He gasped. “It’s miserable outside. I don’t take Vella out in this kind of weather.” He’d been driving his ten-year-old SUV and would continue to do so until the weather warmed up.
She rolled her eyes. “Right. Fine. I’ll pick you up at five-thirty. We’re supposed to bring the wine.”
“I’m guessing you’re a Boone’s Farm kind of gal.I’llbring the wine.”
She scowled. “I know wine.”
“Really?”
She looked like she meant to say something, then changed her mind. “I know red is refrigerated and white isn’t.”
“Not quite.” He sighed. “What are we having for dinner?”
“For real, pot roast with potatoes and carrots. Regular food I like.” She narrowed her eyes. “With gravy.”
He considered that. “Like, a wine sauce or a heavier gravy?”
“Regular gravy. It’s brown and tastes good over the meat.”
“Okay. I’ll bring a Bordeaux then. Beer too. Hmm. I’ll grab an ale or a porter. That would go well with a roast.”
“Whatever.”
Mack did his best not to smile at her grumpiness. “Is it a problem if I bring the alcohol?”
“No. I was going to hit the grocery store after I finished soothing your wounded ego, you know, because I didn’t jump on your text right away.” Yet her blush said she knew she’d been wrong.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” She wanted to go there, did she? “Let me ask you a question. If you called Jed and he didn’t answer for a week, or you texted him and he couldn’t find the time to text you back foreight days, would that be okay?”
“Well, no. But—”
“What kind of relationships have you had? And I don’t mean your friendship with Jed or Shannon. I’m talking real, man-woman-type relationships?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She turned her entire body on the couch to face him.
“Imean,when you’ve been dating, do you have some sort of system for communicating?”
She frowned. “You’re making this into a big deal that it’s not.”
“Explain it to me.”
Her pink cheeks said what she couldn’t. She didn’t know how to handle him, so she’d run scared. “Look, I apologize. I know it was wrong, and I have no excuse.”
“Much better.”
She glared so hard it was a wonder his face didn’t melt under the glow. “I won’t blow you off again.”
“Blow me…off. Right. But you can still blow me.”
“You wish,” she muttered, her anger having faded.
“I do.” He grinned. “Now, so I’m tracking about tonight… I show up with you. I’m polite. I don’t look too hard at Shannon or think bad thoughts about San Francisco. I laugh at all Jed’s jokes, and I tell them what wonderful children they have.”
“Well, the kids are little hooligans, and Jed’s not that funny, but yeah.”
“Got it.” He paused. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
