Page 64 of Kiss Me Now
“What’s your DC dating life like? When I worked there, it was hard to find time. People mostly seemed to hang out with people from their office or offices nearby. Not a lot of time for one-on-one, traditional dates.”
He shrugged. “I’m a little old school. I like dating the old-fashioned way, I guess. Set a time and place, pick up my date, spend time getting to know each other over a good meal. But I tend to always date the same kind of woman.”
“What’s your type?” Was I some kind of sadist? But I really wanted to know. It was the kind of thing I’d ask any of my other friends.
“I don’t have a physical type, I guess. But I do date a lot of lawyers.”
“Like from your firm?”
“Some,” he acknowledged.
“You don’t worry they’re all going to get together and compare notes and you’re going to be in hot water?”
He shook his head. “No. I was brought up to be a gentleman. I don’t date more than one woman from our firm at a time, and we always leave on good terms. I guess it’s possible they get together and trash me, but I kind of feel like I maintain a good working relationship with all of them? I never hide anything from them, and I try to communicate well.”
I stared at him. “Are you the actual perfect man?”
He snorted. “Obviously not or we’d be making out right now.”
“Ian...” My cheeks heated for the fiftieth time.
“I kid, I kid. No, I’m not the perfect guy. I’m a workaholic. I tend to put it before anything else. I tease too much. And I don’t visit my grandmother enough,” he added.
“That’s true. You’ve done better coming to see her the last couple weekends,” I conceded.
“I forget sometimes how much I love being here. Her trick did a good job of getting me back here to remind me of that.”
“Even breathing the air here feels like therapy.” I inhaled deeply and picked up notes of garden soil, the faint whiff of freshly cut grass from a neighbor’s yard, and a freshness that I couldn’t describe but that was the essence of Creekville.
“Very true. Almost as good as Gran’s hugs. Speaking of which, I better get back to her. I promised I’d play cards with her and Mary. I’m sure they’d love it if you joined us. You should know that Gran cheats like a senator.”
Spending the afternoon playing cards and laughing with them sounded perfect, but I needed to reinforce our new friendship boundary with some time and distance. And honestly, I probably needed the reinforcement more than he did as he rose from the porch and stretched for a minute, the hem of his shirt creeping up enough to let me peek at his washboard abs.
I glanced over at Miss Lily’s house to distract myself. “Thanks, but I’m going to spend some time prepping fungi for class on Monday. Try not to be jealous of my exciting life.”
“Then I’ll head back. See you around, Brooke Spencer.”
“See you around, Ian Greene.”
I watched him walk away. That had gone exactly like I wanted it to. So why did it feel like I was missing out?
