I was dying to know the answer to my question, but my mouth had gotten away with me again. Another snarkywhateverwouldn't cut it, so I held my tongue. My focus went to bi-racial couple kissing at the next table before I looked at Kofi. "No, I'm not seeing anybody."
With his head angled slightly to one side, he said, "Why?"
I could have told him it was none of his business but that wouldn't have gone down well, especially since the point of our date was to get to know each other better. "I'm between relationships, I guess. And maybe I don't need one."
"Hmm."
"What does that mean?"
"It sounds as if you think you don't need anybody." He waited a beat before adding, "We all need somebody."
My gaze darted to the crowd around us as I hedged. "I'm happy in the space where I am this minute."
"So why did you agree to go out with me?"
"Because you asked."
He picked up his glass, holding my eyes, and drank from it.
"So," he said, placing the glass on the table, "you expect me to believe you've given up your evening simply because I asked?"
I nodded, since my glib words disappeared when his deep-brown eyes pierced mine. "You seem like a nice guy, so it wasn't hard to say yes."
I tried gauging the effect my words had on him, but couldn't tell what he was thinking about my bland response.
Kofi didn't say a word, but his guarded eyes told me he knew better than what I was saying. To prevent him for asking any more questions, I posed the same one I had before he started quizzing me. "So, what about you? Are you dating anyone, or are you in a relationship?"
He leaned forward, frowning. "I wouldn't be here with you if I was doing either of the two."
"Oh, so you're a straight arrow?"
"Whatever I say, you are going to come up with your own version of events so I guess it's for you to find out."
That meant he assumed we'd be taking things further, which pulled a smile from me. "Is that so?"
"Definitely."
He looked at his watch, then signaled for the bill. "I have to be up early tomorrow, so let's walk off this food before I take you home."
I propped my elbow on the table and rested my chin on my fist. "You're not tactful."
One of his thick eyebrows tilted and a barely-there smile crossed his lips. "Because I say what I mean?"
Nodding, I laughed. "Nobody can get carried away with you, can they?"
His gaze turned intense again before he said, "It is easier to be honest. Life is simpler that way."
"Hmm."
Kofi motioned to the waiter and asked for the bill. While he finished his glass of water and settled with our server, I watched him. He was decisive, polite and generous, based on the tip he slid inside the restaurant folder with the bill.
My mind moved to sports medicine, of which I knew nothing, and I wondered what kind of money Kofi made doing what he did. I was about to ask him where else he consulted when he touched my wrist.
My gaze shot to his and I pulled my hand back. There wasn't anything as dramatic as the energy I'd felt when he rested his hand on my back, but there was something. A warmth that leapt past my arm and settled in places that had no business responding to him.
His eyes met mine and I was certain he knew what was going on in my mind and body. I flushed again, while hoping the heat coloring my skin wasn't as visible as I imagined.
"Come," he said.
