And why did I like it if he did? That, I knew the answer to but had to ignore.
“We have an aunt in New Jersey whom we see occasionally, but it’s really just us. Being alone for a full day and night is a rare luxury.”
“That’s how you spend your downtime? Writing outside in the cold weather?”
“It’s not that cold. It was in the fifties today. For a minute. Brisk. Gets the blood pumping.”
He let out a chuckle, throaty enough for it to travel down to my toes again.
“Glad I amuse you,” I said, lifting a brow as I wiped my mouth.
“It’s not that you amuse me,” Silas said, searching my gaze as his smile deepened. “You’re unexpected.”
I chuckled after Silas repeated the words I’d spoken earlier. This whole afternoon had been very unexpected, starting from the second we’d met.
“And that’s good?” I asked, tilting my head as I tried to read his expression.
“Yeah,” he rasped, the air thinning between us in this corner booth that seemed smaller every time Silas looked at me like that. Like those light eyes could see right through me.
“It’s really good. In fact, you’re the best thing that’s happened to me today.”
CHAPTER THREE
SILAS
“CanI walk you to the train?” I asked Rachel after we headed out of the restaurant.
“It’s not necessary, and you said you had an early day tomorrow.” She shook her head as she shrugged on her jacket, and I fought to keep my gaze at eye level and not let it travel down her curves and fixate on the tease of cleavage as she straightened her top, or the perfect curve of her hips as she smoothed her jacket down.
She was beautiful, funny, and from what she’d told me about her life outside of writing romance books, pretty damn selfless to give up her freedom for her sister. Shame washed over me at how I’d thrown myself a monthslong pity party over the twists and turns my life had taken recently when, looking back, I didn’t have much to complain about.
I’d had an amazing career and the full support of my family. My only sibling hadn’t ever wanted much to do with me, but I never had to worry about my parents not showing up when I needed them.
Rage rushed through me for a woman I’d just met when I thought of all she’d probably had to go through as a kid.
We’d had easy conversation through dinner but never mentioned any specifics, like what my old job was or where I’d be working now. Only die-hard baseball fans would recognize me out of uniform here, and I liked just being a guy moving to New York for a new job to Rachel. Once she knew who I really was—and who I was about to be—things would get complicated, and the superficial bubble we’d enjoyed tonight would pop.
Not that we could do anything about it anyway. I was still a guy on the road for seven months out of the year, and Rachel couldn’t drop everything to meet me wherever I happened to be or when I came back into town.
My ex-wife had never met me on the road, but I couldn’t fault her for that when I was hardly present even when I was home. A career in sports wasn’t conducive to commitment, at least not for me.
But Rachel wasn’t expecting anything from me, not even a walk to the subway. I shouldn’t have been worried about all the ways I’d disappoint her if I asked for another dinner or meeting or even for her phone number.
But I wasn’t ready to let her go just yet. We could keep it simple for another hour or two before she became a sweet memory.
“You said your sister was at someone’s house for the night, right? Feel like getting a cup of coffee before you head back?”
She pursed her lips as she stepped closer.
“I try not to get on the subway too late, and I didn’t expect dinner to go that long,” she said, smiling as she nodded to the restaurant behind us.
I hadn’t expected dinner to go that long either. We’d spent hours just talking, forgetting about the empty plates and glasses in front of us.
“I’m happy to pay for a cab to get you home. I’ll even let you treat me.” I gave her an exaggerated grimace, rubbing my side. “You know, to make it up to me.”
She glowered at me, letting go of the most adorable groan.
“Bad enough you wouldn’t let me pay tonight. Now you’re guilting me into a cup of coffee.”
