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8
Gerty felt like she’d fallen down a rabbit hole and entered some fantasy dimension. Michael Hammond—the very handsome, strong, tough, and now she knew, rich, Michael Hammond—wanted to sit right next to her and hold her hand.
She slid over.
No woman in their right mind would tell him to get on back to his own side of the booth. She wasn’t entirely comfortable sitting right next to him instead of across from him, because she’d never eaten like this with a man before.
He sat down beside her, squeezing in nice and close, his body heat kissing her bare arms and making her shiver. He did take her hand, and then he let out an exaggerated sigh. “Yeah, this is better.”
Gerty loved his compliments. She loved hearing him say how much he liked her. She adored the crackling energy between them. She couldn’t be imagining that, and as she turned and looked at Mike, sheknewshe wasn’t. What existed between them could not be faked.
“I’m scared I’m going too fast,” she said next. She wanted to swallow to get her voice to turn off, but even when she did, she had more to say. “With you. I want to get to know you all over again, but I want to kiss you right now. It’s scary, because I also know I’m still in love with my ex-fiancé, and it’s absolutely insane that I’m even on a date right now.”
She did manage to stop talking then, but only because she ran out of air. Mike gazed down at her, his eyes moving between hers and her mouth. “I can’t hold your face in both hands yet,” he whispered. “So no kissing. Sorry.”
She nudged him with her shoulder and ducked her head. “You’re going to take that seriously, huh?”
“Yes,” he said. “Because you want and need to go slow, and I want to be whole before that happens.”
“What if I just lunged at you right now?” she asked, looking up at him again. A challenge rose through her. “You’d reject me?”
“Are you going to lunge at me? Because if so, I need to brace myself. I’m aninjured man, Gerty. There should be no lunging.” His dark eyes danced with a teasing quality, and Gerty reached up with her free hand and cradled his face.
He leaned into her touch, and she stroked her fingers down his strong jaw to his neck. “I won’t lunge at you.” She wasn’t ready to kiss him, even if she’d been thinking about it a lot tonight.
“What was the name of your ex?” he asked.
“James,” she murmured before she knew to censor herself.
“Terrible name,” Mike said. “So biblical.”
Her memory fired hard at her, and she burst out laughing. He’d once told her that his name was too biblical, and he hadn’t liked it much growing up. As she quieted, she leaned further into his chest. “He wasn’t biblical in how he acted, that’s for sure.”
“How long did you date him?”
“A year before we got engaged,” Gerty said. Maybe having him sit on this side of the booth was better, because she could talk to him without looking at him. “We were engaged about six months before I called it off.”
His fingers in hers tightened, then released. “And why’d you call it off?”
“I found out he was cheating on me,” she whispered. “I was so humiliated, Mike. I can’t even describe it. Even now, I’m embarrassed to tell people, as if it’s my fault, you know?”
“I don’t know, baby doll.” He brushed his lips along her temple. “But I’m real sorry. I can’t imagine why anyone would do that to another person, least of all you.”
“You don’t see me clearly,” Gerty said.
“Of course I do,” Mike said. He pulled away, but Gerty didn’t want to look at him. “Gerty.”
She reached for a chip instead of turning to face him.
“Gertrude.”
That got her to look, and she glared at him. “I hate that name.”
He leaned closer. So close, his forehead almost touched hers. “I have always seen you clearly, and just because we’re older now, with some history behind us, doesn’t mean that’s changed. Okay?” He spoke in his military voice, and it was low but oh-so-commanding.
Gerty found herself nodding, though she wanted to argue. “Okay,” she whispered. She closed her eyes against the power in his. “You don’t think I’m pathetic for getting cheated on?”
“Absolutely not,” he said. “I don’t see how that’s your fault.”
