Page 15 of A Soldier's Temptation
“Thank you again for coming with me.”
“And thank you for asking and twisting my arm.”
“I didn’t twist it, did I? Okay, but I didn’t have to do it too hard.”
“No, you were just a little pushy.”
He tried to look contrite but didn’t come close to pulling it off. But she didn’t care, she was lost in his eyes. They were the deepest green she’d ever seen, like looking into a pair of glittering emeralds. The fine lines at their corners and the thin scar on the right side of his face didn’t take away from his looks at all. He was perfect imperfection, it wouldn’t make sense to anyone else, but it did to her. She’d often wondered about the scar since she’d met him, but asking wouldn't be polite. Some things her mother had ingrained in her so well she still could hear the woman’s sharp voice.
He smiled and touched their wine glasses together in another silent toast. She’d love to know what he was thinking, but she didn’t want to break the spell. Her heart was doing somersaults in her chest, and the moment seemed so intimate she almost reached out and traced the scar with her finger.
Mr. Darcy chose that moment to woof, and the spell was broken. Focusing on swirling the wine in her glass, she settled herself back down. The heat in her cheeks probably gave her away.
“What’s up, buddy?” John asked her fluffy companion, the mood breaker, and farting king of the world.
“Woof.”
“Do you want some bread?”
“Woof.” And making sure John got the point, he put his paw on his leg.
“Mr. Darcy, stop that.”
“Don’t worry. It’s fine. Can I give him bread or do you think it will aggravate his ummm issue?” He whispered the last. Probably a good idea. The last thing they needed was the other customers knowing it was Mr. Darcy if he accidentally let a few stinkers loose.
“Bread shouldn’t bother him. I wouldn’t give him too much, no sense taking chances.”
“I agree. I’d rather not be banned for life.”
“No kidding.” He held out a piece of bread to her four legged-fuzzball, but he turned his head away. “What’s wrong? I thought you wanted it?”
“Woof.” Again, he put his paw on John’s leg and looked at the table.
“You want me to put butter on it?”
“Woof.”
“What kind of a dog are you raising here?”
She had no idea, it was a first. Usually, he was thrilled to take whatever she offered. What strange weirdness was this? Sure enough, after John buttered the bread he took it and laid down under the table.
“I’ve never seen him do that before.”
“Obviously, he watched us put butter our bread and decided he wanted the same thing.” A low woof came from under the table in acknowledgment. Her dog was definitely one of a kind.
John refilled their wine glasses. “If you keep this up I’m going to be too buzzed to eat.”
“From two glasses?”
“I didn’t eat a lot today. Actually, I think I only had a couple of the cookies Shira brought over. Things got a little crazy and I was too distracted to eat.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. The offer still stands, I’m a great listener if you want to talk about it.”
“Thanks, I really do appreciate your offer. We just don’t know each other that well.”
“Hopefully, this dinner will help change that. I really like you, a lot more than like. I’m hoping we can see where this can lead.”
He’d rendered her speechless. Up until he’d invited her to dinner she figured she was just a plant sitter to him. “I don’t know what to say.” To say she was surprised was the understatement of the year.
