Cassidy Lane (17 page)

“Why is that?
I would think it would be easy, given how many people live there.”

“I think part
of it is because of my profession, which is about as solitary as it gets, but also I think meeting people is hard because everyone’s so busy
,
like ordering-their-groceries-online busy, or taking-a-week-to-reply-to-an-e-mail busy. Have
you
ever ordered your groceries online?”

“I didn’t even
know you could do that.”

She tapped her
palm on the table. “Well, there you go. You probably meet more women than I do men simply because you shop at Whole Foods.”

“Maybe, but when
I meet women at Whole Foods, they’re usually wearing workout clothes. I’m not a fan of that.”

She gave him
a puzzled look. “You don’t like it when women work out?”

He shook his
head. “I don’t like it when women who
don’t
work out wear expensive workout gear as regular clothes. It’s like false advertising.”

She smiled, relieved
that the conversation had turned playful again. “Ah…I see what you’re saying. So it bugs you when women wear yoga pants to a nice dinner, for example?”

“Exactly. What is
that all about?”

She shrugged. “I
have no idea. I love my sweatpants dearly, but I don’t wear them to dinner. Unless it’s at my brother’s house, of course.” She’d actually worn sweatpants on the plane ride earlier today, but that was another piece of information she’d keep to herself. For now.

He picked up
his glass. “So what about you? Do you have a pet peeve about men?”

“You mean something
that isn’t an indicator of intelligence or character yet might in fact preclude me from dating that person?”

He laughed. “Well
put.”

She sat up
straight. “Well, along that vein, I’d have to say grammar, particularly the misuse of pronouns. I know I’m superpicky because I’m a writer, but I can’t stand it when a man says something like ‘let’s keep this between you and
I
.’ Or ‘this is a great opportunity for you and
I
.’ Why do people do that? Why?”

“I might be
in trouble. My grammar’s terrible.”

“No it’s not!”
She realized she’d practically shouted and lowered her voice. “Believe me, after all those text messages, I would know. I’ve been paying attention.” In fact, she could tell by Brandon’s text messages how smart he was, and that just made him more attractive to her.

“I’m glad to
hear I passed the test. Were you an English major in college?”

“Yep. What about
you?”

“Economics. You know,
I had a crush on you in high school.”

The non sequitur
caught Cassidy off guard, and she felt her neck get hot. Was he always like this in person, changing the subject between playful and serious on a dime? Before she could respond, Pierre came to clear their plates.

“How were your
meals?” he asked with a polite smile.

“Delicious, as always.
Thanks, Pierre,” Brandon said.

Cassidy leaned back
in her seat and put a hand on her stomach. “Unbelievable. But
oh my God
, I’m stuffed.”

Brandon shook his
head. “You can’t be stuffed. We have to split the chocolate fondant. You’ve never tasted anything like it.”

“That good?”

“Better. If it’s
not rocky road ice cream, I rarely eat dessert. But here? Always.”

“Rocky road ice
cream?”

“It’s my one
vice when it comes to sweets. When I start eating it, I can’t stop.”

She laughed. “I’m
like that with marshmallows. I completely lose control.”

“Losing control can
sometimes be a good thing.” He held her gaze, and she practically stopped breathing.

“So…
are you interested?” he asked, still maintaining eye contact.

“Interested in what?”
It came out as a near squeak.

He pointed to
the dessert menu. “The fondant.”

She blinked and
sat up straight. “Oh, of course. Sure, I’m in, but you may have to wheel me out of here.”

He gestured for
Pierre. “It would be my pleasure.”

As they waited
for the valet to bring around Brandon’s car, Cassidy gave him a curious look. He and the driver had engaged in a brief conversation when Brandon handed him his ticket.

“You know the
valet too?”

“Yep.”

“So you basically
know everyone here.”

He laughed. “Yep.”

She put a
hand on her hip. “I need to ask you something.”

“Shoot.”

She swallowed. “OK,
this may be a little out of line, but do you bring a lot of women here?” Truth be told, despite the attention heaped on them, she was beginning to wonder if maybe tonight hadn’t been as special as she’d initially thought, if maybe the staff was so nice to her only because Brandon was such a good customer. Could it be that she was the flavor of the month? Had she misread his intentions all this time?

He quickly shook
his head. “I’ve never brought a date here.”

“You haven’t?”

He paused briefly,
then gave her a half smile. “Cassidy, you don’t bring just any woman to your home base.”

“Oh,” she whispered.
“Good to know.”

The closer they
got to Cassidy’s parents’ house, the more anxious she got.

And excited.

And nervous.

