laughter was music to his ears. The carefree way she had about her was contagious. He knew she would be a good dancer, but when she started rocking her hips side to side with the beat of the music it took everything in him to not stop and stare. After all, he wanted to impress her and show her he could keep up with her sexy moves. The DJ kept the music upbeat song after song, taking them through the mambo, cha-cha-cha, and a little salsa before switching to a slow song that Dakota would always remember.

He had waited a very long time to pull Angel close like he had her right now. Her warm, lean body was wrapped up in his arms with her head resting on his chest while
Romeo Santos sang,
All Aboard
. It couldn’t have been a more perfect song, nor could it have been with a more perfect woman. It seemed as if the rest of the room disappeared and it was only the two of them swaying on the dance floor. The lights were low, nearly pitch-black but for the cliché disco bulb that hung above the center of the dance floor. It took his breath away when her fingers dug into the small of his back, massaging him while he tangled his fingers in her hair and pulled her head back so he could take her mouth with his. The kiss was sensual. His tongue dipping between her lips to taste her spicy sweetness had distracted him enough, but now her fingertips had eased under the hem of his shirt and were stroking his bare skin.

The sound of the music changed to an upbeat song again. Pulling back he looked into her big brown eyes and smiled
saying, “I ain’t gonna lie. I’m kinda mad the song ended.”

Angel looked rather pleased when she chuckled and took his hand in hers, “I don’t know about you but I’m thirsty, like ice cold water kinda thirsty.”

“Dancing is thirsty business and we were gettin’ it down out there.” His exuberance had her giggling again, lifting her hair off her neck and fanning herself.

“We sure did. You got some skill, I was impressed you knew that many
Latin dances,” she teased him as they sidled up to the bar.

“Two waters
, please,” he gestured to the bartender. “Shoot, I got moves you ain’t even seen yet! Just you wait and see. Next time we’re going to a hip hop club and I’ll really burn it down, baby.”