“You do. You’ve always had it in school and in your job. You’ve got it in you, but you’ve never let it show in your personal life. Do you think Ruby and I haven’t talked? If some nice clothes are making you feel better about yourself and letting you come out of your shell, I’ll take you shopping right now and help you buy more.”
She breathed a sigh of relief, then a giggle burst out.
“I feel like such an idiot. When you say it like that, I’m being silly.”
“You are. Just be you. Seems like it’s working. Have fun and let me know how it goes.”
“I’ll try.”
Try to have fun and maybe share how the date went.
Because if it flopped like she feared, she was keeping that to herself.
11
HAVE THE TIME
Dean parked his SUV and got up just as Molly was climbing out of her car.
Shit. He wasn’t sure what to expect but it wasn’t this. He liked tall women, but this was candy on a stick. Cinnamon candy at that.
Molly was strutting toward him in a navy blue cotton dress that went to her calves and did nothing to hide the body that should be on a runway. She had the same nude pumps on her feet as she did earlier in the week when he’d seen her.
The dress was sleeveless, her arms were toned. What should have been a simple cotton dress looked anything but on her.
Her hair was down and straight as a board, parted to one side like it’d been the other night, tucked behind one ear.
“You look great,” he said.
“Thanks.” Her little gray purse was over her chest and one shoulder, her fingers almost twisting the strap again. “You look nice.”
He had jeans on, a light purple button-down shirt with white pinstripes, the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. It was one of the few shirts he could find that fit around his arms.
“Sometimes I forget what it’s like to have buttons on my shirt.”
She laughed. “You look good in T-shirts too.”
He’d been told that a lot in his life. Well, not until he went to college. Adult life was much different from his childhood when he was the tall, lanky brainy kid who hadn’t grown into his features.
He put some weight on, his height matched the size of his hands and feet, his rugged facial features didn’t look so rough when he was thin and going through puberty.
“Then I guess we can make some people jealous looking at us,” he said with a smirk on his face, his hand on her lower back and ushering her in while he held the door.
“No sports car for you,” she said. “Or maybe I thought that before I found out about your son.”
He laughed. “I don’t need a flashy car to make up for any shortcomings.”
“You probably have very few of them.”
His eyes moved over her again. “I’d say the same of you.”
She snorted and then put her hand in front of her mouth. It was an odd move, almost a vulnerable one, yet nothing about her came off that way upon a glance.
“Have you been here before?” he asked. It was a restaurant not that far from him. A nightclub also, but a fraction of the size of his place.
“No. I’m not one for going out at night with the girls. Or alone. I’d ask if you do, but with Pulse, you don’t need to. Unless you want to check out the competition.”
“Competition is good, not bad,” he said. “But the truth is, my place is bigger.” He leaned down close to her ear. “And better.”
