I bow my head. “You’re welcome.”
With that, I turn and head back to the restaurant without a backward glance and with an angry stomach in need of sustenance.
Chapter 6
Seth
Ilightlydrummyfingers on the table at the restaurant, nursing a beer as I wait for my date. He’s late. What was I thinking by agreeing to a blind date? Damn, Edmundo can be pushy as heck. He’s not only my accountant, but my pimp now, apparently.
You could’ve said no, Seth.
I look up in time to see a man rushing my way, but with an air of elegance. If I were running late, I’d look like a chihuahua that needs to pee. I panic every time I’m behind.
The man has cropped black hair with long waves in the front, neatly fingered back from his face, which is dusted in black scruff on his tanned skin. He’s taller than I am, and you can tell he works out because his navy-blue button-up is snug against his body, like it was custom-made just for him. Perhaps it was. He pairs it with dark wash jeans.
The air whooshes out of my lungs at his beauty. Damn, Edmundo hadn’t been wrong. He’s hot. They go to the same gym and became friends between reps of whatever gym bros do to get ripped. My friend informed me that Leo is forty-one, a single dad, and a well-to-do lawyer. I bet he’s a jerk, though, despite what my friend says about him. I guess that’s not fair. I don’t even know the guy. It shows I’m still bitter. Maybe I should call this off.
It’s only a date, Seth, not a marriage proposal.
Yep, he’s elegant and sexy. Let’s see what his personality is like.
I stand as soon as he reaches the table, and we shake hands.
“Sorry, I’m late!” he says in a deep baritone voice that tingles around my stomach. I can’t remember the last time my stomach did that around a guy. “I’m Leo.”
Don’t lie. Your neighbor does that to you. And I hate it.
“Seth. No worries,” I say, though I’m on the anal side about punctuality.
He slides into the booth across from me, and I sit down as well. “My son is sixteen and is developing quite the attitude. It took me a hot minute to untangle myself from an argument about late homework and trashing the kitchen just to make a snack.”
I smile at that. “Kids are cute for a reason. My daughter is a handful, and she’s only three. I’m kind of freaking out about the day she becomes a teen.”
“Indeed!” he chuckles, opening his menu.
When the server stops by, he orders an old-fashioned.
“This is my first date in years, so if I’m awkward, just know that I generally suck at dating in general,” I say when our server leaves to get that part out of the way.
He smiles brightly at me, revealing perfectly straight white teeth. Dang, he’s attractive.
“Divorced, cheated on, or widowed?” he asks boldly.
“Divorced and abandoned.”
“Prick.”
I snort a laugh and shrug. “That he is. How about you?”
“I’m divorced as well, but my ex is still in our son’s life.”
“Does he live in New Orleans, then?”
“She. My ex-wife. And yes, she does.”
I hadn’t expected that. He must be bi or pan, but I don’t question it as long as he’s not here to experiment. I don’t have the patience to teach some guy about gay sex.
The server brings Leo’s drink over and sets it on the table before he takes our order.