She began to
nibble on her thumbnail, than yanked it away and interlaced her hands on her lap.

Oh my God.

I can’t believe
this moment is finally here.

He’s really going
to kiss me.

Brandon pulled up
in front of the driveway and put the car in park.

“Here we are,”
he said.

She nodded and
looked over at him. “Casa Lane. Do you
…
want to come inside for a bit?” She could feel her heart beating and willed it to slow down.

“I’d love to,
but I can’t.”

Her face fell.
“Oh.”

He squeezed the
steering wheel. “I have a meeting with a new client tomorrow morning that I haven’t prepped enough for because we’ve been swamped with other cases, and I’ve had the boys the last two nights. If I want to keep from making a total ass of myself, I need to be up by five to do some reading before I get the boys ready for school.”

A tiny alarm
bell rang in a far corner of her brain, but she did her best to ignore it and forced a smile. “Got it.”

“I’m sorry, Cassidy.
Things have just been really crazy lately.”

“Don’t worry about
it. I like that you take your job seriously.” She glanced at the blinking lights all over the dashboard. “You apparently take your cars seriously too. I feel like I’m in the cockpit of a seven-forty-seven right now.”

He laughed. “I
do like my gadgets. Can I walk you to the door?”

“Sure.”

They exited the
car and slowly began walking toward the front steps of the house. She tried to think of something to say but couldn’t come up with a single word, so she remained quiet and kept her gaze fixed on the pavement.

The silence was
palpable.

When they reached
the door, Brandon cleared his throat and looked at her.

“I had a
really nice time tonight.”

She smiled. “Me
too. Thanks so much for dinner, and dessert. You were right, it was out of this world.”

“I’m glad we
finally got to spend some time together in person.”

“Me too. After
all those text messages and phone calls, in a way it’s like I know you so well, but at the same time I don’t really know you at all,” she said.

He didn’t respond
right away, and she looked at the ground, wondering if it had been a mistake to say that. His demeanor was almost businesslike, not at all what she’d expected given everything he’d said to her in texts and on the phone, as recently as last night. And now that she thought about it, except for when he’d briefly put his hand on her lower back, he hadn’t touched her all evening, not even an accidentally-on-purpose arm brush. Had she done something wrong? She wondered if maybe he was less comfortable expressing his feelings in person. She certainly was.

“Did I tell
you how pretty you look tonight?”

She looked up
and smiled, his comment silencing the chatter in her brain, the doubt retreating as quickly as it had appeared. “I don’t think so. But then again, maybe I forgot.”

“You’re an extremely
attractive woman, Cassidy Leigh Lane.”

“Thank you, Brandon
Dean Forrester.”

She stood there
on the step, waiting for him to say something.

Or, better yet,
do
something.

Now was the
time.

But he didn’t
say anything.

And he didn’t
do anything.

He just stood
there, his hands in his pockets, looking at her.

The nerves came
back once again, and she cast her gaze downward.

Why is this
so awkward?

After a few
more excruciating seconds, she cracked. She took a deep breath and raised her eyes. “Are you
ever
going to kiss me?” she whispered.

He smiled slightly,
then took a step toward her. He put his arms around her lower back and gently pulled her close, then slowly leaned down.

“I thought you’d
never ask,” he whispered into her ear.

Then he kissed
her.

His lips were
warm and soft, and she felt her body melting against his. He pulled her closer, and the heat quickly spread throughout her body, even reaching her fingertips, which gently stroked the back of his neck. She’d never experienced a kiss like this, and she began to feel a little dizzy.

She felt like
she was…floating.

Wow.

After a bit
they finally broke apart.

She looked up
at him and smiled. “What took you so long?”

He smiled back.
“What can I say? I’m conservative.”

“
Clearly
. But that
was definitely worth the wait.”

“Agreed.”

“And I don’t
just mean tonight.”

“Agreed.” He gently
brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes, his touch igniting another spark down her neck and spine. Then he leaned close again and lowered his voice. “You smell really good.”

She nodded toward
the house. “You
sure
you don’t want to come in for a while?”

“I do, but
I really can’t. Plus it’s your parents’ house. I wouldn’t feel right.”

She laughed. “We’re
in our thirties now, Brandon.”
Late thirties, yikes.

He shrugged. “I
know, I know. But I just told you, I’m conservative.”

“I thought you
said you weren’t a Boy Scout.”

He put his
hand on her neck, then leaned down and kissed her again. “I’m not,” he whispered.

“You’re not?” she
whispered back.

“No, but let’s
wait for that until Friday.” Friday was when they’d scheduled their next date, when he wouldn’t have work the next morning or the boys to take care of.