“I waited for her to go inside. A dude opened the door,and she kissed him smack dab on the lips. Guess he was her type.”
Harper’s mouth twisted. “What a—”
Rusty held up his hand. “The upside is it was only one date, the Orange Bluebird ain’t expensive, and I’m pretty sure I dodged a bullet with that one.”
She nodded. “You sure did. I can’t believe you’re so calm about it, though. I’d be furious.”
“Sure, I was mad. But like I said, that was a while ago. I got over it.”
The waitress came up and asked for their drink order. They both ordered iced tea, and then Harper turned to Rusty. “Do you like pineapple on your pizza? They have a great Hawaiian one here.”
“Can’t say I’ve had it before. Let’s give it a try.”
Harper ordered the pizza. As the waitress walked away, she said to Rusty, “You haven’t had chai, and you haven’t had Hawaiian pizza. Or minestrone. I mean this in the nicest way, Rusty... but have you been living under a rock?”
He shrugged, taking no offense. “Senior and G’ma liked simple, easy food. I do, too, since I cook for myself most of the time.”
She leaned forward again. “Then I guess I’ll have to introduce you to some more new things.”
Chapter8
Uh-oh.Harper wanted to take back that last sentence. She didn’t need Rusty to get the wrong idea. She wasn’t flirting with him... was she? She knew more than one guy who had taken her friendliness as flirtation. More like lots of guys, and she normally tried to dial it back when she was with men. But being around Rusty had made her forget about keeping up her guard.
“That sounds mighty nice, Harper.”
She sat back, relieved she didn’t have to make things awkward by apologizing or rationalizing her statement. This man was so pure, she almost wondered if he was pretending to be. She’d known her fair share of disingenuous people, not only in the business world but personally. Jack came to mind, and she shoved him off the cliff of her thoughts. She didn’t want to think about him right now. Or ever.
The waitress set their drinks in front of them. “The pizza will be out soon,” she said. “Can I get you anything else?” When they both shook their heads no, she walked away.
Rusty swiped his bangs out of his face and took a swig of tea. The pizzeria was far from a romantic restaurant, but the red candlelight was a nice touch. Most of his face was obscured by his hair and beard, but she saw his eyes clearly. Warm, gentle eyes.
She gripped the cold glass. She shouldn’t be paying attention to his eyes or anything else about him. They needed to talk real estate. Despite her reassurance that being particular about buying a house was a good thing, she was still surprised at how persnickety he was being, considering how laid back he was about everything else. That made her wonder again if he was truly ready to move or if he was trying to accommodate his grandfather... and her.
Her phone buzzed again in her purse. There was a time when her phone buzzing off the hook hadn’t bothered her. Now she was getting tired of it, especially when she was starting to relax, since moments like these had been few and far between lately. She grabbed the cell out of her bag. “I’ll turn this off,” she said, poised to shut down the phone.
“Go ahead and answer it,” he said. “I don’t mind.”
“They’ll leave a message.” She glanced at the screen. “It’s Madge.”
“Then you really should answer it.”
Reluctantly, she slid her thumb over the bottom of the screen. “Hi,” she said quickly. “I’m with a... client right now.” She glanced at Rusty, who gave her a smile.
“But it’s after five,” her mother said without returning Harper’s greeting.
“You know my job doesn’t have regular hours,” she said, turning slightly away from Rusty.
Madge scoffed. “You’re just like your father.”
Harper frowned. What was that supposed to mean?
“You haven’t returned any of my calls, Harper,” Madge continued, her voice sounding more robotic than usual. But her next words were sharply edged. “Do I need to contact your office and make an appointment to talk to you?”
Harper pressed her lips together, not appreciating the passive-aggressiveness.“No,” she said in a measured tone. “I’d already planned to call you tonight when I got off work—”
“Please do.”Click.
Harper grimaced. Although she and her mother had been at odds more than ever lately, Madge had never hung up on her.
