“I’ll take that for a yes,” she said.
“As long as it puts me in a good light.”
“It does. Now, where was I? I went to college at UCLA for theater and began acting, mostly in small theaters in L.A., like Playwrights’ Arena and the East West Players. A casting director saw me and gave me a recurring role in a sitcom no one remembers. That led to more parts, which eventually landed me the role of Patty inTobin Country. You pretty much know the rest. What about you?”
“You already know the first part. The only son of a painter and carpenter, who inherited a house from his great-aunt.”
“And the part I don’t know?”
“After spending several years in the NYPD, I made the switch to law thanks to an errant bullet to the knee.”
“Oh, my. You were shot?”
“Not by choice.”
“That must have been horrible.”
“I wouldn’t recommend it.”
“But you’re fine now?”
Stone bent his right knee back and forth. “Good as new.”
“I’m glad to hear that. You seem to have done well for yourself since.”
“You could say that.”
The waiter appeared with their dinner, and they fell into easy conversation as they ate.
When they finished, Josie said, “This has been a lovely evening. Thank you.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” he said. “Normally, I would invite you back to my place for a nightcap, but…”
“But you’re not interested in me in that way,” she said, looking both understanding and disappointed.
“Quite the contrary. I’mveryinterested in you. The ‘but’ is there because the woman I had been seeing broke things off with me just a few days ago.”
“Oh,” she said. “Is there a chance you might get back together?”
“While we left that possibility open, no promises were made. The thing is, I like you, and I’d like to get to know you better. But contrary to what I might have done in the past, I don’t want to rush things.”
“Howfarin the past are we talking?”
“Is that important?”
“I suppose not.” She smiled. “You are quite the surprise. I’ve known far too many men who wouldn’t have let a recent breakup stop them from taking someone else home.”
“I can’t say I haven’t been one of those men before, but I’m trying to be better.”
“I don’t know if you realize this or not, but honesty is a very attractive quality.”
“So, that’s a yes to seeing each other again?”
“It’s a definite yes.”
Chapter 15
Instead of returning to thecollege after the reading of Trenton Sidney’s will, Oliver Humphrey had taken a room at the Carlyle and spent most of the night staring at the ceiling above his bed, wondering what he was going to do.
