suave.
“That sounds perfect. I never got the chance to eat anything today, and I don’t drink and drive if I can help it. I mean, one white wine probably is okay, but why push it?”
Will frowned. “They’ve stopped serving dinner here.”
“Oh, that’s okay! I’m too excited to eat anyway!”
“You’ve got to eat.” He waved the bartender over and paid his tab. “C’mon. We’ll go to the food court and I’ll buy you a sandwich.”
“You don’t have to—”
“Yes, I do. My mother raised me to be a gentleman.” Not every rule had stuck, but with three sisters in the house, Will was pretty familiar with how to treat a woman. And nobody could live on excitement alone.
They went down the escalator and Will wondered how she could walk in those sky-high heels. He extended an elbow, and after looking at it as if it were a totally unfamiliar object, Alex took it.
“What’s your pleasure? Pizza? A noodle bowl?” he asked.
“Oh, pizza is my all-time favorite food, but doesn’t the food court close at eleven too? A sandwich might be faster.”
They ordered two smoked turkey and spinach ranch wraps and two waters, wild things that they were, and found a table. Alex bit into her sandwich with relish, belying her objections to him buying her dinner.
“So, when do you start the new job?”
She wiped her mouth with a napkin. So ladylike. The red lipstick from this morning was gone, and she looked softer and much more approachable.
Not that he was going to approach her.
“Next Monday! I’ll start in Providence first. Meet the anchors. Talk to them. Take measurements. Contact local stores for possible loans. See what’s already in the wardrobe closet. Sometimes if you just tweak the basics, it makes all the difference.”
“It’s the same thing in construction. Change the backsplash, and you’ve got a whole new kitchen.”
“Exactly! We’re on the same page—who’da thunk it?”
“Yeah. I thought we had more of an ‘opposites attract’ thing going on here.”
She put her sandwich down. “Are you saying you’re attracted to me?”
How should he play this? Should he goof it off, or tell her ever since he tapped her bumper she’d been in his head all day?
“You must know your effect on a guy by now,” Will said, not really incriminating himself.
She wrinkled her nose. “Quite frankly, I haven’t had too much luck with guys . One in particular. I married right out of college and he turned out to be a total weasel. I haven’t dated in a decade. Not that this is a date.”
“Nope. Not a date. At all.” Will picked up his water bottle and took a swig. “Just two old friends catching up.”
Alex rolled her eyes. “We were hardly friends. You hated me.”
“I did not!”
She gave him a withering look. Jeez, her eyes were brown. Strange for a blonde, but then she and Miss Clairol were probably on a first-name basis by now. Her hair was all sorts of blond. Sun-kissed.
Crap. He was going mental.
“Okay, okay. You—you threw me. I didn’t know how to act around you. You were so…pretty. Self-assured. I was an asshole.”
“Yes, you were. Are you still an asshole?”
Will thought about it. “Probably. But not so much of one as I used to be. What is it politicians say? I’m evolving.”
“Good to know. I was sort of bitchy back then, too.”
Will decided it would be much wiser not to agree. “We ran in different crowds. Ancient history.” He snapped his fingers.
She was quiet for a minute, then surprised him. “If you’re not going to eat that half of your wrap, I will.”
He pushed the paper plate toward her. “Have at it, Pr—uh, Alexandra.”
She shot him a genuine smile. “Very good, Garrity.”
“Told you I was improving.”
He watched her devour his sandwich, then checked his watch. “I hate to be a killjoy, but they’re mopping the floor.”
“I need to get home anyway. My mother is probably pacing the floor.”
“Your mother?” The dragon