Courting Kate

Courting Kate: The Truth

Courting Kate: The Truth

“I can tell by the way you look at me

  You need to be mine.

  We could sit watch the stars all night

  Till they disappear into the sky

  I am yours and I know that you're mine

  You're worth waiting for,

  You're worth waiting for.” –Be My Only, FM Station

6

The maitre d’ seated them in a secluded area. They were pretty far from other diners but Giancarlo and Kate could still see them. The waiter handed them a menu as soon as they were settled but left them to choose quietly.

Kate pretended to study it but really, she was staring at Giancarlo over the menu.

“Can’t get over how handsome I am?” He grinned but kept his eyes on his own menu.

Kate wasn’t able to control her laughter. It bubbled out of her. “You are so full of yourself!”

“What do you want to eat?” He finally glanced at her. There was something in his eyes that made Kate’s heart beat faster.

She set down the menu carefully and folded her hand on the table. “Can you just choose for me?”

Surprise registered on his face. But he quickly masked it as he gestured for the waiter to come back to their table. “One Twelve-Spice Chicken Pasta. Two steaks and shrimp scampi.”

“And your wine, sir?”

“A bottle of Dom.”

When the waiter left, Giancarlo focused on her again. “I hope it’s okay that we’ll be sharing the pasta.”

She smiled. “I like eating pasta when I’m out but truth be told, I could never finish a whole plate.” She saw her smiling at her like she was a four year old kid then she got it. “But you know that already.”

He didn’t deny it. “I know a lot of things about you.”

“But how?” she asked. “I—”

“I told you, the questions are for later.”

“You have a bad habit of interrupting me,” Kate said a little too sulkily. “And for your information, you said that you will answer my questions when we eat dinner.”

He brushed a hand over his shaven jaw. “Actually, I told you that I will answer your questions after we eat dinner.”

She gaped at him. “You expect me to wait?” He nodded as if he couldn’t see any problem with the arrangement. “You arrogant pig!”

He clucked his tongue. “And here I thought you asked my name so that you could address me properly,” He murmured with a little shake of his head.

Manners dictate that she should apologize even if she knew he was just teasing but she chose to be defiant and carried on crossly, “Look, why can’t you just tell me right now what you know and be done with it? We can be out of each other’s lives if you just tell me everything—as you claim it—that I need to know.”

The waiter chose that moment to arrive with their champagne. He waited for Giancarlo’s approval before taking his leave again. Kate forced herself to remain on her seat even if all she really could think of was strangling the truth out of her dinner partner.

“Maybe I don’t want you out of my life so fast,” he twirled his glass before taking a sip. “And maybe you don’t want me out of your life either. You just don’t know it yet.”