Edible Delectables (7 page)

~*~

The following day at work was pretty much the norm of late.  While the staff members were slowly coming back, things continued to be intense as the patients continued to show up in a never-ending stream.  Before he knew it, Jason had skipped lunch and his stomach was voicing its complaint.  Loudly.  After discharging his last patient with directions to rest and stay hydrated, he made his way to the cafeteria.  Grabbing a sandwich and a can of soda, he found a quiet corner and enjoyed the few minutes of peace he would get until the end of his shift.  Thinking of Kara and his promise to call today, he began going over ideas on how to ask her out.  She had already said she didn’t feel their current relationship, for lack of a better word, was inappropriate, and he felt confident she would agree to dinner with him.  So confident in fact, he decided to go ahead and call for reservations; he could always cancel if she said no. 
Please don’t let her say no
.  After securing a table for two at a nice restaurant, he scrolled his phone book to Kara’s number, pausing briefly before hitting the call button.

He listened anxiously as the phone rang, beginning to worry over what he should say if he had to leave a message.  Should he ask her out over voicemail?  Thankfully, she answered before he had the chance to over-think the entire scenario.

“Hello?” Kara’s soft voice drifted through Jason, calming him immediately.

“Hi, Kara, it’s Jason.”

“Hey, how are you?  Busy day?”

“Terribly.  I can’t wait for my ER rotation to be over, this place is insane,” Jason chuckled.

“Maybe you should have gone into podiatry,” Kara giggled.

“No way, I’d still have an ER rotation, only then, afterward, I’d be stuck looking at feet all day.”  He laughed easily when he heard Kara snort on the other end.  Now was the time; he cleared his throat, “Would you like to go to dinner with me?” he asked.  “Tonight?” he amended.

There was a pause before she answered, “I’d love to.  What time?”

“I’ll pick you up at seven thirty.”  Jason couldn’t stop the enormous grin that spread across his face. 

“Sounds good.  Um, I’ll text you directions, is that okay?” she asked.

“Perfect.”

Later that evening Jason stood in front of his closet, showered and anxious.  He skimmed through the shirts in front of him, touching each; he pulled one out only to replace it with another moments later.  Jason was taking Kara to dinner and he had no idea what to wear.  He was officially a woman.  He huffed at the thought that next he’d be checking out his butt in the mirror, wondering if his pants made it look too big.  He walked to his bedside table and grabbed his cell phone, pausing for just a moment to take in the ramifications of what he was about to do, then quickly pressed the number three pre-set before he could change his mind.

"What's up little brother?" Jaime answered on the second ring.

Jason paused for a second, squinted his eyes, and blew out a deep breath.  "I need your help," he replied, ignoring the younger brother statement.  She was seven minutes older than him, which didn't exactly qualify him as younger in his book.

"With?"  He could hear her chewing in the background and looked at his watch.  It was six forty five, he had exactly forty five minutes to get dressed and drive over to Kara's or he would be late.

"I have a date.”  Pause.  “And I don't know what to wear." He struggled to get the last part out.

He could hear her snort through the phone and the subsequent choking of whatever she was eating as it went down the wrong pipe. 
Serves her right
.  He smiled.

"Seriously?"

"Yes, Jaime, I'm serious."

"Wear the long sleeve navy blue knit shirt with black jeans and your Docs.  You look hot in those and less like an uptight, pretentious, doctor."

"I'm not uptight, or pretentious," he defended himself.

"That's why I told you to wear the shirt I got you for your birthday with the black jeans and Docs.  I know you're not either of those, but when you dress like a middle-aged pediatrician in pressed khakis and a tie, you come off as slightly pretentious.  On a date that is.  Go get dressed," Jaime ordered, then continued, "and call me later.  I want details."

"Yeah," Jason sighed and hung up.  “Middle-aged…” he mumbled.  “We’re the same age!” He exclaimed, then snorted as a thought came to him, “Ha!  According to her I’m the younger one.”  He shook his head at the conversation he had with himself and tossed the phone on his bed.  He’d think of a way to point that fact out to her in the near future.

