“”What did I win this go around?”
Again, Sal just handed her his half empty bottle of beer and walked calmly over to the bull.
Laci’s mouth dropped as the bull whipped into action at the highest speed she’d ever seen. Sal immediately lost his hat but didn’t seem bothered by it. He just whipped around with the bull and allowed himself to sway or swish, depending on the whims of the machine.
Laci downed the rest of his beer as she watched him get off the bull. There was now a crowd watching them and several more people were cheering her on as she walked up to the bull.
“Hold on, Laci,” Sal said as he grabbed her around the waist when she tried to walk past him to the bull. “You don’t need to prove anything to me. I’ve been doing this a lot longer than you have. Don’t hurt yourself just to win. I’ll concede your skill at bull riding.”
Laci laughed. “You’ll concede?” She moved closer, so she was less than an inch from his chest, and looked up at him. “But Sal, don’t you know that I’ll never accept defeat?”
She carefully stepped around him, avoiding his arm in case it tried to stop her again. Then climbed up on top of the bull, her heart beating wildly, as much from her momentary closeness with Sal as from anticipation for her ride.
For the third time, she wrapped the leather strap around her hand, then nodded to Hank who only laughed and put the bull into motion with a whoop of excitement.
Laci held on for almost the full forty-five seconds. She was about to claim victory but made the mistake of looking towards Sal. Laci saw red when she noticed a blond waitress who was practically poured into her jeans sidle up to Sal and smile.
Sal only shook his head as he politely smiled to the waitress. It was at that moment that Laci lost her grip and flew into the air. She landed with a heavy thud against the enormous padding surrounding the mechanical bull.
Sal was immediately by her side asking her if she was okay. She quickly sat up to assure everyone that she was fine, pushing her hair out of her face at the same time. Her face was flushed with embarrassment and she was furious with herself for being jealous of the blond waitress.
“She’s not your type,” Laci said, and stood up starting to walk away.
“Who isn’t my type?” he asked and put a hand around her waist to stop her, turning her so she was facing him.
“The blond, bimbo waitress,” she said and pushed his hands away from her waist.
As she walked away, she heard him laughing behind her and gritted her teeth in frustration. Laci cursed under her breath for making that comment. Obviously Sal enjoyed her fit of jealousy.
Laci ignored him and headed over to Hank. Leaning up on her toes, she quickly gave Hank a kiss on the cheek and smiled up at his worried expression. “Thanks Hank. You sure give a wild ride,” she said, then turned and headed back to their table. She ignored the two men laughing behind her and, with as much dignity as possible after falling so hard on her bottom, she sat down on the wooden chair.
Sal was still laughing when he sat down across from her a moment later. “Are you hungry?” he asked.
“Not really,” she said, looking out the window.
“You’re not a sore loser, are you?”
“I might be,” she said, not bothering to look at him.
She was spared having to say anything more because a waitress, thankfully not the blond one, delivered their steaks at that moment. She also delivered two cold beers, then quickly left.
Sal sighed at her weak efforts to ignore him. Without warning, he stood up and came around the table. Laci was startled by his action but still refused to look at him. Because of her stubbornness, she wasn’t expecting it when he grabbed her, pulled her out of her chair and kissed her soundly.
As soon as Sal’s lips touched hers, the restaurant, the cheering patrons and the delicious scents of the sizzling steaks ceased to exist. All she could think about was Sal’s magical lips caressing hers, his strong, muscular arms holding her against his tall body.
One would think a man as formal and polite as Sal wouldn’t know how to kiss so passionately. But he delivered sensuality through his lips, teasing and caressing at the same time while Laci shivered, begging for more. Her arms had immediately held onto his shoulders as soon as he grabbed her but they crept up higher as the kiss went on and on, her body arching into his, needing to feel more than just his lips as they caressed hers.
Just as suddenly as it started, Sal stopped and she was again sitting in her chair. She watched as he picked up his napkin and sat down across from her.
He cut a slice of meat and tasted his steak, then looked up and smiled at her stricken expression. “What was it like growing up with your sister?” he asked.
Laci’s eyes widened and he repeated his question. She had trouble following his conversation.
“What was that for?” she asked, her hand moving to her still tingling lips.
“A simple lesson in time management,” he explained, leaning back in his chair and taking a long sip of beer. His eyes showed his satisfaction with her bewilderment. He liked knowing his kiss disturbed her the same way she disturbed him.
“Excuse me?” she asked, wondering if she should be offended.
“I wanted to kiss you. You looked incredibly lovely with your eyes sparkling in your frustration, so I decided to kiss you. Besides, you were being too stubborn. ”
She was speechless for a long moment. She wasn’t sure what to say after that admission. After another long silence, Laci looked down at the table, her mind unable to form a complete thought.
Fortunately, he helped her by starting another discussion. Within a few minutes, he had her laughing at the stories about growing up in an Italian household with six kids. Laci countered his stories with the mischief she got into when her older sister refused to play with her and about their fights throughout high school.
The meal was long over when she finally looked at her watch. She was shocked to realize that four hours had passed since they’d arrived at the restaurant. It was almost midnight!
“I think I’d better head home,” Laci said tentatively, amazed that they had so much to talk about that they’d spent four hours in each other’s company without a single argument. In fact, she couldn’t remember a more pleasant evening.
Sal didn’t say a word but threw down some large bills to cover the check, then stood up, putting a hand in the small of Laci’s back as they made their way out of the still crowded restaurant.