“Felt only fitting.”
With the meetings piling up on my calendar, I knew waiting until the weekend would be best, and I knew I wanted it here. I wanted to spoil her. I sent her a green, off-the-shoulder dress that I personally picked out because I knew it would accentuate everything I like about her—her curves, the color of her eyes, and her slender shoulders. I had someone do her hair and makeup at her apartment. When I picked her up, I blindfolded her and brought her to the airport, slipping off her blindfold as we boarded the plane. I kept my eyes on her the entirety of the short flight up, happy to see her beaming with excitement. I didn’t tell her a thing until the driver pulled up to Parkside and opened the door for her.
Nothing feels more fitting than being at Parkside with her when I can finally call her mine.
“I’ve had the chef create a special menu for us. I hope that’s okay.”
She smiles—fuck, I love that smile so much. “That sounds amazing.” Then she leans in and says, “Not to put too much pressure on you, but any chance we can get some honey cake before we leave San Francisco?”
“One step ahead of you, babe.”
She tilts her head, such joy in her eyes. “You really do know how to woo a girl, don’t you?”
“Only you,” I answer just as our first course comes out.
A bowl is placed in front of each of us as well as a traditional Melamine Asian soup spoon. Then, with a cloth draped over his arm, our waiter says, “Mr. Cane, Miss Gardner, I’d like to present your first course. An Asian curried soup with sweet potatoes, chickpeas, and coconut milk, artfully seasoned with Malaysian flavors. Enjoy.”
He leaves us in the private room reserved for me and my brothers.
Whispering, Kelsey says, “I think this is the fanciest restaurant experience of my life.”
“It’s not too much, is it? Because we can go somewhere else.”
“No, not at all. I mean, I like the laid-back experience, but I also love this. I’m such a sucker for a romantic evening and this, JP, it’s . . . it’s really just beautiful.”
“You’re worth it,” I say before picking up my spoon and dipping it into my soup.
“You spoil me.”
“As you should be.”
She smirks and dips her spoon into her soup, as well. Her eyes widen and they meet mine. “Oh my God, this is amazing.”
“This is only the beginning.”
“Tell me more about your mom and Jeff. Did he help raise you?”
Kelsey shakes her head. “Not really. My dad left us when we were really young. He was a truck driver and wanted to be on the road. Mom raised us on her own. Our dad sent money, but that was about it. There was no involvement in our life. And then when I was around fourteen, my mom met Jeff. To our knowledge, he was the only boyfriend she had while we were growing up, and we didn’t even know they were dating until after six months. How she did it, I don’t know, but she was very protective of us. When we finally met Jeff, it was this big relief because we saw how happy our mom was. We immediately accepted him into our family, and he’s been a rock for us ever since.”
“That’s such a good story,” I say. “I’ve had a few conversations with him, and just from those chats, I can tell how much he treats you as his.”
“He’s the dad we never had,” Kelsey says as the waiter removes our salad plates. “There was this one night where I came home from a date in high school and I was heartbroken because the boy I went out with said I was a bad kisser. I knew that wasn’t right because I’d practiced on my hand several times.” She winks and I laugh out loud. Of course she did. “Jeff was very quiet, and when my mom took me to my room to console me, Jeff left the house.”
“Oh shit, what did he do?”
“Never told me. All I know is that the next day, Skylar—the guy I went out with—gave me an apology card and told me it was him who was the bad kisser, not me.”
“That’s my kind of man. I hope he scared the absolute shit out of Skylar.”
“I’m pretty sure he did.”
I lean closer to her and say, “And for the record, you’re easily the best kisser I’ve ever had.”
“Same.” She winks.
Kelsey presses her hand to her stomach and says, “Okay . . . hands down the best dim sum ever.”
“Told you.” I dab my mouth with my napkin. “Nothing tops it.”
“And those Szechwan noodles changed my life.”