They stepped up onto the next sidewalk, but Dakota was still warming her hand with his, and Rylee didn’t pull away.
Yes, non-performative gentlemanliness, his behavior seemed so gracefully normal that it was a bit shocking to Rylee’s system because it wasn’t the norm she’d encountered at all.
It should be, though.
Of late, she’d run up against a lot of guys who believed they were the “good guy.”
But they were good only as a tool. As soon as they realized they weren’t getting what they wanted, the good veneer pulled away, and the angry, entitled guy showed his true nature.
On one of her last dates, she took out her credit card to pay her share. She’d already decided that she’d never see this guyagain after he insisted he order for her. And he didn’t even ask what she wanted to eat or if she had any allergies. She drank her water and left the food on the plate. He didn’t notice. He did put his whole attention on the credit card in her hand, though. The guy was livid that she had been emasculating all evening, opening the door on her own and trying to pay. How dare she embarrass him that way?
Rylee excused herself to go to the restroom.
On the way out, she found her server, explained the situation, paid her share, gave the woman a generous tip, because she assumed bro wouldn’t leave anything for the woman after he realized Rylee had slipped out the back door, hailed a cab, and left his sorry ass at the table by himself to seethe.
The dating pool that she tried to navigate seemed to be getting worse and worse. Though, honestly, it might just be that as Rylee got older, she developed a hair-trigger on her bullshit meter. And frankly, she was burned out.
Sometimes she lamented that she hadn’t been born a lesbian.
Thiswas not one of those times.
Dakota fobbed the back gate open and dropped Tank’s lead. “Tank, load,” he said.
And as Tank settled in his crate, Dakota smiled at Rylee.
It was an easy smile, and Rylee remembered telling Neesa that one of the things she remembered about the man who gave her the flowers was that his smile seemed to come easily and sat naturally on his face.
“Dinner. It’s a little bit complicated because I have Tank. Since he’s a cross-trained tactical K9, he can’t be left unattended.” Dakota side-stepped between the two parked vehicles, opened the passenger side door, and placed her bag on the floorboard.
“Lest someone see how beautiful Tank is and think they wanted to steal him?” Rylee asked. “I can’t imagine that going well.”
“That’s exactly the scenario.” Dakota moved to the side and extended his hand to help her as if she were in a ball gown and heels. “Hold that thought. I want to get the heat on for you.” He shut her door, jogged around the front of the vehicle, climbed in, and got the engine going. “Ideas about dinner?” he asked. “Specific cravings?”
“What were your plans for tonight?” Rylee asked. If he was going to order a pizza, she had a place with outdoor seating and warming posts.
“I was cooking shrimp scampi at home, salad, and garlic bread. There’s plenty if you’d like to join me for that.”
He was inviting her to his home. She’d known this guy for less than an hour. She kept trying to convince herself that, in such circumstances, out of self-preservation, a woman should say, "No, thank you."
Rylee couldn’t raise a single molecule of concern. A lot of that probably had to do with the way Tank looked adoringly at Dakota. True love and partnership were so evident between the two. Rylee had read a scientific study that said a dog can smell a bad guy.
Tank trusted Dakota.
Rylee, for whatever reason, trusted Tank.
Shealsotrusted Dakota. That was a revelation.
“I would. Thank you.”
“You’re okay with that?” He did a double check in.
And Rylee decided to be honest. “I’ve had a rough couple of days; my nerves have been a little raw. Quiet sounds really nice.”
Dakota threw his vehicle into reverse. “I’ve been a shadowy quasi-witness to some of your week. I’ve seen you wearing a lot of different emotions on your face.”
“Yeah, that’s right, you have.”
“Counterfeiters, heart attack victims, gropers, then you decided to shake hands with the creature from the Black Lagoon.” He sent her a broad grin.
