Despite his obvious lies, my mouth watered at the mention of all those delicious dishes. "Impressive," I said. Too bad it wasn't true.
"Just like anything else... lots of practice. What about you? Do you cook?"
"I'm really good at ordering in."
He laughed at my lame joke. "Well, if you'd ever consider seeing me in person again..." His voice took on a teasing edge. "I'd love to cook for you."
Wow, this man was something else. I shouldn't have been surprised that Tristan Hawthorne was capable of playing out the lie that he could cook and be hospitable, but I was.
Maybe it'd be a good thing to call his bluff, see if I could catch him somehow. And besides, a dinner together could ultimately help with the whole make-Tristan-fall-for-me plan. If I could pull it off.
Oh, God.
"I'll have to think about that."
This was my go-to answer for any situation I wasn't sure about right off the bat. It'd taken me years to come up with it, sadly, but because I was a slow thinker, it simply bought me more time to mull things over. In this case, I'd have to consult with my sisters.
"You could still remain anonymous," he said. "Just wear your mask, baby. It's kind of hot actually."
A laugh popped out of me before I could stop it. He thought it was hot?
"Let's set it up right now. When are you free?" he asked, obviously employing his own strategy of being pushy, pushy, pushy.
"I'm not sure. I'll, uh, have to check."
He chuckled softly. "Any time. Any day. Just let me know."
"But aren't you busy? Don't you work all the time?"
"I'll make any time work for you."
This guy. Puh-leeze.
"I'm actually planning on going out of town next week," he continued, "but if you say the word, I'll cancel in a heartbeat."
Really? He was that desperate to have dinner with me? Maybe I was having some kind of impact after all.
But he actually needed to go out of town. So maybe I should do this dinner thing before then. Or after?
In a split second, I decided on after. That'd give me plenty of time to plan. And back out if needed.
"How about when you get back? Maybe Friday night?" It was a week and one day from now, enough time to mentally prepare myself. And maybe take an acting class myself.
"It's a date."
I almost corrected him and told him it's not a date. No dates with Tristan Hawthorne ever.Ever. But I managed to bite my tongue, reminding myself for the millionth time, this was all part of the process.
"Hey, big bro," Archie's voice came barreling through loud and clear, making me wonder how loud he was in person."Should I be concerned that you're smiling like that? Do I need to call an ambulance?"
"Very funny," came Tristan's reply. "Please tell me you didn't just remember a project that you'd forgotten about and it's due tomorrow."
"No, I'm not an idiot. It's not due until next week. But I have to turn in a proposal for it tomorrow."
"Oh, my God. That might be worse," Tristan groaned.
I stifled a laugh.
"Sorry, baby," he said to me, his voice low. "Looks like I've got to go. But I'll call you, text you, and maybe if I'm lucky, you'll answer."
