She hid a smile, pulling the flowers to her nose and backing into the kitchen. He followed her like a predator locked on its prey.
Her heart pranced in her chest as she reached the doorway to the kitchen. “You’ve caught me at a bad time. I’m in the middle of a romantic dinner.”
He lunged and she bolted into the kitchen, but he caught her by the sweater and yanked her back to him. His body tensed and stilled the moment he set eyes on the table.
Tapered candles and a plate of ninety-nine cent macaroni waited with a seven dollar bottle of wine. What could possibly upset him about this?
“Who got you those chocolates?”
“I bought them for myself.”
He looked at her as if measuring the truth of her words. “Is this really what you’re doing for Valentine’s Day?”
“This is what I’ve always done.” At least since being an adult.
He sighed, the tension leaving his shoulders as he blew out the candles. “Not anymore. Get dressed. I’m taking you out.”
CHAPTER 18
“Hi. We have reservations for two—Lord Luther Van Tiger Duke and Madame Jezebel McHuffinpuff the third.”
Erin shot Giovanni a wide-eyed look as she pressed her mouth shut, trying not to laugh.
“Sir, this is a drive-through. We don’t take reservations.”
“Oh.” He shot Erin a look of shock. “That’s so weird. I thought…” He turned back to the speaker. “This is a little embarrassing. I’ve got this beautiful date in my car and all the restaurants in town are booked. Do you think you could throw something nice together for us? Cost is no object.” He coughed. “As long as it’s under twenty bucks. That’s all I have on me.”
They were going to call the cops on them, Erin thought. But instead, the voice crackled over the intercom and said, “Pull around.”
Giovanni smiled and slowly drove to the window.
The glass opened and a woman in a red visor looked at him. “Lord Luther Van Tiger Duke and Madame Jezebel McHuffinpuff?”
“The one and only.”
“Here you go, one Valentine’s Day special.” The window attendant bent down and revealed a picnic basket, hoisting it through the window as Giovanni pulled it into the car.
“Thanks. How much do I owe you?”
The girl looked down at something jotted on a piece of paper. “Uh, the toll is one kiss.”
He glanced back at Erin. “You heard her, Madame. One smacker on the lips.”
Erin didn’t have a clue what was going on, but she loved everything he was doing. Unbuckling her seat belt, she shifted to her knees, leaned over the basket, grabbed his face, and kissed him—one smacker.
When she pulled away, he licked his lips. “For that, they should let us drive through again.” He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. Turning back to the girl at the window, he slipped her a twenty. “Thanks.”
“Enjoy your night.”
Erin had a feeling they would do just that.
As soon as they pulled away she gaped at him. “How did you do that?”
“A little bribery and planning.”
“Do you know her?”
He chuckled. “That’s a trade secret.”
“Oh, come on.”
He shot her a cheeky grin. “She’s my cousin Colin’s kid.”
Erin lifted the lid of the basket and he swatted her hand away. “No peeking.”
“Where are we going?”
“Back to your place.”
“Oh. I thought… Why did you have me get dressed up?”
“Because we’re celebrating.” He turned onto Main Street and focused on the road. “I screwed up. I shouldn’t have gotten upset about missing your birthday. I overreacted.”
He was apologizing to her? “Giovanni, it’s not your fault. I would have told you, but I didn’t want you to feel obligated to do something. We’re still new.”
He sent her a sidelong glance. “I would have done something because I wanted to. Not because of any sense of obligation.”
“My birthday’s never been a big deal.” She never even blew out candles or opened presents. It used to upset her, but now she just thought of it as another day.
“I sort of figured that out.” He turned onto her street. “My head’s been up my ass. When I realized I was being a stubborn idiot, I wanted to call, but then I realized it was Valentine’s Day, so I figured we’d do something special and I’d take you out, but everywhere I checked was booked.” He glanced at the basket. “This is the best I could come up with.”
“This is better.”
“You don’t even know what’s in the basket.”
“I don’t need to know. This is the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me on Valentine’s Day.” Or any day.
He smiled. “If we keep the bar that low, I’m gonna look real good by morning.”
When they returned to the house, he carried the basket inside and asked her to put on some music. “Something romantic,” he said as if she knew where to look for that.
She picked a station called Rat Pack Classics and connected her Bluetooth to her speakers. Sammy Davis Junior crooned and she guessed that might be considered romantic. “Is this oka—”