Page 62 of Crossing Paths
He waved a hand, dismissing the attempt on his life with the casualness someone would give to shooing a fly. “But then I wouldn’t have met you.”
Their food arrived, giving her a chance to recover from that bit of incredible sweetness. By the time she’d eaten three tortilla chips loaded with pico de gallo, she’d regained enough of her composure to speak again.
“Have you always lived in Langston?” It seemed impossible she could’ve stayed unaware of his presence if they’d grown up within miles of each other.
“No. Phoenix.”
“When did you move here?” She’d researched him and his gym when she was looking for a trainer, but she hadn’t looked into him personally. Now she regretted it, feeling weirdly like she wanted to know absolutely everything about him immediately. All she knew was that he’d bought the gym four years ago when the previous owner retired and that he had a stellar reputation as a trainer. When she’d started, that had been sufficient information. Now that seemed not nearly enough to satisfy her curiosity about him.
“College.”
She gave him a look. He wasn’t making this easy for her. Not that she’d expect Dash to be one of those people who spilled his entire history ten minutes after meeting someone, but it’d be nice to have answers longer than one word. “How old are you?”
“Thirty-one.” There was a pause before he asked, “You?”
“Twenty-three.” She was tempted to say that she was almost twenty-four, but that attempt to bump up her age seemed too juvenile.
“Hmm.”
She took a bite, waiting for him to elaborate on that thoughtful sound he’d made, but he stayed quiet, sending her curiosity off the charts. “Is that older or younger than you thought?”
“You look your age, but your brain seems older.”
“Oh.” She took another bite so she’d have time to process that, unsure whether that was a compliment. Did having the brain of a forty-year-old make her less appealing or more? From his enthusiasm when he’d kissed her, she didn’t think it was less. She finally decided to ask. “Is that good?”
“Yeah.” There was no hesitation before he answered. “The way your brain works is really interesting.”
She smiled, thinking back to her first impressions of Dash. “I think your face is really interesting.”
He paused, staring at her.
She watched him back, not sure what he was waiting for, so she just remained quiet.
“Is that good?” he finally asked.
“Oh yes.” Her face heated. She couldn’t help it. “I like…interesting.”
One side of his mouth slowly curled up into a smile. “Me too.”
***
It wasn’t until they pulled up behind Molly’s weed-mobile that Norah remembered she hadn’t mentioned the following night. “Um…remember Laken Albee?”
“No.”
“She came into the diner while we were eating last Sunday?”
“Right. Her.” His lip curled slightly, and Norah had to bite back a smile. She’d never seen a straight male have that particular reaction to Laken before, and it was kind of a treat coming from Dash.
“She really wants me to go to Dutch’s with her tomorrow night.”
“I don’t trust her.” Dash’s growl was back.
“Me neither.” She reached over to pat him reassuringly but lost her nerve halfway, so she ended up patting the air between them. “I know she has an ulterior motive in trying to ‘reconnect’ with me. I just want to know what it is.”
“I could get her to tell me,” he offered, making her choke on a laugh.
“No torture.” She felt like she was talking to one of her sisters.
