But he stayed quiet and let her get it all out.
“And when I do date, it’s all the wrong guys. We date, they seem nice, act like they want more than just a roll in bed. Then they’re either too boring or they lie. They have girlfriends. They want money, a place to stay, free drinks at Ray’s.” She rambled some more, ending with, “It’s the lies I can’t take.”
He considered all that she’d said. “You give free beers to your boyfriends?” That would have been an added bonus.
She pinched him.
“Ow.” Or not.
“No. I donotgive free beers at Ray’s.” She pulled away to glare up at him then squashed her head back to his chest. “I just want what Del has. What J.T. has. What everybody I know has.” She pressed harder against his chest, and he had a feeling she was drying her tears, which hurt him more than he’d have expected. “I’m going to get a cat.”
A random statement he had no idea what to do with, so he said what was in his heart, censored a bit. “Rena, you are the most lovable woman I know.”I think I love you. I want to marry you and have babies with you.“You just need time to find the right man.”Me.
She sighed. “Yeah, I’ve been hearing that over half my life. But when is the right man going to find me? When I’m eighty?” Her breath hitched. “I’m sorry for unloading on you. But you wanted to know why I canceled our date.”
“I’m still waiting.”
“Did you not just hear me tell you I want a man? For babies, marriage, for life?”
“Ja.And?”
She stilled against him. “Are you volunteering?”
Hell yes.He cleared his throat. “I think you go too fast. You must start small. With someone who is a good kisser, maybe.”
She said nothing but didn’t shake off the hand on her back.
“Then you go on some dates. You see what you have in common.” Uh-oh. Not smart. What did he and she have in common? “What do you like to do?”
“I like to read.”
“I like to read.” Auto parts magazines and some old porn forums, but he could fake it, he was sure.
“Yeah? Romance books?” She sounded amused, no longer crying. That was good.
“Well, no, but I would try one. What else do you like to do?”
“I like babysitting Colin.” She paused then started crying again. “I have no hobbies. No life. I work all the time, and now I realize I don’t have anything I like to do except talk to people and pour drinks. I actually did like working at Ray’s, but not as much as I love having my salon.”
He let her cry it out, hearing some words he understood, though most he did not.Single forever, old maid, dried up and done.The gist of being single forever.
She did have a flare for the dramatic.
As she spoke, her ice cream melted, and the sitcom she’d been watching changed to a drama with potential. He stroked her back and hugged her tight, semi-aroused the whole while. Though he did his best to pay attention to her whispered ranting, he soon grew embroiled in a kidnapping that ended in a shootout and a huge kiss between the leads that didn’t make much sense but that he found he liked. The credits rolled at the end, and he realized Rena had fallen asleep on his chest.
Holding her felt so right. He just sat there, keeping her close. She mumbled something in her sleep.
“Rena, sweetheart, you okay?”
“Axel, will you be my valentine?”
He froze, wondering if she was aware of what she’d asked. “Rena?”
She didn’t answer, and he knew she probably wouldn’t remember it come the morning. But he would.
“Yes,Liebling.” He kissed the top of her head. “I am yours. Time to make sure you know you’re mine.”
* * *
