Free Cash (Hawthorne Brothers Romance) by M.L. Young

little more wine before the waitress brought out our meals and set them down in front of us. “We have mahi-mahi with a yogurt dill sauce, wild rice, and roasted vegetables for you tonight. If you need anything at all, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
    “This looks beautiful,” I said, taking out my phone.
    “One of those girls, huh?” he asked jokingly.
    “No! At least not all the time,” I said, smiling. I snapped a picture of the food, keeping it more for myself than for Instagram, and put my phone away before picking up my silverware.
    The fish was so smooth and buttery, the dill sauce drizzling down the side once I made a cut. My mouth watered, the bread not holding me steady, before I took a bite and felt it melt in my mouth. I closed my eyes, chewing slowly to savor as much of this moment as I could. All I could hear was the waves crashing and light violin music from the patio. “Good?” he asked.
    “Orgasmic,” I mumbled, cutting another piece.
    “That’s a pretty strong word,” he said, laughing.
    “It doesn’t compare with the ones you gave me, but it’s a close second,” I said, pouring another glass of wine.
    “Good to know,” he said, grinning.
    I ate slowly, trying to remember every bite, as Cash talked and I mostly listened. “I talked about you today,” he said out of the blue.
    “Oh, you did? To who?” I asked, curious.
    “Well, not about you I guess, but about going out tonight with a woman. I told my makeup artist. She’s like the resident mother on set,” he said.
    “So you didn’t really talk about me in particular then?” I asked.
    “Well, I didn’t say your name, I don’t think, but she knew I was going out with you,” he said.
    “When do you say my name?” I asked as the alcohol took over.
    “I don’t follow,” he said.
    “Well, this is our second date and all, right? What kind of a guy are you when it comes to officialness? Five dates? Ten? Three months seeing one another?” I asked, taking my final bite.
    “I suppose it depends on the woman. Are you asking because you’re interested, or just curious?” he asked.
    I looked at the sand, thinking, as I realized in my buzzed state that I’d said too much. I was putting myself out there, which I didn’t like, at least to this extent, and I needed to try to save face before it was too late and I screwed everything up.
    “Just curious, I suppose,” I said, smiling.
    “Oh, okay, well I guess it just depends on the rapport I have with the woman and if she can assimilate into my life and the hectic and crazy nature of it. If you’re subtly asking about you, I like you, and I think we’re heading in that direction, if that’s what you want to hear,” he said.
    I could feel my cheeks warming up as I brushed my bare foot against the sand-covered wood below and cleared my throat. “That’s very good to know,” I said, smiling.
    He smiled back before dessert was brought, a chocolate soufflé paired with fresh berries and whipped cream. Even though I was full of bread and fish, I couldn’t help myself and I took a big bite, the raspberries and blueberries bursting in my mouth while the soft chocolate rolled around my tongue and slid effortlessly down my throat.
    “Wow,” I said, excited.
    “Their desserts are the best, aren’t they?” he asked.
    “You’ve been here before?” I asked.
    “With my parents when they visited last. I promise it wasn’t this romantic,” he said, laughing.
    “I’d hope not. I was wondering if I was going to have to ask you just how close you were with them,” I said.
    We finished off our dessert and walked along the beach as the cold Pacific water occasionally rolled over our feet and curled my toes in. Cash had his arm around me, mine around his waist, as we wandered with nowhere to go. An hour passed, and as he looked at his watch, the gold band shimmering beneath the stars, he said we should get going before it got too late.
    I still had no clue if he was taking me