“Not yet, but I’d like to. If that’s okay.”
This was where I should have made an excuse. Thank him. Leave before I embarrass myself.
Instead… “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why me? You had a room full of people out there. Women who are younger, prettier, thinner.”
His voice went firm. Not angry. Just certain. “Stop. Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Put yourself down.”
Heat flooded my face. “I’m not…”
“You are.” He stepped closer. Not invading my space, but close enough that sandalwood wrapped around me, doing devastating things to my ability to form coherent thoughts. “And I’m going to stop you every single time you try it. Deal?”
My breath caught. “You’re confident.”
“I know what I want.”
“And what’s that?”
“To take you to dinner.”
The room fell silent. Even Brynn stopped whispering.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re…” I gestured at him, at all of him, at the unfairness of his face and his voice and the way he looked at me like I was worth looking at. “And I’m…”
“Beautiful?” he supplied.
“Thirty-four with a failed marriage and a struggling animal rescue, and trust issues that could fill a stadium.”
He didn’t flinch. “And I’m twenty-four, so that’s ten years, not fifty. We’re both adults. We both have bills, responsibilities, and questionable life choices in our past. The age thing? It’s just a number.”
“It’s not just a number.”
“Then what is it?”
“A sign that we’re in different places in our lives.”
“Are we?” He tilted his head. “Because from where I’m standing, we’re both working our asses off doing things we love. We’re both stressed about money. We both have friends who care enough to drag us places we don’t want to go. Seems similar to me.”
“You’re a musician about to blow up. I run a rescue that might not exist in a year.”
“So we both have uncertain futures. Still sounds similar.”
I wanted to scream or laugh. Who was I kidding? I wanted to kiss him, which was the worst idea I’d had in years.
Cole pulled out his phone. “One dinner. That’s all I’m asking. If you hate it, if I’m boring, annoying, or not what you’re looking for, we shake hands and go our separate ways. But if you don’t give me a chance, you’ll never know.”
“Know what?”
