His Forever Girl

“Yeah. Abita Amber,” Tess shouted, a warm smile curving her mouth.

That smile made him forget all his troubles. He needed to recapture his previous mood. He’d nailed the interview—he’d read that much in the old man’s face. Graham had been in the zone, dressed to impress with the knowledge to back up his proposals. Everything in New Orleans was falling in place. Including getting his social life on track.

Stop overthinking and walk toward good things in life, Graham.

He paid and went outside, handing the icy beer to Tess, clinking the bottle with his. “To new beginnings.”

“And to your new job.”

“I’ll drink to that,” he said, lifting the bottle to his lips. In that instant he felt something swell in him he hadn’t felt in so long, not since he’d left New Orleans six years ago. Maybe it was joy. Or freedom. Or both. He wasn’t sure which it was, but he embraced the warmth, that feeling of possibility. All that lay withered inside him revived, swelling to life with sweetness.

After cashing out his 401K last month so Emily could continue going to the Montessori school she’d been attending for the past two years, he needed to feel good about something. To chase hope of a better future and pin it down.

Ten minutes later his name was called and they slid into wooden chairs at a table facing the floor-to-ceiling doors looking out on Toulouse Street. Passersby strolled, collars up against the wind sweeping in with the cool front. A slight draft wafted in but it wasn’t enough to keep them from picking up the menu.

“I already know I’m blowing my diet on a shrimp po’boy,” Tess said licking her lips, a move that heated his blood.

What would she taste like?

Apples?

Or something spicier perhaps?

“And maybe some gumbo, too. Suddenly I’m starving.” She looked up at him.

Yeah. Him, too.

He cleared his throat and tried to tame his desire for her. This wasn’t a date...or maybe it was. He wasn’t sure what they were doing.

“You don’t have to buy my dinner,” Tess said, with a little shake of her head. “This isn’t really a date.”

“It’s not?” he asked.

“I don’t think so. Maybe it is.” She gave a wry twist of her lips. “In all honestly, I don’t know why I said I’d go to dinner with you. You’re a total stranger.”

“It’s not that different than meeting someone from a dating website if you think about it. In fact, it’s almost like an old-fashioned date. Two people meet, they’re attracted to one another, and then they—”

“You’re attracted to me?” she asked. A faint pink bloomed in her cheeks and the refreshingly honest question made him like her even more. And he already had a healthy like for her. “Yeah, that sounded sort of middle-schoolish. Been hanging out with my nephews too much.”

“Actually I thought it was understood I’m attracted to you. Otherwise I’d be sharing stuffed mushrooms and wings with Angela and the girls.”

“Well, good to know. I’m pretty hungry but I’d hate to think this was a mercy date.”

“Far from it,” he said, unable to contain the desire he had for her.

His salacious gaze didn’t put her off. In fact she smiled wider before turning to the waitress.

After they ordered po’boys and a cup of gumbo, a comfortable silence descended. He took the time to study her. Her eyes weren’t really the color of moss so much as the color of a magnolia leaf: rich, fertile green. The freckles weren’t overly pronounced, merely sprinkled across her rounded cheekbones. She had delicate eyebrows and small earlobes from which winked simple solitaire diamonds.

Tess cleared her throat. “So if this is a date, you should tell me more about yourself. I know you went to Jesuit, grew up here and worked for NASA, but what about your...hobbies?”

“Hobbies?”

Tess made a face. “That lame, huh? Guess I have issues with uncomfortable silence.”

“Felt like a comfortable silence to me.”

“Really? Hmm...” She smiled, opening a package of crackers from the bowl on the table. “Sorry. Should have taken Angela up on the appetizers. I’m starving.”

He’d been eyeing the crackers himself, so he mimicked her. “Me, too, but I didn’t want to look like I had no self-control.”

“No sense in standing on ceremony. As my nephews say, YOLO.”

He crooked an eyebrow.

“You Only Live Once,” she clarified.

Perfect reason to ignore the flicker of logic edging in on his good time with Tess. YOLO. He liked that. “Okay, a little about me. I read the newspaper every morning, don’t have a Facebook account, like dogs over cats, have a seven-year-old daughter and I’m a Scorpio.”

“You have a daughter?”

“Somehow I knew that would stand out to you. Yeah, Emily. She’s beautiful, smart and can tie her own shoes. Big accomplishment. She lives here in New Orleans with her mother and I don’t see her often. Another reason I want to move back.”

“Wow, a kid, huh?”

“Deal breaker for you?”

“No, I’ve just never dated a guy with a kid. Not that we’re dating. This is a special circumstance. Or something.”

“Or something. But we’re going with it, right?”

“Definitely. I’m having fun.”

The waitress arrived with their gumbo, and with unspoken agreement they dug in. The gumbo was decent and minutes later both cups were empty.

Graham pushed his bowl to the side. “So tell me about you.”

“Nothing special. Graduated from Carnegie-Mellon in industrial art design, work for my dad’s company and live in a loft in the Warehouse district. I ride a bike to work most days and I do the New York Times crossword puzzle every Sunday even if it takes me until lunch. I don’t have children, pets or a lactose intolerance. Big Italian family, no ties to mafia, though my brother likes to infer it.”

“The priest?”

“No, the surgeon.”

“Accomplished family,” he murmured.

“Exactly what my father expects. I’m the baby of the family and the only girl. I have three older brothers who excel at their careers, but I’m the only one who followed in my father’s footsteps.”

“Three older brothers?” He feigned loosening his collar.