Page 45 of Pity Present
“Let’s go get dinner and we can talk about it there.”
“You want to eat with me?” I find this hard to believe. “I thought you had ladies to impress.”
“Obviously,” he drawls. “But I’d like to work out my game plan with you first. After all, you’re a woman so you might be able to give me some advice.”
“Yes, but I’m a single woman who’s here hoping to meet single men,” I tell him. “Why would I give up valuable time to help you?”
“Because I can give you some good tips,” he says. “You know, like stay away from cheaters.”
As annoyed as I am with Blake, I’m hard-pressed to walk away from an offer to spend time with him. Even though I don’t believe in insta-love, I can’t deny that I’m overwhelmingly attracted to the guy.
It’s not only that he’s handsome, either. I’m not quite that shallow. I like his energy, his smile, his … fine, I like how his butt looks in his jeans. “Let’s go get our supper and have a talk,” I tell him.
Blake leads the way toward the buffet, and I follow behind. Once we get our plates, we choose our food and then find an empty table to sit at. As soon as my napkin is in my lap, Blake looks down at my plate. “The first tip I’d give you is to avoid garlicky foods. You don’t want to kiss someone with garlic on your breath.”
I pick up the piece of garlic bread on my plate and take a giant bite. Then I glare at him the whole time I’m chewing. Once I swallow it, I inform him, “Good thing I’m not going to be kissing anyone tonight.”
He eyes my bread longingly, so I offer it to him. After taking abite of his own, he groans and then says, “That has to be at least as good as kissing. I’ll go back and get us some more if we still have room after we’re done eating.” His easy sense of humor catches me off guard.
“What’s your story, Blake?”
He shrugs. “Not much of a story. I’m just a single guy of a certain age wondering where my person is.”
“You’d think you’d meet a lot of women at whatever coffee shop you work at.” My left eyebrow quirks into a question mark.
“You’d be surprised how many women don’t want to date the guy making their coffee,” he says.
“There are a lot of women who don’t judge a book by its cover.” Also, if he was making theirmorningcoffee at home, I’m sure there would be zero complaints.
“Do you judge a book by its cover?” he asks before stabbing a piece of chicken with his fork.
“I don’t care what someone does so long as they’re not breaking the law.” I didn’t mean to come off as quite such a goody two-shoes, but there it is.
“Darn it!” Blakes smacks the tabletop playfully. “I guess I shouldn’t have been smuggling drugs for the Nicaraguans then.”
“Ah, but you’re not interested in me in that way,” I remind him. Then I take my garlic bread back and practically shove the rest of it down my throat.
“You’re not interested in me, either,” he responds quickly. Then he gives me a challenging look as though his statement mandates an answer.
“No, I guess I’m not.”Liar.
“So,” he says, “Thor doesn’t appear to be the guy for you, and clearly Kyle isn’t. Who else are you interested in? Should we steal Ronald back from Olivia?”
“I think I’ll let Olivia have that prize.” I turn and look around the room, setting my sights on the first good-looking man that crosses my path. He’s tallish and he has a short beard that hints atan air of mystery. “That one looks like a possibility. Maybe I’ll go talk to him.”
As I push out my chair to stand up, Blake does the same. “I’ll go with you.”
“What? Why?”
“I can ask some questions that you might be uncomfortable asking and then we’ll have a better idea if he might be the one.”
“I don’t need you to interview my potential dates,” I tell him.
Blake takes my hand in his and pulls me along. “You might not need me, but I could save you a lot of time, so let’s go.”
As I trip along after Blake, I can’t help but wonder what he’s really up to. If he isn’t interested in dating me, which he lets me know often, then why in the world does he care who I set my sights on? Unless of course, he really does think of me as a friend and he’s protecting me.
How depressing.
