Page 61 of Grit
He squeezed her hand. “Are you relaxed?”
Her eyes went wide. “Uh… kind of?”
“Only kind of?”
She stepped closer. “I’m a little nervous about being on a date. I counted. It’s been over thirteen years since I’ve been on a first date.”
“You’re doing great; it’s been a few years for me too.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Why is that?”
“Do you really have to ask?”
Her eyes relaxed. Her whole face got softer. “Really?”
“Pretty sure you’re the only one surprised by any of this. I think I was pretty obvious.”
“Is it clueless of me to say that I was too busy to notice?”
“No.” He kissed her forehead. “It’s not clueless. That’s your reality. Now your reality is you can’t ignore me anymore.”
“I never ignored you.”
He smiled. “True. But you only wanted to talk about oranges.”
The hostess came back and grabbed two menus. “Your table is ready. Thank you for waiting.”
Melissa leaned close to Cary and said, “So you’re saying you don’t want to talk about the new irrigation system and potential yield improvements that—”
He turned his face and kissed her hard and quick. “Nope. Don’t even bring it up.”
Melissa’s laugh was low and wicked.
There it was. He knew she had an evil side. Now he just had to get it to stay out and play.
“That was great.”She stretched her legs out in the truck and leaned her head back. “Their food is so amazing.”
“That dessert was amazing.”
“Thank you for liking chocolate nearly as much as I do. It makes picking dessert much easier.”
He smiled, one hand on the wheel and the other holding hers. “You could have picked your own.”
She made a face. “Too much rich food.”
“But the best company.”
Melissa turned her head and smiled. “It was good company.”
They’d spent an hour and a half at the restaurant, taking their time, enjoying the atmosphere, and not talking once about citrus trees.
It was a revelation.
Cary learned things about Melissa he’d never known, like she’d barrel raced competitively in college and really enjoyed drawing, which was a skill both she and her brother had inherited from their father, an old cowboy in Montana who’d never remarried after he left their mom.
She didn’t like carrots but ate them around Abby because she thought it was responsible.
She desperately wanted to visit Chile and spoke pretty decent Spanish.
