Draft version - Russian Roulette - Family secrets

Ch. 43: Go stir a pot or something

Dinner had been good. The food delicious and their conversation had been a mixture of getting to know each other more and sensual undertones.

They had both enjoyed it a lot.

The topics had varied a lot from hobbies and movie preferences to work and comic books.

He had turned out to be a fascinating man, intelligent and knowledgeable in many topics that interested her. But what had gotten to her the most had been when they had talked about her work. He had not been intimidated by her; he had not been overwhelmed.

Many men Alyssa had dated had felt inferior or even worse tried to assert their superiority making her feel uncomfortable about what she had worked very hard to accomplish. They acted like it was luck and female guile that had made her what she was and not hard work, brains and determination.

Fallon had treated her as an equal, he had been impressed and encouraged her talking about what she did. He gave no indications that he felt what he did was better or worse than what she did, he had accepted her.

That was incredible to her.

"Cracker!" A booming voice thundered through the restaurant and a big man dressed in chefs attire came charging at their table holding what looked like their desserts.

"Here we go," Cracker mumbled and gave her a small apologetic smile before he turned his attention to the man.

"Massimo."
"Cracker." Massimo smiled placing the desserts on the table. "It's been a while. How are you? How are the boys? Haven't seen them for ages."

His twinkling brown eyes traveled from Cracker to Alyssa and his smile grew wider if possible. "Who do we have here?"
"Massimo, this is Alyssa."

Cracker rolled his eyes with a grin and winked at Alyssa hoping she would not be too confused.

"Alyssa, this is Massimo, the owner of this trashy diner."
"Trashy?" Massimo snorted.
"A pleasure to meet you, Massimo. The food was excellent."
"Oh, she actually tasted the food and didn't gobble it down like a starving hyena? I see why you're here with her and not the boys."
"She's easier on the eyes too," Cracker laughed.
"And probably smell better also." Alyssa chimed into their boyish banter.

She had no idea what boys they were talking about but could only assume they were work colleagues of Fallon's.
Alyssa laughed along with the men blushing at the nod of approval she got from Fallon. It was a pleasure to watch him smile and interact with Massimo. He did not look like somebody who smiled a lot, with her he had been all smiles and little smirks that were overly charming.

That was the Fallon she thought he was. Cheeky and relaxed with a quick reply to everything. Though she liked the thoughtful and well-mannered one this was the man she wanted if she had the choice.

He leaned back in his chair and watched Alyssa talk with Massimo about the food. How she had never known about his restaurant and how she asked questions about the menu. He wanted to slap himself for being sappy, but he could watch her for eternity, there was just something about her.

The great Cracker brought down by a 100 lbs woman.

He would be the joke of the century if the boys found out. His father would have a field day.

Inwardly he sighed.

It was their first date, he had not kissed her yet, and he was already imagining her as a constant in his life. Things were definitely moving too fast. Maybe he finally understood how Gareth felt about Mackenzie, that instant pull to somebody and no force could change that, either accept it or suffer, and Gareth had suffered.