4. Lucas

Iknew that at this point no matter what I did, Bernadette's mother would be suspicious of me.

She had been suspicious of my family and what we did for the longest time, and I knew that there was no way I was going to be able to change that, no matter what I might tell her or how I might assure her that I was no threat to her daughter, and neither was my family.

Because we really hadn't come about our money illegally. My dad's company had just kicked off rather suddenly, some investments came back in more than full, and there we were with more money than we knew what to do with.

I wouldn't trade it for the world, though. That money had sent me to college. And while they might not know it, it had sent Bernadette to college as well.

We had negotiated with her mother's employer to get her both a promotion and a raise and then had them give some of our money to her through her pay check. It was to send Bernadette through school, and while her mother had been suspicious, she had still taken the money. Which meant Bernadette had gotten the education that she deserved.

And now I wanted to make sure that she also got the job she deserved so that she and her baby could have the life that they deserved.

I wished that I could just give it to her, but I knew that she wouldn't be happy that way. Like her mother, she liked to work for what she got in life, and she would never be able to accept that much help from me, even if it made me happy.

So instead, I decided that I would take her to dinner, where I could offer her a job so that she could work for the support that I so desperately wanted to give her.

That would satisfy us all in some way, wouldn't it? I would get to support her, and she would have a job.

I called her up the next day and told her that I would take her out to dinner. She was hesitant of course, as she and her mother usually had dinner together and she didn't want to keep making her mother suspicious, but I told her that this was important, and she soon relented.

As I got off the phone with her, I headed online to make us reservations at a restaurant.

I wanted to take her somewhere nice, but I also wanted to make sure that she didn't feel too overwhelmed by my choice. Eventually, I settled on a nice Italian place and made us reservations for six-thirty.

I have our reservations all ready, I texted her. Shall I meet you there? Or do you want me to drive you?

I really hoped that I could drive her. I wanted to be cheesy and old-fashioned and pick her up in my nice car with a nice suit on. But I had to remind myself that this was in no way a date, I was just helping her with getting a job. We were having this dinner as friends, nothing more.

I can drive myself, came her text back, which made sense. Why would she want me to drive her when she could just as easily drive herself?

All right. Meet me here at 6:30. I sent her the address for the restaurant, and it was several long moments before I received her text back.

There? But it's so expensive.

I'm paying, don't you worry. Besides, I already made us reservations.

I guess so. I could almost hear the defeat in her text, and I smiled to myself. Another success, the two of us would be eating some good food tonight.

See you then.

* * *

Iwaited for Bernadette outside the restaurant when I got there. I wanted to make sure that mine was the first face that she saw, and also that she wasn't too intimidated. And, of course, on top of that, I wanted to see her before anyone else got the honor.

She always looked so lovely when she dressed up, and though I knew it was wrong to feel this way about her, I still hoped that she would do so for me. It was a foolish wish, but I couldn't help the way that I felt for her.

Finally, I saw someone walking through the parking lot with hair in a million braids like Bernadette had gotten done recently to her natural hair. She was wearing a pink silk dress and a little smile.

"Bella," I called, putting out my arm. She hurried over and took it, leaning in to whisper to me.

"This place is so nice, and we're not even inside yet."

I laughed. "The inside is even better; I can assure you."

"I admit, I feel a little intimidated. I don't think I'm dressed nearly fancy enough for this place."

I resisted the urge to lean over and kiss her cheek. "You look lovely," I assured her. And my thoughts in my head went, I can't take my eyes off of you.

We headed inside and I let the hostess know my name for our reservations. She smiled and guided us to a little table set for two with flowers and a candle in the center.

"Your waiter will be right with you," she said.

Bernadette immediately turned to me with a look of curiosity on her face. "You were saying something about a job?" she prompted.

"Let's enjoy dinner a bit first, and then we'll talk business," I promised.

