"You're making me self-conscious watching me eat," she tells me without looking up.
"Sorry River." I look down at my food. As good as it was I have been only picking at it for the last few minutes. Distracted a bit maybe.
"Why?"
I look up from the plate to see her smiling at me.
"Why what?" I ask grinning at her.
"Why are you sorry? I didn't ask you to stop." She grins at me.
Laughing I go back to watching her.
The soft flickering light from the candles make her eyes glow like blue jewels in the slight shadows under her eyebrows. Her lips sit like a pouty red ribbon then part to reveal her wicked smile. She blushes slightly under my gaze.
"You are so very beautiful," I tell her in a near whisper.
She colors even more but smiles at the compliment.
"Thank you." I see her eyes glance up at me then drop from my face to her plate. Then they come back up to my face and she smiles. "Thank you for this night. I've never felt less like a little girl and more like a woman than tonight." She lays her fork down on the napkin and sits back from the table. "This has got to be the best birthday present I've ever gotten."
I lift my glass to her. "I'll have to figure out a way to do better for next year."
I look up as our waiter reappears. At our gesture, she silently takes away the plates. As she's refilling our drinks, I look around at the other patrons. They like us sit in private pools of candlelight. As if in islands of shadow we are all in our own little worlds of love. At the table farthest from us, I see a familiar face watching from behind a candle. When my eyes catch his, he gives me a wink, a pull of the brim of his flat cap then leaning forward blows out his candle.
I look back to River.
"This place is incredible." River reaches across the table towards my hand. I slide it across the white cloth till our fingers meet.
"I hoped you would like it," I say softly, absently playing with her fingers. Brushing them lightly. After a second the tickling gets to her, and she lightly pops my hand.
Sitting back she looks around the room then shakes her head.
"I'm not worth all of this. This is costing you a fortune. You could have taken me somewhere much cheaper. I ...."
"You are more than worth it," I interrupt her. "I would have paid twice what this meal has cost just to sit here and look into your eyes," I tell her with a near fierce tone coming into my voice.
She smiles.
"Now you're just being silly." She looks down at her glass, her fingers playing in the condensation. "What do you want from me?" She glances back up at me. "I love you, I love you dearly, but I can already see the problems this is going to cause. Most of the relatives think even this date is inappropriate. Mom's okay with it. Dad hasn't really given an opinion. I don't think Jeff approves."
"I don't really care if my Dad approves or not. I haven't had any say in his choices in women. I'll be damned if I'll let him have any say in mine." I tell her perhaps a little stronger than I meant too. I still have some very bitter feelings towards Jeff.
"Is that what I am?" she asks smiling. "Your woman?" she laughs.
"What?"
"Sounds like you want to drag me off to a cave somewhere." She looks at me with her laughing eyes.
I chuckle.
"Me love River. We go to cave. Quest for fire."
Her giggles attract the other patrons. I see several smile, caught up in her delight.
Slowly she becomes serious again.
"You didn't answer me?" She looks at me with those intense eyes. I now know that she inherited them from her grandfather. I glance back to the table in the corner, but a young couple is sitting there now. I look back to River.
Her eyes demand an answer.
"I want everything. Your love, all of it. Your time, every moment you want to give me. I want to be there for you whenever you need me." I shrug. "I'm greedy I want everything."
She leans towards me.
"How about my body? Do you wanting that too?" she asks me grinning wickedly.
I smile. Since asking her out, I've discovered River loves to be a tease.
"Oh yes." I smile softly "Whenever you're ready to take that step, I most assuredly want that."
"Your head, your heart, and your nuts?" she asks chuckling.
"All three," I answer smiling.
She looks down at her glass focusing on the patterns in the condensation down the side. She looks up a bit unsure.
"I talk a great game, but I've ... I've never done that. Not all the way." She tells me softly almost like she's ashamed. She sighs. "I'm sure you have, though."
"Once."
She looks up surprised. "Only once?"
I nod.
"And it hardly counts. My Mom walked in on us before we could ... finish shall we say." I shrug a little at her widening eyes.
"Oh my god." She giggles behind her hand. "Oh I would have died."
"Mom about did." I chuckle at the memory. "At first I thought she was going to have a come-apart then she just started laughing her head off and closed the door. It was already to late, thought."
"Oh you poor thing." River is looking at me with her wicked grin firmly in place.
I shrug.
"It's just as well. I was being an idiot." She looks at me strange, so I explain. "I wasn't wearing a condom. I really hadn't expected the kissing we were doing to go that far, so I hadn't bought any. She said it didn't matter. I probably would have had the karma to have gotten her pregnant right then on my first time."
River tilts her head. "How old would the child be now?"
I think back. "There would be a little ten-year-old running around the table going Dad, dad, dad." I take a sip from my glass.
"Ten? You were sixteen at the time?" She looks confused for a second. "So you haven't had sex since then? Ten years?"
The humor crashes out of me like a drain is pulled.
"Yeah," I say looking down at the table.
"Hey?" She leans forward and takes my hand. "Hey, now what is it?"
When I look up I see the concern in her eyes. It shines out from those pools of blue. I give her fingers a squeeze.