Page 25 of Savoring Christmas
“She is not,” he said. “You look beautiful.”
“Thanks. You look nice too.”
He was dressed similarly, wearing a pair of jeans and a black sweater. “You okay with The Moose for dinner?”
“Sounds good to me. I’m starving. I spent the afternoon at the food bank sorting through donations and didn’t have time for lunch.”
“My mom says you shouldn’t skip meals,” he said, teasing as he gently moved Cannoli to the bed.
She chuckled. “I agree. “But I tend to get hyperfocused and lose track of time.”
He really hoped she would get “hyperfocused” on him.
“Shall we go?” Mia asked.
“Absolutely.” He stepped aside—as she brushed past him—and followed her down the stairs.
Cannoli trotted after them to the bottom landing, tail wagging hopefully as if she thought she might be invited along. When Mia bent to give her a quick scratch behind the ears, the little dog gave a soft sigh and a sad tilt of her head before she headed upstairs.
On the wayin to town, his palms dampened and his stomach felt knotted. She didn’t say anything for several minutes and he couldn’t think of anything to say either. First dates were the worst. This is why he usually avoided them. But this was Mia. He’d wanted to take her out for such a long time. He could not blow this.
She smelled like vanilla and jasmine and looked so pretty sitting across from him that all he could think about was kissing her. He really needed to keep his cool, though. Despite the evidence that she liked him, he sensed an innate skittishness in her.
He turned on Christmas music for background noise. “I like your perfume,” he blurted out.
“Oh, thanks. Is it too much?” Mia asked.
“Not at all.”
“So, how was your day? Are Mondays busy for you at your office?” Mia asked.
Work. That was something he could talk about. “It was good today, actually.”
“What constitutes a good day for you?”
“I got the settlement I wanted for my client. Her soon to be ex-husband tried his best to keep from paying her what’s fair, but we hung in there and finally came to an agreement. It’s always hard when there’s kids involved. Which there usually are or people wouldn’t need an attorney to help.”
“Does it make you wary of marriage? Seeing all those divorces?” Mia asked.
“Not so much wary but informed about all the pitfalls couples succumb to. By the time they come to me, things have deteriorated to the point of no return. It’s hard to imagine how some of them ever decided to marry in the first place.”
“It must be sad, seeing all those broken families.”
“You might think so, but actually it’s almost always better for people to realize something doesn’t work and make the decision to move on with their lives instead of making each other miserable. I represent a lot of women and they almost always thrive after divorce.”
“Have you ever been close to marrying?” Mia asked.
“No. I had a girlfriend in law school but we drifted apart after we graduated. No drama. We just decided it wasn’t something either of us wanted to pursue long-term. Since then, I’ve not really dated much.”
“Why?”
He looked over at her, smiling. “You’re full of questions tonight.”
She shrugged. “I’m a naturally curious person.”
“I haven’t met anyone I’ve wanted to ask out. Until you.”
“Oh, well, that’s kind of nice to hear.”
