Good God, I swear if the birds start singing around him I might have to check my pulse.
“Good Morning, Jacob,” I say with a grin, noting the way his gaze takes me in. It’s not judgmental by any means, but I can’t exactly read him and that makes me nervous. Does he like what he sees?
Dear God, I hope so.
“Hope you had a good sleep,” he says as he picks up the menu and glances down at it. I watch him, unable to take my eyes off of him. I swear, just sitting here he looks like a fuckingRalph Laurenad.
No wonder this guy is a professional date.
I fight the urge to blush at his words, because he licks his lips and I’m brought back to exactlyhowI spent my time last night, after I’d spoken with him.
“Good enough,” I say, more huskily than I mean to as I pick up my menu. The waitress comes back with his coffee and juice and asks for our orders, which I tell her to come back because Jacob’s eyebrows furrow with panic.
“You ever been here before?” I ask.
He shrugs.
“I’ve been on a date here once or twice.”
I settle my fingers on the table, playing with the edges of my napkin.
“Professionally or… personally?”
Jacob twists his lips as he looks over the menu. “Both.”
I nod, chewing my own lip. “Are you um…” I clear my throat, needing to know because I’m curious.
“Are youpersonallydating anyone… currently?” I ask because I really am curious, but also because if he is, I won’t overdo it on the PDA thing. I know we need to set our ground rules and things, and I have some morals, despite what my father might think of me.
Jacob sets his menu down and reaches for his coffee before he answers me.
“No.” He shakes his head.
I can’t hide the surprise as I raise my eyebrow at him.
“What?” he asks, his eyebrows furrowing.
“Just… surprised is all,” I say, grabbing for my own coffee to take a sip.
“I would think a guy like you would be off the market.”
I don’t miss the scarlet tint in his cheeks at my words and that makes my stomach flip because the sight…
Well, the sight of his pink cheeks makes me wonder what other areas may look like tinged with that sort of blush.
My cock jumps as I bite my lip, trying to push the idea out of my head. No! Not appropriate right now, Aaron! This is abusiness meeting.Not a fucking Grindr hookup.
Jacob lets out a sigh and shrugs. “It’s my job. Kind of puts people off.”
I note the sadness in his expression and then his eyes widen.
“Shit, sorry, I probably shouldn’t have said that, it’s—”
I wave him off. “No, it’s fine. I get it, I—”
I run a hand through my hair as the words fall out of my mouth without a second thought.
“Your job is just… what you do. It’s not who you are, right?”
