Learning Curve (BBW Romance) Read Online Free Page A

beautiful woman, one who is just as beautiful on the
outside as she is on the inside.”
    Tears shimmered in her big green eyes, and
his heart clenched. He was worried he had said something wrong, but
her red lips parted into a smile so dazzling that the words were
knocked off his tongue just as he was about to ask.
    “ No one has ever said
anything like that to me before,” she said softly. “Or at least no
one who’s ever meant it.”
    “ Then you’ve been spending
your time around a whole lot of blind people.” He
grinned.
    “ Either that, or you’re
just biased,” she told him as he poured the wine, but she was
grinning too.
    “ Well, then here’s to
biased men, and to beautiful women everywhere.” He lifted his glass
to hers in a toast.
    “ I can drink to
that.”
    They clinked their glasses together and
drained them. As the waiter came back with their appetizers, the
warmth from both the wine and Ryan’s company flowed through her
veins, loosening her up so that she completely forgot to be
self-conscious about the fact that she was wearing a curve-hugging
dress. It was true that the flowing lines and the black were far
more flattering to her figure than any of those baggy outfits that
heavy women sometimes wore to try and hide their paunch, but she’d
still felt overexposed walking in, even with the shawl around her
arms to offer a measure of protection and to try and hide the fact
that her biceps were anything but lean.
    But they were so busy talking about their
lives, sharing the funny details of their day and swapping the most
ridiculous stories that her attention was completely focused on him
so that she couldn’t think about herself even if she wanted to.
Instead, she was enraptured by how warm his brown eyes were; they
lit up when he smiled, which was quite a lot, and also revealed to
her a dimple in his left cheek that she wanted to lean over and
press a kiss to. Her heart sighed in happiness—she had to be the
luckiest girl on the planet, to be able to spend a night with such
a handsome guy in a five star restaurant. And she didn’t have to
pay him to do it either!
    They stayed there talking long after the
waiter had cleared their plates and Ryan had paid their check.
Eventually, Ryan suggested they take a stroll in the park nearby to
get some air and allow the poor wait staff to give their table to
someone else.
    “ So, did you enjoy
yourself?” he asked as they made their way down the path, arm in
arm. Susie was very glad that she’d chosen low heels for their
first date—Callie had tried to cajole her into a pair of three
inchers, but she hadn’t been sure how tall Ryan would be and didn’t
want to tower over him. As it was, he stood a good half-foot above
her five foot five frame, and so if she did decide to break out the
stilettos she knew there would be no issue.
    “ I did.” Sighing happily,
she leaned her head against his arm. “I’ve never had such a great
time on a date with anyone before. You’ve made my night,
Ryan.”
    “ I’m glad to hear it.” He
rubbed the pad of his thumb across her knuckles, and she shivered.
“I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable around me.”
    She sighed again, but this time the sound
was heavier. “It almost seems too good to be true, you know? I’ve
been looking for a man forever who likes me for who I am and isn’t
just looking for a skinny body and a pretty face, and I’ve never
been able to find one in real life. Then the first time I set up an
online profile I get you, and so far you’ve been everything I could
ever want. It’s unreal.”
    He squeezed her hand, sensing that she was
unsettled. “Honey, if I knew the names of the men who’d burned you
so bad I would track them down and give them a piece of my mind.
But I can assure you that I’m very real, I’m here, and I’m
definitely interested in you, for you.”
    She pulled her hand away as they stopped
beneath an apple tree. It was spring, and the plethora of