“You aren’t what I expected you to be,” Amira told him.
“I’ve heard that before. It’s these looks,” he told her with a waggle of his brows. “People assume I’m all looks and no brains.”
“I think you like people to think that,” she said with a laugh. “I’m beginning to see there’s a bit more to you than I originally thought. I’m not saying I’m impressed, just noticing there’s a bit more to you than meets the eye.”
“Ouch,” he said with a laugh. “If I wasn’t such a confident man, that might’ve hurt my ego a little bit.”
“I don’t think anything can touch that ego of yours,” she said. She was probably right. He knew who he was and where he was going in life. It would take a nuclear blast to damage him.
“Okay, let’s see . . .” he said after a bit. “I have four scars on my abdomen from when a kid stabbed me. He was trying to get into a gang, and killing me was his initiation. He failed.” She gasped at that, but he moved on.
“I have an SF 49ers helmet tat on my right arm. I’m a third-degree black belt in Krav Maga, and I hold the dead lift record in the military still to this day.” Smoke stopped talking and looked at her with expectation.
“I don’t know how to follow up with all of that,” she finally said after a few seconds of silence. “I guess I asked to know more about you, but I wasn’t expecting all of that.”
“I like to put it all out on the table. Of course, I’ve never pursued a woman as hard as I’m pursuing you,” he admitted.
“Really? I took you as a lover who has a new woman on his arm every night,” she said, making him laugh again.
“I’ve had a few dates, but I’ve never had to chase a woman before. I’ve never actually been turned down,” he told her with a shrug.
“Not once?” she pushed.
“Not once in my life. From the time I was little, I knew who I was, and if I wanted a date, it was easy for me to get it.” It was simply a fact.
“It must be nice to have that much confidence,” she said with a look he couldn’t interpret.
“You have it too,” he pointed out.
This made her laugh. “Oh no, Smoke, I don’t. I must fight every single step in life. I’ve had to fight for everything I have and for who I am. And no, I don’t believe that’s the case because I’m a woman, though sometimes there are still men out there who look down on a woman doctor, but because I have perfectionist parents who I adore, and high expectations of myself. And though I don’t let others judge me and I’m confident in myself in most ways, I’ve never fully felt I’m good enough at being a doctor, no matter how foolish I tell myself that is.”
Smoke was blown away by her words. He couldn’t imagine how Amira could look into a mirror and not see the same image he saw, that every man in the room saw. Someone had obviously mistreated her. It was his new mission in life to show her exactly who she was and how incredible an honor it was to be in her presence.
“You never should’ve told me that, Amira, now it’s my mission in life to give you that confidence. I want you to turn me down, but only because you know you’re too good for me, not because you don’t think it will work,” Smoke told her.
She looked at him in confusion. “I’m lost,” she admitted.
“You’re incredible, Amira. I know who I am, and I know what I deserve in life, but I also know who you are, and you’re too good for about ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the population. I might be the only guy out there who can come close to being worthy of having you on my arm.”
His words made her laugh again. Damn, he wanted to make her laugh every single day for the next fifty years. That thought popping into his head scared the living hell out of him. He’d never had the slightest thought like that before. Smoke was beyond grateful when the lights flashed, indicating the audience needed to quiet down. The show was about to begin.
While all eyes turned toward the stage, Smoke watched Amira. He was quite pleased when Jerry Seinfeld stepped onto the stage and her eyes widened in shock before she stood up clapping and yelling with the rest of the audience. For this man to come to this small theatre was a treat for all in attendance, especially when the majority of the crowd had no previous knowledge he was making a guest appearance.
“Good evening, Seattle. It’s nice to be back to the place where I can simply walk down the street and have a coffee instantly placed in my hand,” Seinfeld began. It was true. Washington had at least one coffee shop on every city block. A person wouldn’t go without caffeine in the northwest.
For the next hour, Smoke and Amira laughed so hard their stomachs hurt. They had some drinks, ate a lot of greasy food, and enjoyed the heck out of the show. A few of Seinfeld’s jokes made Amira blush, and she refused to meet Smoke’s eyes.
“Did you all know that women have two orgasms? The real ones, and the ones they make up on their own. Now, I can give you the male point of view on this, which is, we’re fine with it. You do whatever you have to do, and we’ll do whatever we have to. To a man, sex is like a car accident anyway, and trying to determine a female orgasm is like asking, what did you see after the car went out of control? Well, there were a lot of screeching noises, and I was facing the wrong way at one point, and in the end, my body was thrown clear.”
Smoke burst out laughing. He’d had a few similar experiences. He noticed Amira looked down at that joke. That made him wonder if she’d ever had a mind-blowing, out-of-this-world orgasm. Or did she have to fake them? He knew for damn sure, she wouldn’t have to ever fake anything with him.
“How many new couples are out there in the audience tonight?” Seinfeld asked as he looked at the very happy crowd. Smoke grinned as he held up his hand, knowing he’d catch the comedian’s attention. Smoke certainly stood out in the crowd.
“Ah, how is there hope for the rest of us poor souls if a couple as gorgeous as the two of you are just now dating?” Seinfeld asked, his gaze focused on Smoke and Amira. “Really? How in the world are you each single, or single before this date? Are you depraved? Do you dig graves? Commit murders at night and go to the office during the day?” Seinfeld continued.
“She’s a doctor and I like hitting things,” Smoke said as he flexed, making the audience laugh.
“Ah, a doctor. Impressive,” Seinfeld said, as he waggled a brow at Amira. “I’m feeling a little achy. Can I get you to check me out after the show?” he asked with an exaggerated wink.
“This one’s taken,” Smoke told the man with a laugh.
Seinfeld gave the audience a disappointed look as he shrugged. “Well, I guess my wife would probably prefer you’re taken,” he said after a second, making the audience laugh again. “Let’s face it, folks, a date is really a job interview that lasts . . . all . . . night . . . long. The only difference between a date and a job interview is that in not too many job interviews is there a chance you’ll end up naked at the end of it.”