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“You’re going to say no before you’ve even met her? One test date. You don’t have a lot of time left before your trip. Valentines is also just a couple days away. Perfect timing for spontaneous romance to bloom.”
Did she even hear the words coming out of her mouth? She certainly didn’t sound like she believed them.Mick forced a smile forward and nodded. He disliked the thought of dragging someone else into this, someone who was probably a perfectly nice woman—even if a little more on the made-up side than he preferred. But Laurel seemed set on it. And set against putting herself out there at all. Maybe that was the key.
“Sounds great! So do I call her or you? How do we set up this test date?” His bolstered enthusiasm hit Laurel exactly where he wanted it to. Her face lit with victory and defeat all in the same breath.
She was interested in him, just refusing to give it a chance. But finding him a date, though a victory for her business, had been a personal loss. That knowledge alone gave him the ability to forge ahead. She’d cave. Eventually. Hopefully. In the mean time he’d try not to hurt Felicity’s feelings.
“I’ll call and set it up for tomorrow night. Gives you a little time to prepare and for her to drive down from Dallas. Dress nice. I’ll set you a reservation at the Boiler Room for 8pm.”
That was fast.
“I know it’s quick, but since Valentines is Saturday, I’d hate for that to be your first date. But if this goes well, there’s no reason you couldn’t ask her out again for the next evening.”
He wanted to say—Yeah, that’s not going to happen when it’s you I intend to take on a Valentines date—but instead he continued to play along.“Sounds good. So I’ll meet her there?”
“Yes, it gives both parties a little more control—er…safety—to set up the first meeting this way. Not that I’m worried about you being strange or anything.”
A laugh rumbled up through Mick’s chest. “You never can tell. You know what they say about the quiet ones.”
Her eyebrows raised in concern for a split second before her lips parted in a kissable smile. God, he wanted to kiss her. Right there across the table. She made his blood heat with just a glance. If she’d ever grace him with a hungry look, he fall to his knees right there in front of her. “Just when I think I’ve got you figured out Mick Ramsey, you go and say something surprising.”
“How about some food before I head off to the feed store? It would be a shame to come to the Wild Crumb and not have one of their muffins or bagels?”
Laurel glanced away from him and toward the line at the front of the restaurant stretching out the front door. “It looks like a long wait.” Her voice dipped with just enough disappointment to make Mick smile. At least she wasn’t one of those girls who believed food was evil.
“Give me just a sec. What do you want to eat?”
“I have to admit, one of those cinnamon bagels and the cinnamon-apple cream cheese would be delightful, but I don’t have time to sit here another hour to wait for it.”
Mick pulled his cell from his pocket and glanced at the counter. His cousin Trish was working this morning and she always had her phone on her. He texted her and put his phone face down on the table. They had two bagels and spread set before them, no more than three minutes later. Trish ruffled his mess of morning hair and gave them both a wide grin.
“So glad to see my cousin getting out of his house a little more. Y’all have fun.”
Laurel narrowed her eyes and glared, not maliciously, just with determination, like she was trying to see through his skull into the inner workings of his brain. “You knew you didn’t have to stand in that line.” It wasn’t a question, but he chose to answer anyway.
“Yep.”
She ripped off a small piece of the bagel and dipped into the spread, before putting it into her mouth. The sound of pure delight emanating from Laurel was worth alerting his cousin to his interest in the newcomer. Trish would definitely becheckingin with him later, but at this point Mick didn’t care. Now he just had to get through a date with someone name Felicity so he could put his focus back on figuring out how to get Laurel on a date the very next evening.
“Tell me about yourself, Laurel. What do you like to do for fun?”
Her eyes sparked with suspicion, but she answered his question between bites. “I’ve found reading to be a very pleasurable pastime lately, especially paranormal romance. Never thought I’d be into the whole broody vampire stories, but I really have enjoyed them.”
“Difficult to compete with a supernatural hero.”
Her brows shot up and she looked like that last bite of her bagel took a little longer to go down. “I’m not expecting any competition for quite a while. So I guess I’m not worried,” she finally squeaked out.
Mick squelched the chuckle that wanted to roll up from his chest.Just you wait.“You haven’t sworn off men or anything drastic like that have you?”
“Why all the questions? I’m the one setting you up, remember.” Her words were confident, but her bright eyes were veiled with uncertainty.
“I’m just being friendly.” He gave her a wide smile, satisfied that her resistance to a possible date withyours trulywas waning. “Are you reading An Interview With A Vampire? Or something a little sexier?”
Her nostrils flared and her brows shot up a second time.
Something sexier for sure.
“Please tell me the vampires don’t sparkle.” He had no chance in hell, if those teenage angsty heroes were what she was attracted to. He was probably the equivalent of Grizzly Adams when it came to romance novel description. No angst for him.
