She laughed and he thought he was going to have to tell the waiter to go away because the man stared at her with open longing at the sound.
"All right. I'd like the buttered pecan bread pudding then," she said.
The waiter started to leave but Clay spoke up, "I'd like something, too."
The man blushed. "Sorry about that. What would you like?"
"Got any cheesecake?"
"Would you prefer plain, strawberry, or chocolate?"
"Chocolate sounds good," Clay rumbled.
The waiter nodded. "I'll be right back."
When he left, Clay turned back to Dylan. "Now, let's revisit the topic of who's paying tonight."
Before he could say anything else, she shook her head. "I'm paying for mine."
"Look, this is probably unenlightened of me, but my mama raised me to pay for a lady's dinner when I take her on a date."
Dylan's mouth twitched before she said, "Then I'll let you pay if I ever let you take me somewhere. Since I met you here, I'm buying my own dinner."
He frowned at her and her mouth twitched again. "Are you trying not to laugh at me?"
The smile spread across her face. "Of course not," she lied. He could tell she was lying because her eyes sparkled with humor.
"How likely am I to change your mind if I keep pushing?"
"Very unlikely."
"Okay," he sighed. "But I'm only agreeing to this because I'd like to see you again."
Her smiled widened. "Really?"
"No, I made that up so you wouldn't leave in tears."
She laughed at his deadpan delivery. "I'd like to see you again, too," she admitted. "This is the best first date I've been on in a very long time."
"I think this might be the best date I've ever had," he admitted.
To his surprise, Dylan reached across the table and squeezed his hand briefly before she released it. "Then, I'm sorry you've had so many crappy dates in the past."
Clay's hand tingled where their fingers had touched.
Before he could do something he shouldn't, like reaching for her hand again, the waiter came back with their dessert.
It was probably a good thing because if she'd wanted to hold his hand, she wouldn't have let go the first time, he decided. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable, especially after the stories she'd told him about some of the men she'd dated.
She took the first bite of her dessert and even though the restaurant wasn't quiet, Clay could hear the soft moan vibrate in her chest.
Fucking hell. There was no way he could stand up any time soon. Desperately hoping that she wouldn't moan again, Clay tried to will his dick to relax. He focused on eating his chocolate cheesecake slowly. Usually, he'd shovel his way through dessert at the same speed he put away his meal, but he was going to need a few minutes.
"Would you be comfortable giving me your phone number?" he asked. Maybe if she was talking, she wouldn't make sexy noises over the food.
Dylan swallowed a bite of bread pudding and nodded. "Yes, I think so. Why?"
"Because I'd like to be able to call you and ask you out."
