“But no dates.” It wasn’t a question.
I smirked. “Not until recently, and none worth remembering. Except you.”
Elsie blushed but asked, “Why?”
“My sister was able to take care of my mom in the evenings while she was still in high school, then put off going to college so I could finish school. Once I got a job at a clinic, the hours were long and grueling, and I just…didn’t have the time. Or the mental energy.”
“So, why now?”
I took another sip of water before answering. “Maya found me a better clinic to work at. Higher pay and less hours, and with my mom taken care of, I feel like I’m in a better place to pursue dating.”
Elsie nodded, nibbling on a piece of cornbread, her chili devoured.
“Okay,” she finally said.
“Okay?”
“I don’t think you’re a player.”
My mouth flopped open. “I wasn’t aware that you did.”
She gestured to me. “I mean, look at you. I’m sure women are all over you.”
Was that a…compliment?
“I’m not sure whether to say thank you or be offended by that.” Elsie’s answering laugh had my heart constricting in my chest.
“Sorry,” she giggled, but the amusement in her eyes said she wasn’t. “Confident, attractive guys are usually a magnet for women. I just assumed that went for you, too.”
Elsie thought I was attractive? My chest swelled at the thought.
“Well, thank you for that…sort of compliment, but I am neither a player nor do I have a constant stream of women wanting my attention.”
She nodded, avoiding my eyes. “That’s good.”
“Besides,” I continued. “Even if I was a so-called babe-magnet—”
“I don’t remember using the term ‘babe-magnet.’”
“—there’s only one woman that hasmyeye anyway.”
I settled my gaze on her, hoping she understood my meaning. From the first moment we met in the sunflower field, she had done something to me. I wasn’t a player like she had assumed, and I didn’t have a mass of women following me around, but even if I did, they would all pale in comparison to her.
She ducked her head, cheeks reddening, and I desperately wanted to reach across the table and hold her hand, or brush my thumb across her cheek, or…literally anything.
Instead of responding, she shoveled the rest of the cornbread in her mouth, pushing the bowl away when she finished.
“I should probably get home. I have an article I need to finish.”
Why did the idea of her leaving, going home to somewhere I wasn’t, have my stomach sinking to the floor? She wasn’t mine. We weren’t even officially dating, although everything inside me wanted to change that.
I couldn’t help but think we would be good together.
We’d only been on one official date so far, and her walls were so high they might as well have been Jericho.But I would willingly march around her for days and days, screaming and shouting until those walls fell, if that’s what it took.
I wanted her to stay, to offer to keep her company while she worked, or even have her bring it over to my place and I’d make her some dessert…but I didn’t want to scare her away.
So, instead of saying any of the swirling, jumbled mess of thoughts in my head, I gave a slow nod, hoping my feelings weren’t written all over my face.
