Veronica stayed on the comfortable leather couch, her heart racing as she hoped—no, prayed—he would actually come back.
4
Thad stopped at the Vol. 39 bartop and caught one of the bartender’s attention.
“Hey, Maya,” he greeted the beautiful, dark-skinned woman behind the bar. Maya was a true mixologist expert and a good friend. Thad had asked her to make two old fashioned drinks with the lightest of alcohol. He didn’t want Veronica to feel uncomfortable. Maya had given him a questioning look, since he normally only came here with Jared and Angelo, but she hadn’t pried.
Now her cinnamon brown eyes sparkled. “Thad… Don’t tell me you need refills already? Or has your date run off on you?”
“She’s still here. Could I have two bottles of water and the chat pack?”
Maya rolled her eyes as she got him the bottles and then retrieved a small plastic card shaped case.
“You’re going to have a real conversation with a woman, Mr. Gentleman of the Year?”
He flashed Maya his most dangerously charming smile. “I’m going to try.” She waved the dishrag at him, shooing him off.
Veronica visibly relaxed as Thad returned to the private lounge and sat back down beside her.
He handed her a bottle. “I thought you might want some water.” After setting down his own water, he opened the chat pack.
She leaned toward him, curious. “What’s that?” He caught a waft of her scent, a light floral blend, possibly just her shampoo. Whatever it was, he liked it. Not too heavy or expensive.
He cleared his throat. “This is a chat pack. There are a hundred questions in here we can ask each other. We can have fun while we get to know one another.” He’d never used a chat pack on a date before, but he liked to come here, get passably drunk with his friends sometimes and ask each other questions. It could get really entertaining once you were buzzed.
“Okay, that could be fun.” Veronica relaxed even more. “So, how does it work?”
Thad opened the pack and pulled out the first card. He leaned back and stretched an arm lazily behind her shoulders. Not touching her, but close.
He read the first question. “If you could have any object or place in the world completely to yourself for one day, what would you choose and why?”
Veronica bit her bottom lip. Such an innocent thing, but Thad had to force back all the carnal thoughts her movement had provided about those sweet lips of hers.
“The Louvre basement,” she finally said.
“Intriguing… Why the basement?”
Veronica gave a cunning little smile that heated his blood. “Because the best stuff is always hidden. You know they have to have all the most interesting, mysterious pieces tucked away in the basement and it’s rumored to be huge down there, like several levels.” She finished her old fashioned cocktail. “What about you?”
“That’s easy, I’d choose an object rather than a place.” He swirled his almost empty glass. “I am 95% sure that the US military has been working on an Iron Man suit.”
“By Iron Man suit you mean…”
“Like the superhero,” he clarified.
Her nose wrinkled adorably. “Why would you want that?”
“To fly,” he said simply. “To be that free but have control… It would be incredible.”
“Yeah,” she agreed. “I guess it would. To be able to just fly away from everything. Like a modern day Icarus. Only…” she grew quiet. “My turn?” she said suddenly.
Thad wondered what she dreamed of flying away from, and why she stopped herself short with her thoughts about it. But now was not the time to ask. He wanted her to trust him, to be herself. The harder questions could come later.
He passed her the chat pack. She plucked out the next card out and read it.
“You’ve been given the chance to travel into the future to see how the world will change over the next fifty years. What change are you most interested in?”
“That’s easy… Flying cars. No wait, space travel, like a colony ship or a colony on Mars,” he amended. “That was too easy. You?”
“Medicine,” she said more quietly. “Trauma medicine in particular.” The spark in her eyes had dimmed. She was thinking of her husband.
“You mind if I ask how he died?” Thad asked. His desire to know wasn’t from some morbid fascination; he wanted to better understand her and how this night was affecting her. He was also worried about saying the wrong thing without meaning to. This whole date started as a fun bet with Jared, but now that he’d gotten her talking, he was truly enjoying himself. This was definitely not like his usual dates. They would have skipped the water and gone straight to a hotel room. And yes, he wanted Veronica flat on a bed beneath him, but he also wanted other things, like to know what went on behind those eyes of hers when they turned a stormy blue.
She drew in a shaky breath. “It was a car accident. He was coming home on his motorcycle and it was raining. A car hydroplaned and hit him.” The haunted look on her face cut him deeper than he expected.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”
“No, it’s not that. I just… I tend to overthink things when it comes to sharing that part of my life, if that make sense.”
“Overanalyzing every little nuance searching for hidden meaning? Yeah, I get it.”
“I’m really making this night fun, aren’t I?” Her question held a note of bitter, self-directed sarcasm.
Thad caught her chin when she tried to look away. “Hey, relax. You are making this night real. I asked you out, remember? I want to know you, even the sad parts.”
It wasn’t just a line. He actually meant it, which shocked him. Even as her pain hurt him, her genuine soul held him captivated. If Jared never made that bet at the Chi-Bean, Veronica would have been just another person in the crowd. A flare of self-loathing Thad had never experienced before suddenly reared its ugly head. He really could be a self-absorbed asshole.
“Let’s do another one. Pick a fun one.” She smiled and blinked her long dark lashes, trying to hide the hint of sorrow that glimmered there.
Thad brushed his thumb over her bottom lip and held his breath as her beautiful eyes darkened, but he didn’t do what he normally would. No stolen kisses this time. He turned back to the chat pack and picked up a new card.
“Okay, last one. Thinking back to all the great TV series finales that you have seen over the years, which do you believe had the best final episode?”
“Oh gosh, you go first,” she said.
“Hmmm… TV series finales. I think I’d say the TV movie that finished the show Timeless, that time-traveling adventure show.”
“Oh, I loved that show.” Veronica was smiling again. “The finale was excellent. Everyone got their happy ending.”
“What about you?”
She sipped her water bottle and shifted closer to him. It was just an inch, but it made Thad want to cuddle her close.
“I guess I pick Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Have you ever watched that?”
“I’ve seen a few seasons,” he admitted. “How does it end?”