A Good Little Girl Like You (A Sample)

Monday, September 17

Alimentary was a small restaurant, busy for a week

night, with spicy aromas floating in the air. Rebecca

stepped up to the reception table while scanning the

restaurant for O.E. She was a few minutes early, and he

wasn't there yet. "I'm meeting someone for dinner, a Mr.

Ezzo. Did he make a reservation?"

The maître d' looked at his list. "Sorry, I don't see

anyone by that name. Do you want a table for two?"

Of course he didn't make a reservation. He'd probably

never been there before-just saw it on somebody's list of

trendy restaurants, along with Top of the Park. Was O.E.

even aware that people needed reservations at a place like

this? She shrugged and accepted the maître d's offer of a

table. He consulted his list to see if he could seat her.

As he scanned his reservation book, Rebecca glanced

down and noticed the letters "O.E." written on the list.

"Wait." She pointed to the page. "I see the name-it's O.E."

She was amazed that he would use his initials even

when making a dinner reservation but she was beginning to

suspect that very little about him should amaze her.

The maître d' brightened. "Well of course." He raised

one eyebrow and smiled at her. "I didn't know what his

initials stood for. Right this way." He led her to a table in the

back, a relatively private booth. The restaurant was larger

than she thought, elegant and well lit.

O.E. seems like the sort who would be a regular at fast

food restaurants. Not this upscale eatery with interesting

looking plates of food on every table. It took her by

surprise.

He arrived a few minutes later and spotted her

instantly. He was casually dressed, but not as sloppy as he

had been in his surfer duds. A black, button-down dress

shirt hugged his torso loosely, still managing to showcase

his powerful build, broad shoulders, and sinewy arm

muscles. The shirt was tucked neatly into faded jeans,

which revealed a trim waist and a tight backside. As he

sauntered up to the table, she tried to remind herself that

he was just a beach bum. But thoughts of O.E. as a beach

bum didn't do much to quell her excitement. It only led to

thoughts of him in his beach wear, and worse, him out of

his beach wear.

He looks wonderful. Rebecca had to admit that O.E.'s

appearance exceeded her expectations. He had put his hair

back in a ponytail and even wore fancy shoes and a shiny