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“Dude, I have seriously never seen you act this insecure.” Kyle stood at the end of the quiet corner booth at the back of Mountain View Pizza on Friday night.
Dakota tore his gaze away from the window where he’d been hopelessly searching for Leah’s SUV. “Insecure? Me?” He waved a hand at Kyle. “Nonsense.”
“Oh, there she is!” Kyle pointed to the window.
Dakota whipped his head to the window, but Kyle’s laughter had him turning back to his friend.Ex-friend if he didn’t cut the shit.
“You totally fell for it,” Kyle said around chuckles.
“Not funny, man.”
“I thought it was. You’re like desperate to see Leah.” Kyle slid into the booth opposite Dakota, his face turning more concerned. “Are you even sure she’s coming?”
“Why? What have you heard? Did she tell Heidi she wasn’t coming?” He’d waited the rest of the week to hear from Leah, but he’d purposely written the note he’d left on her SUV so she wouldn’t have to reply. She could just show up and the date would happen. He’d figured that would help because she was shy. Not talking to her, however, made him have no way of knowing if she was planning to come or not.
“What Leah and Heidi talk about rarely makes it to my ears unless I was present for the conversation.” Kyle made a puppet of his fingers and thumb and pantomimed it gabbing on and on. “You know how women are.”
Dakota thought he knew how women were. At one point, he’d considered himself a semi-expert on the topic of women. But now… now he had to admit he didn’t know shit.
Especially when it came to Leah Greenstead.
She’d obviously had a good time on their class adventure earlier this week. She’d even flirted with him. He was sure of it. Her smile had been bright throughout the day and the thank you cards Luke had given him indicated she’d appreciated what he’d done with the students. Even if he’d tricked her into that adventure. She hadn’t been mad at him and no parts of the day felt awkward or forced. There was an easy connection between the two of them—a connection he was positive was not one-sided.
Almost positive.
Hell, maybe he was totally off base. What did he know?
“Look,” Kyle said, drawing Dakota’s attention back to his friend’s face. “If she doesn’t show up, I’ll never tell a soul that you were stood up.” He put his hand over his heart as if taking an oath. “That secret will go to the grave with me.”
“Keep saying stupid shit and you’ll go to the grave earlier than you expected.” Dakota shook a fist at Kyle. “She’s going to come.”
Kyle threw a glance out the window as he slid out of the booth. “Fingers crossed for you, man.” He backed up toward the kitchen and disappeared behind swinging double doors.
Alone now, Dakota went back to his vigil, staring out the window. It was dark outside by this time and a glance to his wristwatch told him it was 7:10. Ten minutes late didn’t mean she wasn’t showing up. Ten minutes could mean she’d had trouble choosing an outfit, she’d had to stop for gas, or she’d had to wait on Old Country Lane for the ducks that liked to cross there. Ten minutes could mean she’d forgotten to put a light on in her house before leaving, she’d left her purse behind, or the iron was plugged in.
Or ten minutes could mean she’d weighed the pros and cons of going on this date with him and the cons had won.
Bleck.He usually wasn’t this dramatic. Usually he didn’t have to wonder whether or not his date was coming. Many times it had been the woman who askedhimout. All he’d had to do was make dinner reservations and the rest was on autopilot.
Leah was different though. So different. He couldn’t decide yet whether it was good different or a damn frustrating different. Maybe it was a little of both.
He ordered another beer and decided he’d give her until 7:30 before he’d officially let shame swallow him and slink out of Mountain View Pizza. Alone and defeated.
“Hey.”
Dakota nearly jumped out of the booth at the word. He turned around to see Leah standing at the edge of the table, her hands twisting and untwisting the straps of her purse. He couldn’t stop his gaze from traveling the length of her to take in the fall of her golden hair over her shoulder where she had it all corralled, the snug fit of the black sweater she wore with dark blue skinny jeans, and the… the ankle boots on her feet.
“Are those…” he leaned over and squinted down at the boots, “supposed to be blood-spattered?”
Leah nodded. “The design is calledVampire Visit.” She angled one boot out, resting on the heel and swaying her foot left then right so he could see the way the toes had more red on them and the splatter tapered off as you got to the heel. “They’re dark, but I like them.”
“I like them too.”Too much.He’d never been turned on by a pair of shoes before.
Dakota slid out of the booth and stood in front of her. “Is a hug of greeting allowed?”
She squinted up at him, no doubt thinking about his question for a minute, and he braced himself for a negative answer. When Leah slowly spread her arms, he didn’t think twice about stepping into that space. Her body was small in his hold, but somehow it fit there, and Dakota didn’t want to let go. She smelled of lavender again and closing his eyes, he tilted his head so his nose brushed against her hair.
