I blamed it on my staunch Scots background.
“So, is your place empty tonight?” Song asked next, arching a painted eyebrow.
“It is,” I said, checking my phone again. No new messages.
Shit.
“What do you keep looking at over there?”
She moved her purse and spotted my phone.
“I’m just checking to make sure my kid isn’t texting me,” I quickly replied. It wasn’t entirely untrue, but I would’ve taken pretty much anyone calling me away at the moment.
Her eyes narrowed. “You’re sure you’re not on Tinder or something?”
“Is that something people do on dates?” I asked, frowning. “Seems crass.”
She sighed, her expression more genuine in that moment than it had been all night. “Sometimes. Guys suck.”
“I promise that’s not what I’m doing.” I might’ve wanted to leave, but I wasn’t looking for another woman while on a date.
I wasn’t that much of a bastard.
Slowly, her face transformed back into the posh woman she’d been. “You’re too much of a gentleman for that. You don’t know how nice it is to be on a date with someone who has their life together. And handsome, too! You’re like a white whale or something.”
Perhaps I was more of a snob than I liked to admit, but she surprised me with the Melville reference. Despite that, when our food arrived, I hoped eating our meal would take precedence over conversation.
No such luck. Apparently, she had no compunctions about talking with her mouth full.
“How do you find time to stay so fit?” she asked, popping another piece of pasta into her mouth. “I have no kids ora job, and I still barely make it to the gym most days.”
I waited until I finished swallowing before answering, “I have a rigid schedule and follow it precisely.”
“It’s definitely made you nice andrigid,” she replied, flashing me another smile. This time, she had something green in her teeth.
It was then that I felt her foot sliding up my ankle. I moved my leg away to allow her more space, pretending to simply shift in my seat. But her foot found me again a moment later. All the while she smiled and chatted, completely oblivious to how unattractive that made her.
I checked my phone again. Another green message – no emergencies. Now, I thought about all the things I could have been doing rather than this. In my periphery vision, I caught her pursing her lips, clearly annoyed at my lack of enthusiasm. Her foot climbed higher up my leg, reaching to my calf.
“How is your food?” I asked as though I didn’t notice her ministrations.
“Almost as delicious as you look.”
I took another drink and wondered how I could get away without destroying my relationship with Lee, personal and professional.
“Lee said you went to university to study architecture?” I changed the subject. “Do you have a favorite architect or structural design?”
“I dropped out, actually,” she said, shrugging. “So not really. It was more of a whim anyway. Erecting buildings is so…cold and boring. I prefer erectmen.”
She planted her foot on the edge of the seat between my legs. I sat back as far as I could without tipping my chair. I was trying not to be rude, but this was too much.Shewas too much, and this was a waste of time. I wasn’t attracted to her and pretending otherwise would only make things worse.
“I hope you left room for dessert…” Her toes brushed against the inside of my thigh, leaving no doubt about where her foot would be going next.
Enough. I grabbed her ankle and gently removed it from my chair. “Unfortunately, I’ll be working early tomorrow, and I’ll need a good night’s rest. It’s already getting late…”
“It’s barely afternine,” she snapped. “And tomorrow’sSaturday. Is that seriously the best excuse you’ve got?”
I didn’t bother to explain things to her. She wasn’t a woman I’d pursued and invited here due to mutual attraction. We weren’t a good match, and if she didn’t see that, it confirmed what my intuition was telling me.
