Money Trail

Chapter 24: James Duke

Chapter 24: James Duke

“This is a lovely restaurant, Warren.” Brooklyn smiled at him shyly over the rim of her wineglass. It was still early in the day but the restaurant was in shadows from the heavily overcast sky just outside the windows. Most of the light was from the candles placed in the center of all the tables.

Brooklyn and Warren had decided to spend all of Christmas Eve together, tomorrow they would each visit their respective families but today they were enjoying each others company. It was lunch and the start to their day together. After this, they would catch a movie, visit pretty much anywhere that wasn't closed, and in general just spend time together until dinner.

Dinner that Warren had gone through a great deal of trouble to ensure was just right. This was their first date, the first time they had met face to face since they had actually met, and he wanted to make it perfect for her.

“Thanks.” Warren smiled, taking a moment to take a sip of his own wine, hoping to wet his dry mouth. “Jack made the reservation for me. He's a good guy like that.”

Reminding himself not to babble, Warren cut himself off before he could as he looked down at his grilled salmon and cut off a piece. They had already been there for a while, Brooklyn's sea food pasta was already half gone, but Warren just couldn't eat. His stomach was all in knots, he was kind of lightheaded, he kept fumbling for things. And every time he looked at Brooklyn's pretty face, a storm of butterflies erupted in his gut making it all that much worse.

If she noticed, Brooklyn wasn't mentioning it. She looked so calm and composed and lovely, it made Warren feel all that more bumbling and clumsy. Everything about her was composed and calm, from the simple and classic black dress to each hair on her head being perfectly in place. She moved with fluid grace, each move purposeful and no energy wasted. Simple, but lovely and perfect in that simplicity. And with every move she made, she threw Warren even more off balance.

It didn't help that Warren was a big bear of a man and, especially in his view, Brooklyn was so tiny. It was their first date, Warren wanted to do it right. But it seemed the harder he tried, the more he fumbled and felt like a stupid adolescent all over again. She deserved better than that. He had to prove himself as strong and capable, the kind of man a woman could depend on but not the kind that forced her to depend on him. How to convey that over salmon and pasta without looking like a total tool?

“How is work coming?” she asked, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. He hadn't remembered her wearing glasses the last time they had met face to face. Would it be rude to bring it up? Or maybe it would be more so to ignore it. Or maybe she had already been insulted that he hadn't brought it up and doing so now would just make him look foolish.

And how he wished he could feel even a little bit confidant around her. She was all of five foot nothing, she shouldn't scare him like this.

“Great.” Warren smiled. Work was easy enough to chit chat about, right? “Me and Josh have the night off.”

“I thought you were Josh's bodyguard.” she said, making it sound more like a question.

“Don't worry.” Warren assured her. “I left him at MCRC. No one is stupid enough to go there to get him themselves. He'll be fine for one night. Besides, it's almost Christmas. Surely, even bad guys are celebrating by taking a few days off.”

“I don't think it works like that.” Brooklyn said skeptically.

Warren became terrified that he had put his foot in his mouth. She was a logical person, things like that wouldn't appeal to her at all. Of course crime didn't rest on holidays, the same way crime fighters didn't rest on holidays. He had just sounded like a fool. He was making an enormous idiot of himself, he was screwing everything up. What was wrong with him?