Chapter 5: The Fucking Bradford

JAMIE

I was smiling as I looked across the dinner table at Ryan.

Things were going well between us, at least in my opinion. But he seemed to be enjoying himself too.

Such a nice guy, and actually making an effort to get to know me. That isn’t the case with every man.

“I had no idea you were a vegetarian. I’ve always wanted to be one but I’ve never had the willpower to turn down a good steak.” He chuckled.

“Well, for me it wasn’t hard. I’ve been a vegetarian since I was sixteen. It all started with a bet actually…”

I found myself opening up to him naturally. I didn’t even have to think about what to say next. The conversation just flowed.

He raised an eyebrow at me. “A bet? This I have to hear.”

He sat, arms folded on the table, waiting for me to start.

“It started with my dad thinking he was smart, betting I couldn’t last a week without eating meat.”

I picked up my wineglass.

“Obviously he didn’t think I would last, but I’ve kept it going ten years.”

“I’m impressed. You showed him.” Ryan extended his beer bottle forward and tapped it off my glass. “Cheers to you for holding strong on that one!”

“I wanted to prove him wrong. I think he knows not to mess with me now.”

I sipped from my glass and set it back down.

We eyed up the desserts as our waitress placed them down. He was staring at the brownie in front of me. I laughed.

“Do you want to try some?” I teased.

“If you don’t mind—that looks too fantastic to pass up. I’ve always been a sucker for this cheesecake, though, it’s the only thing I order.”

Ryan leaned forward, took some brownie off my fork, and moaned in delight.

“It’s good, right?” I asked.

The look of satisfaction on his face…

~He’s so cute!~

Some women might find a predictable guy to be boring, but I liked that he was predictable.

Especially since he was nice.

“That chocolate sauce and whipped cream just topped it off!” Ryan moved his plate across the table. “Try mine.”

I dug my fork into the strawberry cheesecake. It tasted good but just wasn’t my cup of tea.

It was no chocolate brownie that’s for sure.

“Jamie!”

The sound of my name sent a cold panic through me. Mr. Knight was walking toward us, looking very surprised to see me at the same restaurant.

I stood from my chair, I don’t know why. “Mr. Knight!”

My cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. I was really hoping to have dinner and leave without him seeing me.

“Funny I should see you here. My dinner meeting will be just over there.” He gestured over to an empty table, then glanced down at our half-eaten desserts.

“I didn’t know we were coming here.”

~He knows we’re on a date, and he decided to approach us anyway.~

“Ryan, uh, this is my boss, Mr. Knight.”

Ryan, being the mannerly guy he was, stood from his chair and shook Mr. Knight’s hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Knight.”

“Oh, no need for formalities. Call me Mason. Jamie is just so professional—I think she likes the name.”

~What the hell is wrong with this man? Unbelievably arrogant!~

Then I looked in Ryan’s direction as he had started to cough. Like really cough.

His face was red and blotchy, and he was wheezing.

Uh-oh.

“Ryan? Are you okay?”

“Nuts,” he wheezed. “Were there nuts in that brownie?”

He opened the top two buttons of his plaid shirt.

~Oh my God, he has a nut allergy!~

I panicked, thinking about the worst possible outcomes. I’d never had allergies myself, but I knew the signs.

Ryan scratched his face aggressively.

“I need you to take me to the emergency room, Jamie.”

~Crap, I’ve been drinking!~

“Um—hang on, I’ll call an ambulance—”

“I can give you a lift,” Mr. Knight cut in. “Mr. Henderson hasn’t shown yet, I’ll call and tell him something came up.”

I didn’t want to take a lift off him, but I didn’t really have a choice. It was nice of him to offer.

“Thank you, Mr. Knight,” I said as I grabbed our things.

***

An hour later, I was pacing the waiting room floor, worried sick about Ryan.

By the time we’d arrived, he was swollen up like he had been stung by several bees. I’d never witnessed anything like it.

I was scared.

“Stop pacing, it’s not going to help the situation,” Mason said from his plastic chair by the wall.

I didn’t understand why he was still here, why he hadn’t just left after his driver had dropped us off.

“I can’t help it. It’s my fault he’s here in the first place. I gave him that brownie.”

I paced some more in my five-inch ankle-strap heels. That was one way of getting my steps in.

Mr. Knight released an audible sigh.

“How could it be your fault when you didn’t even know he was allergic? If anything, it’s his fault for not knowing the ingredients of the food he was eating. He has a pretty severe allergy to nuts; he should be more careful.”

Even if he was right, I was beating myself up over it. Maybe Ryan should have said something before he ate it, but it was still my brownie.

I gave in and decided to rest in the chair right beside Mr. Knight. It was a bit weird being around him outside the office setting.

“You don’t have to wait with me. You can leave if you want to. I’m sure you have important things to do.”

Like pick up a stray before midnight.

“You work for me, Jamie. I want to make sure you have a way home.”

“There’s nothing like an allergy to ruin a first date,” I quipped. “I would have expected myself to ruin the date; I’m so accident-prone.”

“Yeah, I’m starting to see that,” he quipped back.

We looked up as a nurse walked into the room.

“The patient is doing well. He’s asking for you, Miss Harris.”

She smiled and indicated for me to follow her.

I stood from my chair, thinking about my next words carefully as I walked toward the door. Then I turned and looked at him.

“Thank you, Mr. Knight. You didn’t have to help us like you did. We can find our own way back.”

I walked to Ryan’s room, feeling anxious about seeing him. What if he blamed me for the brownie?

I stood at the blue curtain and peered in to where he was propped up on a bunch of pillows.

“Hey, you.”

Ryan lifted his head. He was looking a lot less blotchy now.

“Hey, Jamie. Come on in. It’s good to see my hero.”

I walked over and sat down beside him.

“Hero. Hah. I don’t know about that. I was the one that let you eat that brownie.”

“Well, I should have checked it didn’t have nuts. That’s my responsibility. I guess I got caught up in the moment. Things got a bit nutty back there, didn’t they?”

I raised my eyebrows at his joke.

“Oh, you can joke about this? My heart rate has just returned to a normal pace, and you’re joking?”

But I was grinning.

“Sorry—I’m sorry I scared you, Jamie. I was really hoping our first date would end with a kiss.”

He reached out and took my hand in his.

“Who says it can’t?” I answered.

I really liked this guy, enough to kiss him and enough to go on a second date.

“Well, all right, then.”

Ryan sat up in bed and leaned toward me, placing a hand on my cheek and pressing his lips to my cheek.

A very lovely, sweet kiss.