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“Real meat,” she said appreciatively, not realizing until a second too late how her comment would sound.
Ty stilled. “Is that a treat for you?”
Crud and double crud. “Yes,” she admitted, scrambling for an explanation that fell somewhere between the truth and a salve for her pride. “We try to limit our consumption of red meat.” Although in her case it was because of cost rather than for health reasons. “Nice weather, isn’t it?” Great. That was about as subtle as a train wreck.
Edith let her off the hook by slapping a small plate on one side of the table. “Thought you might also appreciate some damp towels,” she said. “So I brought those along with the napkins.”
“You thought right,” Ty agreed. He glanced at Cassidy, his expression more tractable than earlier. “Ribs might be messy, but they’re a guaranteed icebreaker. It’s hard to be formal when you’re covered in barbecue sauce.”
To her amazement, his comment enabled her to relax. She couldn’t remember the last time a man had gone out of his way to put her at her ease. And though she might not be happy about the situation she’d been forced into, she could certainly be gracious about it. “Aren’t you upset that you’ve been caught up in this dating mess?” Kisses aside, thatwas.
“If the circumstances had been different, Iwould’ve been.” He gave her a level look. “If the circumstances had been different, Iwould’ve put a stop to it.”
What circumstances? she wondered uneasily. Perhaps she wouldn’t risk asking. “So why didn’t you stop it?” she demanded instead.
“Simple. Iwanted to date you.”
Her breath caught. Well, that was sure frank. It also gave the exact answer she least wanted to hear. “But I saw you arguing with your grandmother about it.”
He shrugged. “That was before we kissed.”
Damn! Why in the world did she have to give him such an enthusiastic come-on? “It was a simple kiss, Ty. Get over it.”
He actually had the nerve to laugh. “It was more than that and you know it.”
Maybe. All right, definitely. That still didn’t change how she felt. “I told you. I’m not interested in dating.” She shoved her plate aside. “I’m through with that.”
“At twenty-nine?”
Her gaze darted away again. “What does age have to do with anything?”
“You’re far too young to allow one bad experience—”
“You know nothing about it!” she snapped.
“I know what Hutch told me. And if I didn’t think we’d suit, I’d have told Willie to run the application again.”
“Aren’t you doing that anyway?”
“I’m having her rerun the form for your sake, not mine.”
That brought her up short. “Oh.”
“It’s the truth, Cassidy.”
She released her breath in a gusty sigh. “I believe you.”
And she did. Ty hadn’t made any bones about his attraction to her. She was the one running scared, nothim.
“But trust comes hard, doesn’t it?”
There was no point in denying it. “Sure does.”
“Then why don’t we make an agreement? No shading the truth. Ithink it’s important we be honest with one another.”
She wouldn’t have too much trouble with that. The truth had a way of tumbling out of her mouth whether she wanted it to or not. “Okay.”
He nudged her plate back in front of her. “When we’re done eating, why don’t we go over that application and make sure Hutch got it right.”
