Surprise Dinner Guests

On Tuesday, Kinsley and I decided to skip the gym and go out to dinner instead.  Logical, right?  We went to a new restaurant that had recently opened up near us.  It was busy, but we were seated relatively quickly.  We took a ridiculously long time looking over the menu and debating what to order, and finally settled on a couple things to share.  After we had ordered, I got up and went to the bathroom.  When I returned, I saw there were two guys sitting at our table with Kinsley.

As I got closer,  I realized that one of them was James and glared at Kinsley.  Are you kidding me?  Why won't this guy just go away?  The other was one of the people he'd been with on the night we'd met.  Kinsley looked back with innocent smile.  Ugh.

When I got to the table, James stood casually and pulled my chair out for me.  "Hey there," he said with a lazy grin.  "Looks like we just keep running into each other."  I couldn't help it, a little of my hostility melted at the casual confidence and easy smile.

"Looks like it," I replied, raising my eyebrows and sitting as he pushed in the chair.  I kicked Kinsley under the table and she kicked me back and mouthed "be nice" when they weren't paying attention.

James was speaking again, and I looked over at him.  Why did he have to be so hot?  "Olivia, this is Damien.  Damien was my partner when I was a police officer."  I vaguely remembered something about James being a police officer and then a detective from when Cassie and I stalked his company bio.

"Nice to meet you, Damien," I said, smiling politely.

"James and Damien just happened to walk in shortly after you left for the bathroom," Kinsley explained.  "Damien recognized me from the other night and said hi, and I invited them to join us so they didn't have to wait for a table."  She smiled sweetly at me, and I smiled back, formulating my plan to kill her later.

But as dinner went on, I actually started to enjoy their company.  Damien was quiet, especially compared to James and Kinsley, but he seemed like a nice guy.  Kinsley was flirting hardcore with him, and I couldn't help thinking that maybe he'd slow her down a little.  James caught my eye and smiled, his eyes twinkling in the dim restaurant light.  He cocked an eyebrow towards them, heads bent in conversation on the other side of the table.  I shrugged and laughed.

"So," he said to me.  "I need you to know that I'm not stalking you, I promise," his tone was serious, but the expression on his face was light. 

"Could have fooled me," I said.  "You run into me--literally--not even two weeks ago, I see you at the gym less than a week after that, and then one week after that, we both skip our workouts and end up at the same restaurant?  Seems awfully suspicious to me!"

"Well, for one thing," he responded, a slight grin playing at the corners of his mouth, "that gym that I saw you at was my gym, so perhaps it's more logical to think that you're following me.  For another, Tuesday is not typically a workout day for me, but I had a rough day and needed to get rid of some negative energy.  And tonight?  Well, it's a new restaurant in a great neighborhood."  He shrugged.  "A series of excellent coincidences," he concluded.

"Depends on your definition of excellent," I said with a smirk.

He laughed and flashed those perfect teeth at me again.  "Running into a seriously beautiful woman 3 times in less than two weeks is definitely excellent in my world," he said.  I tried to fight the heat rising in my cheeks but couldn't.  I hoped it was dark enough in the restaurant that he couldn't see me blush. 

Our server brought two bills, and James reached for both of them but I snatched mine and Kinsley's before he could.  "No way," I said, shaking my head.  He held his hands up in surrender and pulled a card out for his and Damien's.

After the bills were settled we sat finishing our drinks.  Damien and Kinsley had returned to whatever they were discussing, and James turned in his seat, angling his body towards me and resting an arm casually on the table.  I tilted my head to the side a little to study his face.  He had a seriously chiseled jawline and better cheekbones than me.  Not fair.   I was thinking about the things I could to do to those cheekbones with a little bronzer and highlighter when he spoke again.

"So, I can't help but think that we will just keep running into each other," he said.

"Well, lucky for you then," I responded before I could stop myself, grinning devilishly.  Ugh, stop flirting, Liv.

"It would be," he replied, "but it would be even better if you'd just go out with me."

I snuck a glance at Kinsley, but she was still absorbed in conversation.  "Look, James.  You are gorgeous, and charming, and funny, and you seem like a really great guy.  So please don't take this at anything but face value, but I'm not doing the dating thing right now.  It's nothing against you, it's completely my own crap.  I'm too absorbed in other things."  And other people, I thought bitterly. 

He nodded, considering.  I had hoped my mostly honest, slightly vulnerable answer would get him to back off, so I was surprised when he said, "Let's make a deal."  I looked at him, confused.  "Meet me for a drink.  One drink.  Anywhere you want to go.  I won't even call it a date.  If, after the one drink, you still don't want to go out with me, I will back off completely, and if we cross paths again I won't ever ask you out again."

Well, he's nothing if not persistent.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that by this point, both Kinsley and Damien were watching.  I seized my opportunity to get this guy off my back.  "Fine.  One drink."  I named a low-key wine bar near my office.  "Does Thursday at 7 work for you?  I hope so, because it's your only option."  When he nodded, I continued.  "I'll meet you there.  And I'm paying for my own drink."

"Fair enough," he replied with a smile.  "Because it's not a date."  Part of me wanted to slap the smile off his cocky face, but a small part of me enjoyed it a little too much.

"Good for you," said Damien, nodding at me with a small smile.  "Someone has to keep him humble."

We walked out and parted ways, but not before Damien and Kinsley exchanged numbers.  I looked questioningly at James.  He stepped closer to me and said quietly, "He's a good guy.  Loyal and reliable.  I don't know if he can keep up with your friend, but he'll be good to her as long as she lets him."  I nodded.

"Good," I said.  "I'd kill him otherwise."  James laughed.

"I believe it," he said.

When we about a half a block away, Kinsley spoke up.  "Before you yell at me, I need to tell you that I didn't invite them to join us to push you at James.  I did it completely selfishly.  It wouldn't have happened if he hadn't been there with Damien."

"It's okay," I said, and I meant it. "I'm excited about you and Damien. And now I have the opportunity to not have to turn him down anymore now.  I'll go for my one drink, and then I'll be done with this mess."

"What if you go and have fun?  And you like him?" Kinsley asked, giving voice to the question that had been gnawing at my own brain.

"Well, if that happens, then I guess I'll stay for longer than one drink and let him take me out, if he still wants to," I said nonchalantly, thinking about my conversation with Lynn, but I definitely felt serious anxiety at the prospect.  I couldn't tell if it was good anxiety or bad anxiety, though.  Both?

Kinsley looked at me curiously.  I gave her what I hoped was a confident smile, then quickly changed the subject to Damien.  Kinsley turned pink but talked excitedly about their conversation and the prospect of going on a date with him.  I smiled, happy that she was going out on a date with someone so different than the guys she usually dated, which were usually flops.  I realized that if they actually became a thing, I'd probably see a lot more of James whether I wanted to or not.