Free Dirty White Candy, Ultimate Vacation, Book 2 by Anita Cox

“Hope you’re hungry.”
    “I’m starving, actually.   John this all looks wonderful.”   I sat down while John poured the wine.
    “Dig in,” he said smiling.
    I cut the first piece of steak and took a bite.   The juices and wonderful tastes filled my mouth and I groaned.
    “Oh my god,” I said with my mouth still full, “this is the best steak of my life.”
    “Glad you like it.   Now eat your broccoli, it’s good for you.”
    I looked at him and stopped chewing.
    “What?” he said laughing.   “You didn’t think I knew you hated broccoli?   Trust me, you’ll like it.   It’s steamed and dressed with a light warm vinaigrette.”
    How did he know that?   It’s not like I complained about broccoli.   I swallowed my steak and pierced a piece of broccoli with my fork.   Slowly, I put it in my mouth.   Surprisingly, the taste was wonderful.   The warm vinaigrette had taken the pungent taste away that I didn’t like about cooked broccoli.
    “You just have to know how to make it,”   he said before sipping at his wine.
    I was in awe of this man.  
    “So, I was thinking, if you worked for your dad since you were a kid, certainly, you didn’t work as a cook.   How did you learn to cook like this?”
    John put his fork down and stared at me.   His brow was furrowed, but   his lips were turned up slightly.   I could not tell if I’d made him angry, uncomfortable or what he was feeling.
    “What’s with the fifty questions tonight?”
    Guilt.   I had just been hit with an incredible wave of guilt.   The more John knew about me and the less I knew about him the worse I felt, but at the same time, I was trying to cram all the information in one night.
    “I’m sorry, am I making you uncomfortable?”   My heart was in my throat.
    He just sat there staring at me.
    “John?”
    Still no words came out of his mouth.
    “John?   Aren’t you going to speak?”
    “Not until you answer my question.   Why are you asking me so many questions.   First the records, now my work history.   What’s the deal?”
    I looked down at the table, not wanting to admit that I had failed miserably at getting to know more about John.
    I answered at a near mumble, “you know me more than I know you.   I’m ashamed that I have been so self-absorbed.”
    John snickered.   “Are you kidding me?”  
    “What?”   All the oxygen had left my body.   I couldn’t breathe.   Was he mad?   Did I make an ass out of myself?
    “Candy, when I met you, you were in the beginning of discovering yourself.   Of course I’ve had more time to focus on you… because you’ve been focusing on who you are and what you want rather than getting to know every aspect of my life.   It’s okay.   We have plenty of time to get to know about each other.”
    Oxygen finally came back to my lungs as I took a deep breath in.
    “After my father died, I didn’t want to work on houses.   I was mourning him.   We were so close and his death was very difficult for me to accept.   So I watched a lot of television and was addicted to the Food channel.   I started buying huge amounts of food, more than I would eat, and cooked whatever I saw on the shows I watched.   I would record them, go to the store to buy what I needed, come back and make what was on the show.   Cooking became very fun and therapeutic for me.”
    How endearing. He lost his daddy and it took him some time to recover.   My heart melted.
    “Dinner is wonderful.   Thank you.”
    “Thank you for staying.   I was very happy to wake up with you in my bed.   Dinner and a movie, maybe some popcorn later… I can see why girls like slumber parties.”   He winked at me.
    We finished with dinner and put the dishes in the dishwasher.   I gave my house keys to John and he ran to my apartment to grab my laptop bag.   When he returned, I set everything up and we scrolled through movies before we settled on a romantic comedy.
    “No gore, no horror, good old