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“I don’t know what to say,” she said.
Before he could say anything more, their food came out, and he couldn’t help but look at Casey’s plate. The portion size was huge, and it looked like any other ragu he’d eaten, not that he’d eaten a whole lot of pasta things. He’d never been big on pasta or rice dishes.
She leaned forward, closing her eyes and inhaling her food. “It smells so good. Do you want to try it?”
“Nah, it’s fine.”
“Are you scared of lentils?”
“Nope, I just know this is going to be more than enough for me.” He took a bite of his potatoes and watched her twirl some pasta around her fork before taking a bite.
She closed her eyes and moaned. “So good. This has got to be the best I’ve ever tried.”
He watched her eat a couple more mouthfuls, and he couldn’t take it anymore. “Let me have a try.”
She chuckled. “Here you go.” She pushed her plate a little closer and offered him her fork.
He took it and tried some.
“Oh, wow,” he said.
“See, amazing.”
It was good. “Next time I’ll have what you have.”
She had that sexy smile. “Next time?”
“You think this is a one date thing?”
“When it comes to you, Rusty, I don’t think I know what to expect.”
“You can expect to be wooed. You can call me Daniel,” he said.
“Everyone in town calls you Rusty. Did you give yourself that name?”
“No, my dad did because of always playing in the rusty cars out back. My clothes would be covered in it. I don’t mind the name.” He shrugged.
“That’s why I call you that. Everyone else does, and I like it. It suits you.”
“So how is your writing going?” he asked.
“My writing?”
“Yep. It’s the reason you came back. Tell me, have you done anything to it yet?”
“Now you’re starting to feel like my angry conscience. Have you done this yet, have you done that?”
“You wanted to write. I remember in high school whenever you wanted something done, you’d set yourself out a routine.” One day she’d dropped a whole lot of books, and as he helped her to pick them up, he’d happened to notice her routine planner.
“You know about that?”
“Yes. Why don’t you set something up like that? You always followed it in high school.” To see if she had, he followed her to the local library and lo and behold, she’d been there, studying. Even if it had bored her, she’d done it, because that was the plan she had.
“I can’t even believe you remember all that.”
“There is a lot I remember,” he said. “How about I help you out?”
“You?”
“Come by the office. I’ve got a spare desk. I can get it set up for you. I take it you have a laptop?”
“Yes.”
“Bring it with you. I’ll get you set up, and you can start to write. You won’t get much in the way of distractions. Most of the time people’s cars break down at the most inconvenient of times, and so they come to me. They are not planning to stick around. You’ll be able to write and enjoy your time there as well. Also, let’s face it, I’ll be there.”
She laughed again.
He liked making her smile and seeing the enjoyment on her face.
“What do you think?” he asked, when she didn’t say anything.
“I’d like to give it a try. Anything is better than doing nothing.”
He was going to be able to have her in his life for a lot longer, and he liked that. He wanted to fist pump the air, but instead, he smiled and winked at her.
“You do the winking thing a lot.”
“Oh.”
“It’s sexy. Don’t be worried about it. It’s hot.”
He didn’t even realize he was winking at her.
They finished their meal, and he listened to a couple of her tales from the city, mostly about a few authors who were nervous about their book deals and signings, and how she helped. Even though she was an editor, she did everything she could.
He saw the happiness in her eyes as she talked about her job, but not the spark, not the fire. The happiness she was presenting to him was fake. She was lying to herself and to everyone around her.
“Do you want to dance?” he asked.
He hated to dance and had never really found much rhythm.
“Sure.”
“Be warned, our table may not be available when we get back.”
“I don’t mind. I’ve eaten more than enough. We can always go somewhere else for dessert.”
Now that sounded dirty, or at least to him it did.
Dessert.
Sex?
No, he wasn’t going to go there.
At least not yet.
In the back of his mind, he totally went there.
Taking her hand, he led her onto the dance floor.
It was a slow number, and he thanked his lucky stars for that. He couldn’t dance, but he could hold Casey and sway from side to side without causing any lasting damage.