"Okay," she sighed, but didn't argue the point any further. I was glad of that, as I didn't know how long I would have been able to hold out against her if she really asked for me to tell her what was going on with the job. When it came to Bernadette, I just couldn't find it in myself to refuse her.

Our waiter arrived then with our menus and a smile. "Let me know if you have any questions," he said. "Can I get your drink orders to start?"

"Yes, we'll take a bottle of this one." Not wanting Bernadette to know how expensive the wine that I was getting for the two of us was, I pointed to one of the more expensive ones on the menu. The waiter smiled and nodded.

"A very good choice," he said with a nod.

"I'll also take a glass of water, no ice please," Bernadette said with a sweet little smile.

"We can certainly do that." As the waiter smiled back at her I felt something that might have been jealousy boil up within my chest. I didn't like the look he was giving her; couldn't he at least give us the courtesy of assuming we were on a date?

But also …we weren't. And I had no right to control the people that Bernadette was interested in, or who showed interest in her, even as her best friend. It just wasn't my place.

The waiter left, and the two of us were alone again at that romantic little table with some decisions to make regarding what we wanted to eat for the night.

"This all looks so good," Bernadette said as she browsed through her menu. "I don't know how I'll ever be able to choose."

"If you want to try a few things, I could always send you home with leftovers."

She shook her head, but there was a shy smile gracing her face. "Oh no, I couldn't do that. I'm already letting you do enough by buying me dinner. I can't imagine how expensive the bill would be if I sampled a few dishes."

"You know money is no object, right?" I reached across to grip her hand, but she just looked down at her lap.

"I know. I just feel bad sometimes, you know?"

I laughed. "You don't have to, but I guess I do understand just a bit."

"It's not about ‘have to' or ‘don't have to.' Sometimes it's just the way of things. I feel bad if I let you buy me too much, and you saying that I don't have to isn't going to change that."

"I know, but I have to at least try." I gave her a wink. "Otherwise who would I be, letting the beautiful woman across from me not know the joys of everything she wanted to try on the menu?" I took a second to consider the situation, then added, "Tell you what, if there are two things you would like to try, I'll order one and you can order the other and then we can split them both."

"That sounds lovely, thank you," she said, with a smile that made me want to order everything on the menu, just for her.

I was glad that I had ordered wine for the two of us, because it looked like I was going to need it.

Our waiter came back shortly with our wine and the glass of water for Bernadette. He then took our orders and the two of us enjoyed our wine and some light conversation while waiting for our food to come.

When it did, we were both hungry and ready to dig in.

As we shared the two dishes that we had ordered, I couldn't help but think that if we were a couple, I would be leaning across the table right now with a bite on my fork to feed her; asking her what she thought as I stared at her with a dreamy smile.

But to do that would be entirely inappropriate given our circumstances, and I wasn't about to cross that boundary. Not before she gave me some indication that she felt the same way about me. I was too invested in our friendship to ruin it over some silly longing in my chest.

Once we both had a fair amount to eat, I turned to her with a smile and raised my wine glass to my lips. As I set it down, I asked her, "Shall we talk business now? Or would you like to enjoy your food a little longer?"

Bernadette set down her utensils, leaning forward with an eager look on her face. "Let's talk business."

I smiled, holding back a laugh at how cute she was like that. "All right, business it is then. You see, I was thinking about how best I could help you with your situation, and then I realized I know of an opening for a position that would at least help for the time being, in terms of supporting yourself. Pays pretty well, too."

"You do?"

"Yes. In fact, it's actually working with my company in an assistant or secretarial type of position. I know it's not exactly ideal, but I figured it would do until you found something that was suited to your major."

The biggest smile lit up her face. "Oh, I could just kiss you right now!"

Then she blushed and looked down at her hands as she realized what she had said. "I mean, uh, thank you. Thank you very much."

"Should I take that as a yes?"

"Yes, thank you, I really appreciate everything that you've done for me."

"Good." I reached across to grab her hand, squeezing it tight. "I very much look forward to working with you."