“I’m telling the truth.”
He nodded, like sure you are.
That ticked me off, so I went off on him. “A good portion of the men that have meant the most to me in my life have made very little money. And just for the record, I wouldn’t date someone like Nicholas because I know his type, and no amount of money would compensate for it.” I turned and looked out my window at the cars passing us by. For some reason I had the urge to cry. “Maybe we should just go back to the office,” I muttered.
I felt the slightest touch on my knee, but I didn’t react to it. I kept staring out the window.
“Kelli, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t you mean, Ms. Bryant?”
“No.”
“Apology accepted, Mr. Greyson.”
“Do you have any suggestions for where you would like to eat?” His tone was repentant.
I thought for a moment. “Sure, there’s a great little café near the river walk.” I spouted out directions to him.
“So, just for the record, what type of man is Mr. Price?” he asked bravely, or maybe stupidly.
I wasn’t sure why he wanted to keep on this line of questioning. You would think he would have left well enough alone, but fine, I decided to play along for a bit. “He’s all about the flash, there’s nothing real about him. A date with him would mean an exclusive, overpriced restaurant. The food would be awful, and the conversation would beworse, as it would center completely on him. Then he would probably have tickets to a sold-out show, and he would congratulate himself all evening for scoring said tickets. To top it off, he would expect to be paid back for showing you such a good time by some physical means. Of course, when that didn’t happen, he would be disgruntled, but he would play it off because now you just became a challenge and he likes the chase. But eventually he’d get tired of the chase and realize there were easier women out there, and he’d never call again.”
He pulled into the café parking lot, turned the car off, and faced me. “You got all of that from one meeting?”
I unclicked my seatbelt. “I can read people very well, men in particular. And I’ve had the unfortunate pleasure to know a Nicholas or two in my day.”
His forehead crinkled. Not sure why that bothered him.
I exited the vehicle and took a moment to let the sun shine on my face. It was such a beautiful day, I felt like it shouldn’t be wasted inside. “Would it bother your allergies too much if we ate outside?”
“The allergy medicine seems to be working well.” He briefly took a moment to look around at our surroundings. “I think eating outside is a great idea.”
I wasn’t sure if he was being sincere or just trying to please me, but I accepted it. I was hoping we would be lucky and there would be some struggling musicians playing out by the river. This was Nashville after all.
Ian asked the hostess for a table for two outside, and we were immediately seated.
“They serve breakfast here all day and everything is fabulous.” I plucked my menu out of the stand on the table. I pulled that baby in front of my face, to give myself a moment’s reprieve. Staring at his gorgeous face for long periods of time was making me do dumb things, like go to lunch with him. Who knew what else might happen? Obviously, nothing, right? Right. We were keeping it strictly professional.
I decided on the Denver Omelet, full of ham and cheesy goodness. I never understood why Denver was its namesake. He decided on their bleu cheeseburger with sweet potato fries. Of course he asked whattemperature they cooked the burger to. I had to stop myself from laughing. It was a very Ian-like thing to do. The poor waitress had no idea, she had to ask someone.
Once the flustered waitress left there was no way I could keep staring at my menu. It also meant Mr. Greyson only had eyes for me now. “Do you miss Colorado?” he asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. “Sometimes. I’ve been thinking I should take a vacation there someday. How about you? Are you homesick?”
“Men don’t get homesick.”
“If you say so.”
He leaned in closer across the small round table. “I find I’m liking Nashville more and more.”
I leaned back, trying to keep up the boundaries I needed to stay in place. “Nashville’s great, but it lacks the mountain scenery.”
He looked out toward the river and then back to me, capturing my gaze. “I’d say Nashville has some pretty great scenery of its own.”
I cleared my throat. Surely, he didn’t mean me. I was thankful when our sweet little waitress returned with the waters we had ordered. It was getting awfully warm.
Mr. Greyson skimmed the rim of his glass. “I’m curious, you say you can read men well. What is your summation of me?”
