Read Forgiven for Free Online

“It is, indeed.”
    The girl barely glances at Gabby then back to me, which just irritates the hell out of me. “Would either of you like any freshly grated Parmesan cheese?”
    I defer to Gabby in an effort to make this girl leave me alone. “Gabby Girl?” I can’t help but playfully wink at her. She knows what I’m doing.
    This lights up my girl’s face for the first time since the talk of the baby. She never takes her gaze off of mine. “Yes, please.”
    “We’d both like some, please.”
    I grin at Gabby.
    Gabby finally tells her she’s given her enough, but not before the girl was probably thinking her arm was about to fall off.
    When she starts on mine, she says, “Just tell me when, okay?”
    I smile. “I like a lot, too.”
    At this point, I can tell the girl is ready to get away from us just as much as we’re ready for her to leave. She’s grinding that damn cheese as fast as she can. It makes me chuckle. “That’s good.”
    She plasters a fake smile and gathers her things to leave.
    Gabby tilts her head to the side. “That was fun.”
    I laugh. “Yeah, she needed to be put in her place. She was here to do a job, and that wasn’t to flirt with me.” I pick up my fork back up and take a bite of my piping hot food. It’s delicious. “Want some?” I hold up the next bite to her.
    She leans across the table and opens her mouth with a smile. Ah, this feels good. I think I’ll just enjoy dinner until she brings it up again, or better yet, maybe I’ll change the subject to something that I know will make her happy.
    She moans as she chews the bite and covers her full mouth with her hand. Her eyes widen. “That is so good. I’m getting that next time.”
    “Ha, you want it? I’ll eat yours.”
    “No. I’ll share, though, if you’ll share.”
    “Deal.” We put the plates in the center of the table and take turns eating off of each other’s plates.
    “So...” I take a bite. “I was thinking we could talk dates.”
    She wipes her mouth and takes a sip of her drink. “Dates?” she asks as her brows furrow.
    “Yes, dates.” I cock my head. She’s so cute when it takes her a minute to get obvious stuff like this.
    Her eyes get big and she bursts out laughing. “Oh! Dates!”
    I shake my head, then give her a playful sideways smirk. I nod. “Dates.”
    “Tomorrow?” She giggles, and I raise my eyebrow. We’ve had this conversation. It’s tempting. “Kidding!” she gushes.
    “When is your semester over?”
    “End of April.”
    “Would it stress you out too much to have it the second weekend in May?”
    She smiles. “No, I don’t think so. Why the second weekend in May?”
    I’m not sure how she will react to this, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot. I can’t think of a better way to honor her mother than to get married the day before Mother’s Day. “It’s Mother’s Day weekend.”
    “Oh.” She looks down. “I should have known that.”
    “No. I just figured...” Hell, here we go again. I toss my napkin down. I’m done anyway. I reach across the table and pull her chin up so she’s looking at me. “I figured...that we’d take a weekend that I’m guessing usually sucks for you and make it a happy one.”
    A small smile forms. “I didn’t think about it that way.”
    I let go of her chin and pick up her hand and bring it to my lips. “What do you say? Do we have a date?”
    “We have a date.” She lets go and does her little cheerleader clappy thing that is so adorable and laughs. “We have a date!”
    When the server comes back to the table I let her know that we need the check and a couple of boxes. All I want to do is get home, and fast. I lean over the table and pull her lips into a quick kiss. “Love you, Gabby Girl.”
    She beams. That’s good enough for me. “Love you.”

We got separated at a light so Bradley beat me home. I hate that we had to take two cars, but I am thankful for some time alone to reflect on the information he gave me at