“Whatever you say, Jim Bob.”
“Come on. I’ll have you converted to my country music ways by the end of the night.”
We showed our IDs at the door and found a table. The band was decent and not overly twangy.
“You okay if we order and then dance a few songs while we wait for our food?” Jonas asked.
“Sure.” I loved that he had a suggestion instead of trying to get me to decide on a course of action.
We looked over the menu and flagged down a server as soon as possible. Once the server left, Jonas took my hand and led me through the milling crowd to the dance floor, which only had a few couples on it. Most people seemed content to sit back and relax while they ate and listened to the music.
He pulled me in to him, swaying as he moved us over the dance floor. There was an easiness to being in his arms, while at the same time my body hummed with energy and I felt it every time our bodies brushed together. Jonas was a good dancer. Easy to follow. Every once in a while he’d turn me or dip me. On one of the fast songs we ended up tripping over each other and had to catch our breath from the laughter before we could keep going.
We got through three songs before we saw our food arriving at our table. He took my hand and the buzz of attraction went from my palm, up my arm and across my shoulders, making me shiver. I slid into my seat, grabbing for my water as he chugged his soda. I wondered if he was usually a beer drinker and was just avoiding it because of the stories I’d told him about Sean.
He picked up his burger and was halfway through it by the time I finished one bite of mine. It made me smile, the way he went about eating in such a single-minded fashion. Maybe it should have bugged me, but it felt authentic and comfortable instead of rude.
I was watching him, pressing my lips against a grin when he looked up and froze mid-chew. Then he sat up and wiped at his mouth with a napkin, looking slightly abashed. He swallowed and cleared his throat. “Sorry. Old habits.”
My head tilted. “Old habits?”
“Yeah. I grew up with four brothers. My parents had us all one right after the other. Some of us aren’t even two years apart. Trying to feed five growing boys is not for the faint of heart, just ask my mother. And being in the military taught me to eat when the eating was good.” He smiled but then looked sheepish. “Still, my mother would be mortified by my manners right now.”
“I can’t blame you,” I said, wanting to ease his discomfort as I watched his neck redden. “It is a really good burger.” I shoved a huge bite into my mouth to emphasize my point.
He smiled and popped his last bite into his mouth before starting on his fries.
After getting that huge bite down, I ate the rest of my food more slowly, watching the other patrons and fingering the chain of my necklace with one hand as I ate with the other.
“What’s that?”
Jonas’s words made me turn to him, and I watched as he reached a hand toward me. His fingers skimmed my neck as he took the chain in hand and pulled it from beneath my shirt.
He studied it for a moment, letting the small infinity pendant sit in his palm before looking up at me, a question curving one eyebrow.
“It was my mother’s.”
His forehead flinched. “Was?”
“She died when I was eleven.”
His brow creased in earnest. “I’m sorry.”
I shrugged one shoulder. “It was a long time ago.” And I had felt every day of it.
This necklace had been kept in her jewelry box along with all her other things. My dad didn’t touch the box after she died. He just left it sitting there on their dresser. I’d been sneaking into their room and going through that box for months after my mother’s death before my dad caught me. When he did, he’d simply asked me which was my favorite and then handed it over. I wore it every day, usually hidden under my clothes.
“Is there a story behind it?” he asked as he let it drop from his hand.
I immediately tucked it into my neckline. “My dad gave it to her. He said, ‘This is how much I love you’ when he handed her the box.” I loved that story. It always made me smile.
“He sounds like a romantic.”
I chuckled. “I’d never thought of that, but yeah, I guess he is.”
We lapsed into silence as I finished my food.
Jonas only let me sit for ten minutes after I’d cleared my plate. Then he coaxed me back onto the dance floor. Lucky for me it was a slow song, so we were able to sway back and forth as I laid my head on his shoulder. Scenes from old-time, Jane-Austen-inspired movies came to mind. Dancing was such a big part of courtship back in the day. Finally I understood why. This was only our second date, but dancing allowed us to interact in close proximity, to feel each other out and test the chemistry.
There was definitely chemistry.
Several faster songs followed and Jonas did an amazing job leading me around the dance floor, making me feel like I had some sort of skill. He smiled and joked, letting me tease him about his lack of cowboy boots and gently teasing me in return.
When the band wrapped up, we decided it was time to call it a night.
I collapsed into the seat of his car, tired but exhilarated from the dancing and the food and the man.
“So,” he said in that drawn-out way. “What did you think?”
“That was awesome.”
“Shall I call you Sally Jane now?”
I laughed. “You can call me whatever you want, so long as we get to come back here soon.”
He grinned at that. “I think that can be arranged.”
“Should we go buy cowboy hats so that we fit in better next time?”
He lifted an eyebrow in my direction. “You do realize that only a handful of people had on hats in there, right?”
“Sure, but if we’re going to commit to this thing, then we should do it right.”
He just shook his head at me, but his smile didn’t fade as he pulled out of the parking lot. I leaned back into my seat, happy and content. At least, until Jonas decided to bring up a new topic. “You hung out with your friend yesterday, didn’t you?” he asked.
My happy bubble burst and I swallowed a frustrated sigh. “Yes.”
“And how did that go?”
“Awkward.”
He glanced sideways at me. “Was he drunk?”
“No. Lucky for him,” I said darkly.
“What made it awkward then?”
“He tried to kiss me.” Or…did kiss me.
He shot his gaze over to me, his jaw tight. “Is that a normal thing?” He asked, his tone slightly mortified.
I vehemently shook my head. “Not at all. I have no idea what was going through his head. He was sad about his sister—it was the anniversary of her death—but it was still completely out of character for him. Anyway,” I waved my hand in the air, trying to reassure him with my nonchalance. “That’s not important. He’s fine and I’d rather not use up my emotional energy talking about him.”
We were at a stoplight and he studied me, the wheels in his head turning, clearly trying to decide if he wanted to say what he was thinking or not.
My body tensed and I faced forward. I was fairly certain I didn’t want to hear his thoughts. People’s opinions of Sean usually occupied one polar opposite or the other. They either considered him a saint or a devil. He was neither.