How did she not see that deep down he didn’t respect women? I wanted to shake her. Back when he’d asked her to marry him, I’d tried to tell her my concerns, but she’d insisted I was imagining things, had even accused me of being jealous that she was engaged. Believe me, I wasn’t, considering her fiancé was Brian. Maybe I was wrong and they’d have a good marriage. I sure hoped so.
Brian put his arm around Autumn’s shoulder. “It’s getting late, babe. You ready to go?”
I glanced at my watch, surprised to see two hours had passed. They said their good-byes, and suddenly I was alone with a man I wouldn’t mind having as a boyfriend. A temporary one.
“You don’t like him much, do you?”
The man was observant, for sure. I shrugged. “I think she’s making a mistake, but it’s her life.”
“True.”
The waiter appeared, and Dylan and I both declined another drink.
“But I will have a cup of coffee and a slice of pecan pie,” he said. He glanced at me. “Join me?”
“Sure. Coffee for me, too, and a piece of that chocolate volcano thing you guys do.”
“That sounds good,” Dylan said after the waiter left. “I went for the pie because I’ve never had pecan pie before. Thought I should try it.”
“I like a man who’s adventurous where food’s concerned. Chad wouldn’t…” I about bit my tongue off. Why was I even thinking of Chad when I was with a man like Dylan Conrad? “Sorry, I shouldn’t have—”
“No problem.” Dylan put his hand over mine. “If you need to talk about him, I’m a good listener.”
Was this man for real? Guys hated it when you mentioned previous boyfriends around them. That had been my experience, anyway. I glanced down at the hand covering mine, liking how big and strong it was. And warm. And how would that hand feel roaming over my body?
“Jenny?”
“Mm?” And the way he said my name made all my nerve endings tingly, not to mention other parts of me.
“Tell me what you’re thinking right now.”
I lifted my eyes to his and saw the heat in them that matched what I was feeling. “You tell me,” I whispered, knowing he could.
Before he could answer, the waiter returned with our coffees and desserts, and the moment was lost. One side of his mouth curved in that half smile that made my stomach twitchy. I exhaled a silent breath, trying to get my heart to calm down when he turned his attention to his pie. If he had leaned his face down to kiss me, I would have let him.
When we finished our dessert and coffee, he walked me out, and I came to a halt at seeing two silver Mustang GTs sitting side by side. So someone did have a car like mine. That explained why people kept thinking they saw me in places I wasn’t.
“Whose car is that?” I wasn’t even sure which one was mine, and I peeked in the window of the closest one. The locks popped up, startling me, and I jumped back. At hearing Dylan chuckle, I glanced over to see him pointing a remote at the car. “Yours?”
He grinned. “It is. Like it?”
“What’s not to like?” I couldn’t decide if I liked that we had the same cars. Seeing the silver Mustangs sitting side by side, it was like they were a couple. I wasn’t ready to be the other half of a couple with any man now that I’d gotten Chad out of my life, and this…well, it seemed like some kind of sign. Maybe I should sell mine after all and get an early start on my world tour.
“Hey, where’d you go?”
“What?”
“Just now.” He tilted his head and peered at me. “What were you thinking?”
That I can’t decide whether to run from you or climb you like a tree.“Have you ever traveled? You know, like to other countries?”
8
~ Dylan ~
“Yeah. Why?” I honeymooned in Paris with Christine, but I wasn’t going to talk about that. Her question had come out of nowhere, and I waited to see where she was going with it.
She shrugged. “Just wondered. My dream is to go on a world tour. I’m leaving right after Autumn’s wedding. My flight is booked and paid for. I’m saving as much as I can between now and then so I can travel as long as possible.”
