“Hey.” He reached out and lightly touched her hand which was resting on her thigh.
She jumped with a gasp, flinching back.
Mierda!
“Sorry, Mari. Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Sorry, my mind was a million miles away.”
He heaved out a sigh. “I’ve messed this date up completely, haven’t I?” He hated that sad, confused look in her eyes.
“This is a date?” she asked, looking surprised.
“Well, I was hoping it was.” He still held onto her hand. “But if you’re not interested in me like that, it can just be two friends sharing a meal.”
She gazed away from him. “It’s not that I’m not interested. I am. You’re gorgeous. But I . . .” She cleared her throat and he frowned slightly wondering what she’d been about to say about herself. He got the feeling he wouldn’t have liked it. “But my life is a bit of a mess right now. I’m not sure I can offer you anything.”
“All right, then we’ll be two friends sharing a meal. Of course, you actually have to eat for that to be the case.”
Disappointment filled him, but he forced himself to push it deep. This wasn’t rejection. She said she wanted more. That things were complicated.
He just needed to remove all the complications.
“Anything I can do to help?”
She shook her head. “No, but thank you.”
“Come on, eat something for me. Here.” He picked up a fry and held it to her lips. She opened her mouth and took it. Something moved inside him. A possessive beast that wanted to claim her.
Mine.
Christ, slow down, man.
Her tongue came out and licked the salt from her lips. He nearly groaned.
“Are you okay?” she asked him.
He grinned at her. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’m sorry if I got a bit intense just now.”
“It’s okay, I understand. I’m just not used to anyone, well, caring about me I guess.” She shrugged as if it was no big deal. But it hurt him to think of no one caring for this girl.
“I care, Mari.”
She liked the nickname. It made her feel special.
She wasn’t sure why he cared when he barely knew her, but it filled her with warmth. She turned back to her food to hide her confusion. Even though she wasn’t hungry, she knew she had to eat. She drank some sweet tea, barely holding in a grimace at the taste.
“Don’t you like sweet tea?” he asked.
“Umm.” What to say? He’d just told her not to lie. She sighed. “Not really.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Then why’d you order it?”
“I don’t know,” she sighed. “I guess because you did. I get flustered sometimes. Say the wrong thing.”
“Okay, so what would you like to drink?”
“Diet coke.”
He raised his hand to the waitress.
“Oh, but she’s so busy. It’s okay, I’ll drink it.” She reached out again for the sweet tea.
“Mari, put the sweet tea down and back away.” It was said jokingly but there was an undercurrent of command in his voice.
She slid her hand back under the table as he ordered a diet coke. Reaching out, he slid a few strands of hair behind her ear. “From now on, if you’re given or accidentally order something you don’t like then tell me, yeah?”
She couldn’t imagine this situation coming up again but she nodded in reply.
“You’re such a sweet, little thing, aren’t you?”
Marisol wasn’t used to someone talking to her this way. It made her feel flustered. And special. Definitely special.
“I’m making you feel awkward, huh?” he asked.
“Just not used to people talking to me like this.”
“You don’t like it? Want me to stop?”
“No, I do,” she said hastily.
He leaned in towards her. “Good. Because I like it too.” He glanced back down at her plate. “You need to eat a bit more.”
She took another bite of her burger. She’d never had someone encourage her to eat. Her aunt was always telling her that she ate too much. Of course, she lived on air and alcohol so . . .
“Tell you what, eat three more bites of that burger and I’ll buy you an ice cream sundae. They’re pretty good here.”
Ooh yum.
Although she wasn’t sure what was more delicious. The thought of the sundae, or the way he spoke to her. He reminded her of one of the Daddies in CJ Bennet’s books. And he was a cowboy.
Double delicious.
Chill, girl. You barely know him.
Even though she didn’t intend to order the sundae, she took three hasty bites and he laughed at her. She blushed as she realized what she’d done. Seems her self-control was shot.
“That was cute. Although make sure you chew all that, I don’t want you to choke on such a big mouthful.”
Urgh. That was so not attractive, Marisol. Way to act like a sophisticated grown-up.
As she was chewing, her phone beeped and she pulled it out of her bag. She sighed as she realized it was nearly time to head back. She swallowed and drank down some of her diet coke.
Yum.
“That was my alarm. I have to get back to work,” she explained as she slid the phone away.
“You set an alarm as a reminder?”
“Otherwise I tend to forget. One day, I was three hours late getting back because I got caught up in a book. My aunt was very unhappy with me.”
“She owns the spa, right?”
She nodded as he raised his hand to the waitress to ask for the bill.
“Next time, I’ll get you that sundae.”
She didn’t say anything. She doubted there would be a next time, but it was nice that he was thinking about it. She wished she could offer to pay. It seemed like that would be more polite.
“Next time it’s my turn to pay,” she blurted out as the waitress dropped the bill and moved away to another table.
He turned and gave her a firm look. “Definitely not. Old-fashioned views, remember?”
She bit her lip. It didn’t feel right somehow.
“Tell you what, you can repay me by giving me your phone number.”
“You want my phone number?” Was he serious?
“I do. That a problem? I was joking about you having to give it to me as payment for lunch. You don’t have to do anything you don’t feel comfortable doing.”
“Oh no, it’s not that. It’s just. I thought maybe . . . never mind. Here . . .” She opened the contacts in her phone and he tapped something in before giving it back to her.
“I sent myself a text so I’d have your number.” He winked at her.
She popped it into her bag without looking at it.
“Now, I need you to give me some wedding gift ideas as I escort you back to the spa.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she said as he moved from the booth then helped her out. He still frowned slightly as he looked at the bandage. Thank God he couldn’t see the bruise underneath.
He led her through the diner and held open the door then he walked on the road side of the footpath next to her. She kind of wished he’d offer her his arm again, but he didn’t.
“So what do you think I can buy on short notice here?”