Witness Protection Program (Tom Hiddleston)

Chapter 12: The Date

When Rita had finished dressing, she came to get Tom, who was downstairs watching TV with Wyatt. Tom swallowed as she made her way slowly down the stairs like some sort of goddess. She wore a simple pair of jeans and a button-up shirt tucked in with a leather belt, but she was beautiful just the same. He wasn’t sure exactly what made her different, but Rita was the type of woman who didn’t need finery and jewels to be beautiful. She was entirely, irrevocably beautiful with her short, blond hair and crystal-blue eyes. The sound of metal music drifted down the stairs as she walked, but it might have been a symphony for all Tom cared. Wyatt leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Stop staring, bud. You look like a damn dewy-eyed calf.”

“What are you two whispering about?” Rita laughed as she came to stand in front of the both of them. “Tom? What mess is he talking to you?”

The actor in question was still speechless by just how beautiful she looked, and it took him a second before he could respond. “Uh… He was just… I really…”

“It’s okay,” she replied as he stood up from the couch and looked down at her.

He was easily a head taller than she was, but he felt small and weak in the knees in her presence. After a moment, he realized she had been trying to tell him something. “What?” he asked, embarrassed at himself.

“I was asking if you wanted to take my car,” she chuckled. “Really, Tom, you should be more observant.”

“Well I’ll see you two later,” Wyatt said, showing himself out. He could tell he was being a third wheel, and he didn’t want to intrude on Tom’s moment.

“We’ll take your car, I guess,” Tom replied. “You should probably drive. Your CIA provided me with an American driver’s license, but American cars are different than British ones because the steering wheel is on the other side. Plus you know where we’re going and I don’t.”

“Kate said you did a Jaguar commercial with an American car,” Rita remembered, arching an eyebrow.

Tom shrugged. “I did. But it hasn’t come out in America yet. It won’t come out until February, I think.”

“Interesting,” Rita mused.

Tom offered her his arm. “Are we going to do this thing or not?”

She smiled him and kissed his cheek. “Of course we are.” A blush crept across Tom’s face.

Ten minutes later, Rita and Tom sat in her beautiful, red Jaguar. Tom stared out the window as the car drove over the gravel road leading out of the ranch, and at all the oak trees that dotted the pastures. He was mesmerized by nature all around him. It was a different kind of wild than England. His home country was more of a misty wonderland of moors and fields, but here the terrain was mostly thorn bushes and scraggly oak trees with hackberry evenly dispersed within the mixture. “You’re quiet,” Rita laughed. “Keep looking and you might see a deer. It’s getting close to the time when they come out.”

“Speaking of deer,” said Tom, “When are you going to take me hunting?”

“How does Sunday afternoon sound?” she suggested after thinking for a second. “I do mostly house calls for my practice on Saturdays. Sunday is really my only day off, and I usually go to church with mom, Wyatt, and Kate, and Uncle Ad in the mornings. The hands aren’t much for church, but you’re welcome to tag along if you want.”

“You know,” Tom admitted, “if I’m being truly honest with myself, I haven’t been to church in God knows how long. The last time was Christmas Eve my second year at University. I’d love to.”

“Perfect,” Rita laughed. The car pulled out onto the highway, and Rita revved the accelerator. The purr of the engine was beautiful, but not as beautiful as the woman sitting next to him. Without warning, his phone rang.