He shook his head. “Doesn’t look good for either of us, really.” He glanced at the caller. “This is rather bold of me, but would you care to get a bite to eat?”
She’d had a small salad with a few strips of leftover steak for dinner. Wasn’t much, which could explain why she suddenly felt famished. She smiled. “That sounds nice.”
“The Queen’s Arms? Or is going to the pub too on the nose for me?”
She chuckled. “No, the pub would be great.” She almost never went there, so it would be different and interesting.
“N-34.”
“Outstanding.” He put his hand on his cards and nodded at her neighbor. “What do you say we donate our tickets to Miss Congeniality there and be on our way?”
Smirking, Paige nodded. “I say let’s do it.”
She smiled into her camera, gave a wink to the audience who’d see the recording after it was edited and uploaded, and gathered up her things. She slid her card toward the woman on her right. “Here you go. Best of luck.”
Graham added his cards, too.
The woman scowled at them, quickly added their cards to hers, and touched all of her troll dolls on the head again.
Graham offered Paige his arm and she took it. They walked out giggling like two high-schoolers who’d just pulled off a prank.
Once outside, she let him go. “I came in my golf cart, so I’ll just meet you there.”
He nodded. “Righto. See you shortly.”
She smiled all the way to The Queen’s Arms, going slow enough to get her phone out, fire up the camera, and take another video. “Gang, I’m not sure why I said yes, but I’m off to our local pub to have dinner with Graham. He’s a very nice man, as I’m sure you saw in the previous video. I promise I’ll tell him immediately that I’m not looking for any kind of relationship. I don’t want to lead him on. But he is sweet. And funny. A little dinner can’t hurt, right?”
With a smile, she ended the video. What was she doing? This was very impulsive and not her style. She reallywasn’tinterested in a relationship, so she’d have to make that clear. Not after everything she’d been through. Not after the way she’d transformed herself and built a new life.
A man would just complicate things. Wouldn’t he?
Chapter Twenty-Six
Dinner had been a quiet affair, which Blaise hadn’t minded too much. Better than sitting with someone who talked about themselves nonstop. Even so, it was mostly her making small talk and Brick answering with a grunt, a nod, or a shake of his head.
Those appeared to be his favorite forms of communication. Words apparently were a distant fourth.
More surprising was that he’d taken a serving of her vegetables and eaten all of it. She didn’t know if that was just him being polite, something that seemed unlikely, or because he’d actually enjoyed it. He hadn’t said.
He didn’t talk much. About anything. Ever. At least not a topic she’d come across yet.
She dabbed at her mouth with the paper towel he’d set out as a napkin. “That was a great steak.” She’d already complimented him on it, but maintaining a one-sided conversation was hard. Repeating things was inevitable and if she brought up the weather one more time, she was just going to get up and leave.
Beau had occupied himself by exploring all the new scents in Brick’s yard, then finally falling asleep next to Brick’s chair.
Blaise would be lying if she said she wasn’t slightly put off by her dog choosing Brick. She decided it was because he gave off pack-leader vibes and left it at that.
Brick set his fork down. “Vegetables weren’t bad.”
High praise. “Thank you. I appreciate that you tried them. Would you like me to help you clean up?”
Brick scooted his chair back. “I’ll get it. Coffee?”
She shook her head. “I wish I could, but the caffeine will keep me up.”
He made a noise like he understood. “Dessert?”
That offer surprised her. She wasn’t generally a big dessert person, but turning another offer down might mean shutting him down, and she didn’t want to do that. Not when he’d gone to the trouble of picking something up. “Sure. What is it?”
