“Am I charity?”
“No. I can’t explain it.”
He didn’t seem convinced. “Me either.”
We sat for a bit longer before we decided to make our way back down the trail. I asked if he wanted to visit the gardens, but he declined. I had pushed him enough for one day. “Was it terrible?” I asked when we reached our cars.
“Was what terrible?”
“Taking a walk with me?”
He offered me a very small smile. “No, it wasn’t terrible.”
“Can I borrow your phone for a second?”
He frowned. “Why?”
I held out my hand. “Paranoid much? I’m going to put my number in.”
“Oh,” he answered and fished it out of the pocket of his cargo shorts. He handed it to me after unlocking the screen.
“Call me if you would like to do this again,” I said and handed him his phone.
“Would you like to do it again?” he asked as if it was completely crazy.
“Yes, I would. Maybe we can get to one of the gardens next time.”
He stared at his phone. “I would like that. Should I give you my number?”
I smiled and nodded. “Yes, please. If I think of anything exciting to do, I’ll give you a call. Unless you call me first. Let me grab my phone.”
“You didn’t take it with you?” he asked.
“Nope. When I am on my walk, I am not on. I have to unplug, or I will go crazy.”
That seemed to surprise him. I grabbed my phone and saw a missed call from my dad. I would call him later. I handed him the phone and watched as his large hands held it and punched in the number. He handed it back. Our eyes locked. My breath caught in my throat. He was intense. I had a fleeting thought about what sex would be like with him.
I quickly pushed it out of my mind. I could not think like that. “Thank you,” I said in a whisper.
“Thanks for today,” he answered, still holding my gaze.
My mouth felt dry. “Okay.”
“Okay,” he repeated.
I found the energy to make my feet move and stepped away. I got into my car, suddenly feeling very hot. I started the engine and blasted the AC. Damn. The man got under my skin. I sensed there was so much more to him than what he presented to the world. I wanted to get to know him better. I couldn’t explain why. It was just something I had to do. I had to know him.
“Xander Holland,” I repeated his name aloud. I looked in the rearview mirror and watched him drive away.
There was something about him. Something raw. Something that appealed to my very soul. He was nothing like the men I usually dated. Nothing.
Chapter 9
Xander
Charlie was sitting outside the building where he worked. I was meeting him for lunch. Technically, I was bringing him lunch to make up for ditching him at the party the other night. He wasn’t truly mad. We both knew from the very beginning there was no way I was going to stay the entire time. It didn’t matter. He was a little pissed. I would make up for it with burgers and fries, and all would be well.
I parked my car, hanging the parking pass from my rearview mirror before climbing out. I sauntered across the parking lot, carrying the bags in my hand. He was staring at his phone, obviously texting someone.
“You can’t ignore me forever,” I told him.
“It won’t be that hard,” he said, dropping the phone down. “You don’t talk much.”
I sat down and pushed a bag toward him. “I brought a peace offering.”
He reached into the bag and pulled out one of the burgers. I grabbed one for myself. The waxy paper the burger was wrapped in was covered with grease stains, ketchup, and melted cheese. He took a big bite before wiping his mouth. “Where did you go?” he asked. “I saw you talking to some woman and then you were gone.”
“I told you I was leaving,” I reminded him.
“I didn’t think you were serious.”
I shrugged. “I was.”
“Who was the woman? The way you were looking at her seemed like you were enjoying yourself.”
“How was I looking at her?”
“Like you wanted to eat her.”
I almost choked on the burger. “Bullshit.”
He grinned. “You had that look in your eye.”
“What look is that?”
“The look that says you want something. I’ve seen you get that look in your eye before. That car, your boat, an excellent ship. You want her.”
I ignored his accusations. “What about you? Did you hook up with the lovely lady you were fawning all over?”
He groaned. “I lost her.”
“What do you mean you lost her?”
“We agreed to go back to my place. I told her I was going to grab one for the road. She said she was going to grab her purse. This, mind you, came after a rather hot and heavy fifteen minutes crammed in a bathroom stall in the ladies’ room. I walked outside and saw my Uber. I waited for her. She never came out.”
“You lost her,” I said with understanding.
He sighed. “I lost her. I went home alone with a serious case of blue balls. She was hot. She was wild. And I lost her.”
I had to laugh. “I cannot believe you lost a person. That is a new one.”
“What about you? Did you get her number?”
“Why would you ask that?”
“Because like I said, I saw the way you looked at her. She was also looking at you like you were a scrumptious snack.”
I grabbed a box of fries and snatched one. “I don’t think so.”
“I saw her.”
“I insulted her,” I confessed.
“What do you mean you insulted her? What the hell? You cannot be that bad at flirting.”
I smirked. “Apparently, I am. I was talking shit about the party planner. I mentioned how much of a waste it was. I even insulted the decorations.”
He shrugged. “So?”
“She was the party planner.”
He burst into laughter. “Damn, that’s bad.”
“It was, but it wasn’t really that bad.”
“I know you are a novice at this dating thing, but trust me. That is bad. You insulted the woman.”
“I got her number,” I smiled.
“No, you didn’t?”
I grinned and nodded. “I did.”
“Do not try and convince me you’ve got game. You have no game.”
“I will not even try to convince you, but I did get her number. In fact, we hung out for a while on Sunday.”
“Did you have a sleepover on Saturday?” he asked and waggled his brows.
“No, asshole. I’m not you.”
“Then what happened?”
I quickly told him about her order to meet her at the park, which he laughed about. “It wasn’t bad.”
“You make it sound like you went for a root canal,” he said with a laugh.
“I have to admit, that’s what I thought it would be like at first. She talks a lot. And she moves a lot. She’s just a lot in general.”
He took another bite. “You are far from high energy.”