Read Burning for You (Blackwater) for Free Online Page B

hear my mother shout, but I keep walking away from
her.
    *
    I have no idea whether Gabe will
take me someplace nice or casual, so it takes me almost an hour to get ready. 
I didn’t take most of my wardrobe with me but I manage to piece together a
beige v-neck cashmere sweater and find a matching wool skirt in my closet which
still fits me.  I brought a pair of sage green tights and a pair of brown
leather knee-high boots with two inch heels, both of which complement my
makeshift date outfit.  I pull my hair away from my face and wind it into a
figure eight knot in back and put fresh eye makeup on and a touch of pale apricot
lipstick.  I love fall clothes more than any other season and I’m pleased with
my own reflection by the time my transformation is complete.  I’m pretty
nervous.  I haven’t been on a date since I dated Michael and that was almost
five years ago.  I’m not sure what to expect at all, though I’m pretty sure we
won’t be coming back to my mother’s house if things get hot and heavy. 
    I haven’t told my mother about
Gabe, so when the doorbell rings, I breeze past her and her astonished
expression and open the door.  Gabe is standing there, dressed in dark jeans, a
crisp white button down shirt and a black blazer.  His chin length hair is
slicked back from his long face, accentuating his sharp features.  His eyes
that looked almost yellow this afternoon, look darker and more of a calm hazel
this evening.  “Leah, who is it?” my mother says, coming up behind me.  When
she sees Gabe, she gasps and steps back.  I turn and look at her, watching her
back up slowly, her eyes wide and focused on Gabe.
    “Hello, Mrs. Holt,” Gabe says. 
“Hello Leah.  Are you ready to go?”
    “Yes,” I say, turning back toward
him, and then looking again at my mother.  She looks almost paralyzed with
fear.  “Mother, are you alright?” I ask her. 
    Her eyes never leave Gabe, but she
shakes her head and inhales deeply.  “Leah, I...don’t stay out too late,” she
finally says.  She turns and walks out of the hallway, up the stairs.  What was
that about?  I roll my eyes, thinking about how her comment almost seems as
though I’m a teenager under her wing once again.  I shrug and put on a brown
leather short riding jacket and grab my purple purse, which doesn’t match, but
I’m too lazy to take everything out of it and attempt to mash it into a smaller
purse.
    “Shall we go?” Gabe asks me,
bending his arm, indicating I should put mine through.  I comply with a smile,
finding the gesture old fashioned but slightly charming.  He walks me down the
path toward his car, which is a white BMW sedan.  He opens the passenger door
for me and I step in, putting my purse down on the floor.  Once I’m seated and
buckled, I look at the house and see my mother looking at us from the second
story hallway window.  I can’t read the expression on her face, but she doesn’t
look pleased.  Likely she wants me to go back to Michael, since she can’t seem
to stress that enough.  If I have any ties to Blackwater, like Gabe, she’ll be
stuck with me, and she can’t have that.  We mutually annoy each other.
    “Where are we headed?” I ask Gabe. 
My stomach rumbles, telling me that whatever he has planned, it had better
involve food.
    “I thought we could go to dinner at
Chez George on Ruby,” he says.  While Emerald and Center is technically the
center of Blackwater, Ruby Street is where all of the good restaurants and
shops are located.  I’ve never been to Chez George, but I remember my parents
would go there for anniversaries and special occasions.  It’s a romantic French
restaurant that I would never have splurged for in my teen years on a date with
Drew Laurent or with friends, but hearing Gabe say he’s taking me there makes
me feel all grown up.  Gabe looks at me.  “Or would you rather go someplace
else?”
    “Chez George sounds great,” I tell
him.  “I’ve never