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Reaching across the table to take her hand in mine, I asked, “And what’s that?”
“As horrible as this is going to sound”—her wince was fucking adorable—“I just don’t have time for it.”
“That doesn’t sound horrible to me, not when I’m the lucky guy sitting across from you.” Her lips curved up in a smile, and I decided right then and there to put it on her face as often as possible. “Then again, I’m the guy at the station who my co-workers like to razz about needing to get a life.”
She tilted her head to the side, her green eyes narrowing as she studied my face. “I find that hard to believe.”
“How come?” I asked, giving her hand a little squeeze.
Her cheeks filled with heat again, and I had a feeling I was going to like her answer. “Because you’re…well, you.” She waved her free hand up and down, gesturing in my direction. “In my experience, hot guys like you don’t spend many nights home alone.”
I grinned at her admission that she thought I was hot and leaned forward to murmur, “I could say the same thing since it’s rare to find a gorgeous, smart, and kind woman who isn’t already taken.”
“There’s just no way for me to comment on the first two parts of your compliment. It’ll sound as though I’m fishing for more if I say anything about my looks, and I’m not about to say that I’m dumb. Not when I’m busting my butt to earn my nursing degree.” She beamed a smile my way. “I think I’ll just go with…how do you know I’m kind?”
That was an easy one. “Even though you had a busy day and moving is one of the worst things to help a friend do, you still found the time to help Jaelyn.”
“You’re one to talk.” She glanced down at the bandage on her calf. “You came over on your day off to help a stranger.”
“True,” I conceded. “But my boss was the one who asked me to do it.”
Mia waited until after the waitress dropped off our drinks before she pointed out, “I see what you’re saying, but you also offered to come back and take the stitches out without Rand asking you to do it.”
“I wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to have an excuse to see you again.” With all that Mia was, my offer was more of a favor to myself than her.
“Little did we know that we would’ve met each other tonight anyway. By the time Jaelyn wore me down, I didn’t bother asking her for any additional details beyond where, when, and how I was going to find you.” She laughed and shook her head. “I guess I learned my lesson for next time.”
The thought of Mia going out on a date with another guy had a growl rumbling up my chest. The possessiveness I was feeling after meeting her this morning was a fair price to pay for all the shit I’d given Rand over falling for Jaelyn so quickly. Fate had turned the tables on me, but I wasn’t about to complain about it. But she sure as hell wasn’t going to be on dates with anyone else but me from now on. “If I have any say in it—and I’m going to do my best to make sure I do—there won’t be a next time, sweetheart.”
“I’m sorry. I worded that really badly.” She flipped her hand so it was palm up and laced her fingers through mine. “What I meant was that I learned how important it is to ask for details when someone else makes plans for me because I would’ve saved myself a lot of worrying if I’d known you were my blind date. Not that I needed to ask for a name next time around. I had already promised myself never to cave to a friend’s request to set me up before I met you this morning.”
I liked how she apologized and explained her thought process without any hesitation. She just kept getting better the more time I spent with her. “Good.”
I released her hand as the waitress delivered our meals, and we got to know each other more as we enjoyed our food. She wasn’t afraid to eat in front of me and even asked for a taste of what I ordered.
“I guess I’d better head home.” She sounded as reluctant as I was for our date to end after we finished dessert. “Saturday nights are when I typically catch up on all the sleep I missed during the week.”
“Thanks for sacrificing your rest to have dinner with me.” Since I’d already paid the check, there wasn’t any reason we couldn’t leave. As we stood, I caught the wince she tried to hide. Hurrying around the table, I wrapped my arm around Mia’s waist, taking some of her weight off her leg. “How badly does it hurt?”
