AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why?”
He fidgeted with a spoon. “Because I love it so much. People who don’t like Christmas must be reacting to some kind of past pain.”
Staring at me, he seemed to search my face. Lucky for me, I had a poker face that he wasn’t going to learn anything from. At least not that evening.
Cocking his head to the side, he grinned. “You’re sure beautiful.”
I tried not to grimace.Just say thank you, my mother used to tell me when I’d flare my nostrils at a compliment.
“Thanks. Good genes, I guess. I haven’t had any plastic surgery.” Then I remembered who I was talking to. “Not that there’s anything wrong with it!”
“I don’t see a thing that needs to be done. You don’t even wear makeup, do you?”
“A little. I don’t want to stand out.”
“There’s not much you can do about that,” he said softly, watching me.
I didn’t reply.
He leaned forward again. “This is why the OR would be perfect for you. You’re completely covered, head to toe. Mask, hair covering, protective eyewear, and layers of sterile paper. Although you’d still have a presence, no doubt about that.”
He had to be talking about my height.
“You’re beautiful. Lucky me that my guardian angel would be gorgeous, too.”
I wanted to sayUgh, now this is the playboy I read about.But I said, “Flattery will get you everywhere.”
And then he said something that was as close to a heart-melting compliment as I could hear. It presented me with an option that I hadn’t thought I’d be interested in, ever.
“I don’t think you really like flattery. But I need to tell you what I’m thinking. You’re generous and beautiful. I want to ask you out on a date.” He flushed, laughing. “And I’m tongue-tied.”
“You’re doing fine.”
“Anyway, would you like to go to dinner tomorrow night? I’d ask you for tonight, but we’re already here having coffee.”
“I’m starving,” I said. “So, you can ask me for tonight if you’d like.”
“Great! Let’s get out of here. What are you in the mood for?”
He seemed like a white-tablecloth restaurant kind of guy, so I thought I’d nip that in the bud. “A cheese pizza actually would hit the spot.”
“A pizza it is!”
We left the coffee shop and were immediately faced with our two-car dilemma.
“Can I follow you home?” he asked. “Then we can go in one car.”
“Perfect.” He’d already sent me flowers, so it wasn’t like I needed to be worried about him knowing where I lived.
We walked to my car, and he waited while I unlocked the door, holding it while I got in. He said nothing about my grannie-mobile either. It confused me because men especially couldn’t seem to resist a smartass comment. I was usually tickled when negative comments were made about the vintage of my car, but I was relieved he didn’t seem to care.
“I’ll be right behind you,” he said, staring down at me.
My legs were together, posed. I bit my lip to keep from laughing. I had never, until that moment, considered any posture I had might be alluring. In seconds, I pulled one knee up an inch from the other and batted my eyelashes. Unbelievably, he got it right away and howled.
“Am I that obvious?” he asked.
“No, but I guess I am. I feel like an idiot.” But I laughed, trying to give him a flirty shoulder lift and grinning again.