He grabbed the shirt out of his closet, then pulled boxers and his jeans from his dresser and quickly got dressed.  He looked himself over in the mirror and had to concede his sister was right; he looked good.  Staring at his reflection he tried to tame his hair, which was always a little unruly, especially when he was due for a haircut.  He grabbed some styling goo and messed with it, still not having much luck but decided he didn't have enough time to keep messing with it.  Nodding at his image in the mirror he left the bathroom, shutting off the light behind him and heading out to the living room to grab his keys off the kitchen bar.  A quick look at his watch told him he had thirty minutes left and he breathed a sigh of relief.  He had plenty of time to get to Kara's.  Knowing how his schedule had been of late, even without the overwhelming flu epidemic wreaking havoc, he knew that in the future there would be plenty of instances when he'd be late, or even have to cancel altogether, but not tonight.  Not on their first date.  He was determined to make a good impression, but more he was determined to get to know the woman; the woman that the girl he'd watched in high school had turned out to be.

The drive to Kara's was only about fifteen minutes, and he walked up to her door at exactly seven thirty on the dot, and knocked twice without hesitation.  A minute later Kara opened the door.  She was a vision, and almost took his breath away.  She was dressed casually in soft jeans that fit her curves perfectly, with a soft hunter-green button down v-neck sweater.

Jason couldn't help the smile that split his face upon seeing her.  She really was beautiful.  Even back in high school she had been pretty, but now, now she was ...
perfect
?  His mind raced with a whirlwind of emotions.  This was happening so fast.  All he wanted was to take her in his arms and kiss her.  Did he really have to wait until after their date? Couldn't a first kiss happen at the beginning? 
Who made those rules anyway?!
  Kara stood in front of him holding the door, seeming to be in the same immobile state he was, as she looked him over.  He was pretty sure the attraction was definitely mutual and that thought widened his grin.  He watched as the blush ran up her cheeks when she realized she was staring, then dropped her gaze and opened the door wider, motioning him in.

He crossed the threshold and looked around briefly.

"Are you ready?" he asked turning to her as she closed the door.

"Yeah, just let me grab my jacket."  She smiled, almost shyly, while she tucked her hair behind her ear and eased past him, her body so close to his that he could feel her body heat.

He watched as she grabbed her coat and purse and walked back over to him.  "Okay, I'm ready."  She smiled as he opened her door for her and followed her back outside.  He stood to the side as she locked the door and then guided her back to his car with his hand on the small of her back.

Jason noticed she seemed as nervous as he felt as they made their way to the restaurant, and the drive was relatively quiet.  He had the radio on with his mp3 player on the dock.  "Do you mind if I look?" she asked, motioning to it.

"No, not at all, be my guest."  He smiled, returning the motion toward the player in response.  Kara lifted it out and scrolled through his music.  Jason's taste in music varied, and he believed he had a fairly good collection.  He couldn't help but glace at her out of the corner of his eye as they drove, watching her look through it.

"You've got a lot of stuff on here," she commented, then she busted out laughing.  "TLC? Really?"

Jason blushed at his guilty pleasure and laughed in response.  "That was their best album!"  Kara just nodded and smiled as she returned to his music.  She selected a Jack Johnson song and put it back on the docking station.  Jason looked over at her and smiled in approval.

It took about twenty minutes to get to the restaurant, a place on Lake Travis.  They had missed the sunset, but the moon was full and the sky was clear; with the heaters the restaurant would supply, it would be lovely outside and quite romantic.  Or at least he hoped she would think it was.

"I've always wanted to come here!"  Kara sounded surprised and excited by their destination, and Jason was pleased.

He parked the car, then got out and walked around, ready to open her door, but she had already begun to get out.  Instead he held out his hand which, she took graciously, though she seemed surprised.  He closed the door behind her and once again placed his hand on her lower back as they made their way to the front door.

~*~

He was perfect; absolutely perfect.  Seriously, if Kara could make a list of everything she found attractive in a guy, Jason would pop up on the page as the personification. 
How in the hell did this happen?
  Kara wasn't this lucky.  Hell, she hardly ever dated; how is it that the first date she has in over four months was with her perfect guy?

