“Fine. I’ll have fruit, but if it’s not real whipped cream forget it.”
“How about a tiny scoop of ice cream?”
Robert sighed and nodded, forcing her to bite back a chuckle. One thing she knew for sure was that Robert Flint was as stubborn as the day was long, and totally afraid of his wife. Still, they were the happiest couple she knew.
“And you?” She turned back to Ira, trying not to get lost in his good looks. The longer she looked, the more intrigued she became. A guy like that could make a girl want to start dating. And his touch? Wow! She hadn’t been expecting the hot jolt which ran through her body at a simple brush of their hands.
“Can I get a bacon, mushroom cheeseburger and onion rings?”
“At three in the afternoon?” Robert asked.
“I missed lunch. My run went long.”
“Coming right up. I’ll bring your fruit with his meal if that’s okay.” The men nodded. “I’ll be back in a bit to refill those coffees.”
As she walked away, Robert grumbled. “You kids and running to stay in shape. You need a physical job.”
“I had a job. But I’ve been given a medical discharge from the army, I need to find another way to make money.”
“What the hell was that?” Lacy hissed when Honey joined her behind the counter. “You actually jerked when he touched you?” The words were as much a statement as a question. “I thought you weren’t interested in him?”
“I wasn’t. I mean, I’m not. He was riding Robert about calling me Honey. Said it was sexist. I introduced myself and we shook hands. That’s it.” She turned away to hide the color in her cheeks. Ira Castillo packed a punch. Right to the libido.
“Bull cookies. Honey Dalton, you are a liar. You might not have been interested before, but when he touched you, I could almost see your hormones soaring off the chart.”
“Girl, you’ve got to stop reading romance novels. They’re rotting your brain,” she teased.
“Um. No. Heck no. I love them. Nothing beats a steamy romance with a happily ever after. Everybody needs love. Just because I haven’t found my one true love yet doesn’t mean I can’t read about them. You should try them. I just read a great one. I’ll bring it in tomorrow.”
“When are you going to stop trying to get me to read romance?” Honey turned back to her friend. The argument was an old one and a standing joke between them.
“When you finally read one. All I ask is for you to read one. Just one. Then I’ll leave you alone. Just like I’ll back off the new guy and let you have him.” She winked.
“I don’t want him. Ira’s all yours,” Honey said.
“Is that his name? Ira?” Lacy feigned a swoon. “Such an old school name but it fits him. Strong and handsome. And delicious. What are his hands like? He looks like he knows how to use them?” she turned the statement into a question.
“What kind of question is that?” Honey hissed as she punched the men’s order into the computer and sent it to the kitchen.
“You know, are they strong? Calloused? Gentle? If a man has soft, girlie hands, he probably won’t know how to use them.”
Honey laughed aloud. “That’s absurd.” Lacy had a gift for exaggeration.
“Yeah, what about Conrad? His hands were soft and weak. What kind of lover was he?” Lacy smirked.
“Don’t even bring him up. I can’t believe I dated him for months.” She preferred not to think about her disastrous relationship with her ex. He’d only been in town a few months. They’d been on a dozen dates before he even tried to kiss her. He made love like a wet fish and his kisses were slobbery and gross. She shuddered. His lovemaking ranked right up there with virginal teenage groping in the back seat of a car. No thank you.
“Soft hands, poor lover. You know it’s true.” Lacy started a fresh pot of coffee.
“Fine, in his case, yes. He really was a wet blanket. One example doesn’t make a universal truth, you know.”
“And this guy, what’s his name, Ira? How are his hands?”
There was no way Lacy would shut up until she got an answer. “Fine. Strong, gentle, calloused, and warm.” She almost sighed thinking about it. Her attraction was weird. Unusual for her. She tended to date people like herself. Tech nerds. Programmers. She’d even dated a few game developers before coming to Coyote Creek. Hard-assed military men weren’t her thing at all. She’d take brains over brawn for sure.
Recently, her dating life had wavered from slim to none and back. There weren’t many single male computer nerds here, or computer nerds at all. She had dated several men, but none except her ex, had gone beyond two dates. She was looking for someone to engage her mind as well as her heart. So far, the selection had come up null. An old friend of hers had once said, “Seduce my body, have me for a day. Seduce my mind and have me forever.” The oversimplified words resonated with Honey.
But this new guy, Ira, he’d caught her eye the first time he walked in last fall. She was surprised she’d never noticed how strong Lacy’s attraction to him was, and Lacy had been equally oblivious to Honey’s attraction. Probably because they were both so caught up in his presence. She knew her friend thought he was cute, but didn’t realize it went any deeper.
The grapevine told her he’d looked at a house that was for sale on the outskirts of town. A big, brand new, five-bedroom house. What did a single guy need a huge house for? She was perfectly content in her little brownstone apartment. Why did he want to move out of his bachelor suite above the hardware store? Hmm. That made two weird points. His choice of home, and those Flint green eyes. She chided the analytical part of her brain for not letting the random items go.
Lacy slipped up behind Honey and whispered in her ear. “You should totally date him. Get yourself out of your dating slump.”
“How about you mind your own dating life and let mine rest?” Honey asked.
“Girl, if your love life rests any longer it’ll die from lack of use or old age,” Lacy commented with the kind of sarcasm only acceptable between close friends.
Honey laughed as her friend clearly intended her to. “I’ll tell you what,” she said. “If he asks me out, I won’t say no. But,” she waggled her finger in warning, “if he asks you out, you have to go.”
