He trailed his gaze from her head to her toe. “You’re tall.”
And he was short. Probably even shorter than Tom Cruise. In her enthusiastic description of Tyler, Blair had forgotten to mention that fact. If she had, Chloe would have worn flats rather than her favorite Jimmy Choos. And while she didn’t have an issue with his height herself, from the way he screwed up his nose, she’d bet he did.
He pulled out her chair and gestured for her to sit. At least he had some manners; that was something! So while the date hadn’t started well, it could only go up from here.
Hopefully…
It nose-dived. Fast!
He ignored all of her efforts at making conversation during their appetizers. When he did take the time to speak to her, he asked her what she did for a living, only to mock her career. By the time their entrées arrived, he’d had five shots of whiskey and two glasses of wine and was slouched back on the chair, clearly legless.
Staring at her, he grinned for the first time. “How far away do you live?”
She felt like a piece of meat in a lion cage. “Not far,” she lied. There was no way she was going to give this guy her address.
His grin became a leer. “Great, I feel like a nightcap. Let’s go to your place.” He clicked his fingers, signaling for the bill.
“My place for what?” There was no way she’d be inviting him over for coffee let alone more alcohol.
“I haven’t taken you to dinner just to eat.” The sleazy way he ogled her chest told her exactly what he wanted, and it wasn’t another drink.
Her skin crawled. Something within her snapped, and she realized that there was absolutely nothing keeping her here. She’d tried to be polite. She’d tried to be nice. But Tyler was beyond hope, and quite frankly, not worth her time. Grabbing her purse, she leapt to her feet, nearly barreling into the waiter with the check. She handed the waiter a few bills to cover her half of the meal and the tip—no point in stiffing him even if she’d had a miserable time. “I’d like to say this date was enjoyable, but I can’t lie. You won’t be seeing me again.”
He sprang from his chair, wobbled on his feet, and clutched her arm. “Where are you going?”
Flicking his clammy hand off her arm, she said between gritted teeth, “Home.Alone.” With that she stormed from the restaurant, ignoring his slurred insults thrown at her back.
As she made it outside, she drew in a deep breath.What was Blair thinking, setting me up with such a jerk?Pulling her phone from her bag, she dialed her friend’s number.
Blair answered, “Hey, Chloe, is your date finished already?”
“I’m going to kill you.” She clutched the mobile in her hand.
“Why? What happened?”
“Everything!” Chloe waved down a taxi and got in, giving the cabbie her address. “I should have ended it the moment I stepped into that restaurant.”
“It was that bad?”
“Worse. First, he accused me of being late. Then, he sized me up like a cow at the market and told me I was too tall. By the way, thank you for telling me he was the size of a small child.”
“Sorry about that,” Blair apologized around a chuckle. “I thought you wouldn’t care.”
“Ididn’t,” she said, stressing the I. “But I thinkhedid. He must have little-man syndrome, because he barely spoke to me.”
“He’s quite chatty when I see him,” Blair said.
“That’s because he’s probably drunk. Once he had a few shots in his system, he wasn’t shy about wanting to go to my place because he hadn’t taken me to dinner just toeat.”
Blair gasped, “He did not say that.”
“Oh yes, he very much did.”
“I’m so sorry, Chloe. He was always so nice. Even Mitch thought he was a good guy. I promise I’ll do better next time.”
Chloe sighed and stared out of the cab window. “I think I’m done with blind dates.”
“You can’t give up yet. You just started. I know the perfect guy I can set you up with.”