First of all, when she opened the door?  Holy Mother Mary, is fuckhot a word?  Because that's what popped into her head at the sight of him.  Jason was, gah.  She had no words other than
fuckhot
.  There he stood in front of her, dressed casually and yet still looking fashionable.  He could pass for a freaking GQ model.  His cotton shirt fit just snugly enough to give a hint of the toned body underneath.  And those jeans - they looked tailored to his body!  The man had to work out daily.  And then there were the Doc Martins.  This evening he looked more like the boy she knew in high school than the doctor she just met.  She couldn't help but stare in shock, with memory overload, grateful her mouth didn't unhinge and drop open on its own accord.

When they walked to the car - actually when they walked anywhere - he always had his hand on her, guiding her gently in a protective manor; it made her heart beat pick up and her skin warm.  She wasn't used to guys treating her this way; apparently she needed to raise her expectations.  After tonight, Kara was sure she would be spoiled by Jason's gentlemanly attention.

There was something about his touch, something warm and comfortable.  He felt like home. 
Getting ahead of yourself aren’t you?
  Kara tried to distract herself from those thoughts in the car by perusing his music collection.  She was pleased to find for the most part they had surprisingly similar taste in music.  Jason had quite the eclectic selection and there was some stuff he had on there she didn't recognize, but from the rest she imagined she would like it herself.  She settled on Jack Johnson, as it seemed the perfect tone for a first date: comfortable but not too romantic or too loud.

When he smiled in approval of her song choice they finished the ride to the restaurant comfortably.  After they arrived, Kara opened the door and began to get out as Jason reached down and held out his hand to help her.  It was probably the single most romantic thing any man had ever done for her.  When her hand slipped into his and their eyes met, each with a  small smile on their face, she felt the warmth all over.  It was like a blanket covered her in his presence.  A warm, soft, delicious, snuggly blanket Kara was quickly becoming attached to.

She suddenly had the overwhelming urge to kiss him but managed to keep her desire in check, and mentally chastised her internal teenage hormones.  Seriously, she was going to end up scaring him off with the vibrations of her mental yearning.

It was then that she noticed where they were, Beau Lac.  She had always wanted to come here, but had never had the opportunity, or the excuse to spend the money.  As they made their way to the front door he once again walked close to her, and while she liked having his hand on her lower back, she imagined his arm around her shoulder with her snuggled into his side, and shivered longingly at the idea.

Jason gave his name to the hostess and after a few moments they were being led to a table for two outside.  The air was cool, but there was a space heater placed nearby that made their arrangement comfortable.  He pulled out Kara's chair, surprising her slightly as they smiled at one another.  Their hostess smiled politely and handed Jason the wine list menu, giving them their waiter’s name for further assistance before leaving them and returning to her station.

After he took his seat Jason looked over the wine list and asked Kara if there were anything she’d like to try.

"I actually don't drink wine.  There was an unfortunate incident when I was twelve," Kara answered mischievously.

"I think I'm going to need to hear this," Jason laughed.

Their waiter came to the table and asked if he could get them anything from the bar.  Knowing they wouldn't be ordering a bottle of wine, Jason looked up at Kara questioningly, "Anything else you'd like?"

"A Bloody Mary?"  Kara looked to Jason, her answer coming out more like a question.

"We’d like a Bloody Mary and a Margarita, frozen, no salt please," Jason answered, turning to the waiter and handing him the wine list menu.

"Oh wait, that actually sounds better, I'll have the same, frozen, no salt," Kara amended, smiling at the waiter.

"So you like Bloody Marys and Margaritas, but not wine," Jason pointed out conversationally.  "What’s the story with the wine?"

Kara gave a small, embarrassed laugh, "Well, as I said, I was twelve.  I had a friend come over to stay the night while my parents were gone for the evening…"

"Boy or girl?" Jason interrupted.

Kara looked at him questioning.

"Your friend, was it a boyfriend?" Jason inquired, staring intently.  Kara felt a slight blush grow.