Page 38 of Trophy
He could see her swallow, and her face was starting to clear. “Oh. Well, to tell you the truth, the only relationship I’ve ever had was with Arthur.”
He chuckled, feeling better now, like he could do this, like he could hold them together if he was careful enough. “That makes sense, then. We should take it slower and just see what happens. I know you’re still getting over your divorce. No one is asking or expecting a relationship.”
“So you want to…”
“Take things slow and see what happens.”
Her cheeks had been pale, but now they flushed slightly. She dropped her eyes. “Last night didn’t feel slow.”
“So we don’t have to have sex again until you want to. Why can’t we still hang out?’
She looked up at him quickly. “I don’t know. I just kind of thought… you’d… you’d want… more.”
He silently cursed himself for his stupidity last night in babbling on about how much he wanted to be married. It was true, and he’d felt safe telling her, but he’d known he shouldn’t let himself be seen as so needy and sentimental. She was thinking that was what he wanted with her.
Maybe it was. He didn’t even know. All he knew was he couldn’t let her slip out of his life. Not like this. Not so soon.
“More comes later,” he murmured. “All I want to do is spend more time with you and enjoy myself. No expectations. No relationship. What’s so scary about that?”
She blew out a breath, looking like she believed him. “I guess it’s not. Sorry if I overreacted. It’s strange to do this after a marriage like the one I had.”
“I totally get that. We can take this at any pace you want.”
“Are you sure? Because I haven’t lived here long, but it seems like as soon as two people go on one date, the whole town assumes they’re a couple and just waits for the engagement announcement.”
Rob gave an amused huff. “That is true. What if we don’t go out, then? In public, I mean. We live across the street from each other, so it won’t be hard to manage without everyone knowing we’re spending time together. I’m serious about this, Allison. I’m not putting any pressure on you. I just don’t want to you to dump me for no good reason.”
She laughed softly, and he knew he’d convinced her. He felt better. Intensely relieved. And like he was in control once again.
He didn’t mind that she still had issues and hang-ups from her marriage. He kind of liked that she was vulnerable that way. It made him feel like she needed him, like he could really help her.
“I need to get to work,” she murmured.
“I know.” He leaned down to kiss her softly but pulled back quickly. “I better not do that when we’re out in your driveway.”
“Right.” Her eyes looked soft and sweet again, the way they had last night. “Good thinking.”
“What about if I come over tonight to your place? It’s a little neater than mine is. I’ll bring dinner.”
“You don’t have anything in your house that could pass for dinner.”
“I know how to pick up a pizza.”
She giggled again. “Okay. That sounds fine.” She paused. “You’re really okay with no relationship or anything serious? Because I don’t know if I can?—”
“I just told you I was. What kind of men have you known, that you expect them to be disappointed when you tell them no strings attached?”
This was evidently the right thing to say. She laughed uninhibitedly and moved to get back into her car. “I’ll see you tonight.”
“Actually, I’ll see you at breakfast.”
“Right. See you then.”
Rob watched her drive off in that ridiculous ancient Cadillac, and he felt better about the world. If he could keep her looking at him that way, he’d be perfectly happy.
Dora’s was fairly busy, so the day passed quickly for Allison. When she wasn’t focusing on work, she was thinking about Rob.
She’d been silly to blow the whole thing out of proportion. Rob had seemed completely fine with keeping things low-key and casual. She was actually a little embarrassed that she’d assumed he wanted a serious relationship. She had very little experience with men other than Arthur, but she knew enough to know that relationship talk was what usually scared guys away.
