Love at First Date (4 page)

CHAPTER THREE

It was illogical to feel so strongly about some random guy I’d only met once, but when I spotted Henry getting off his bike in front of All Things Furry, butterflies fluttered in my tummy. The fluttering stopped abruptly, however, when I noticed he was wearing the same sweats he had on yesterday. My blood ran cold.

Either 1) he hadn’t changed clothes since yesterday (ew); 2) he was wearing different sweats that looked exactly the same (lack of creativity); or 3) he’d taken off the sweats and been naked doing . . . something . . . and had put the sweats back on since he hadn’t had another set of clothes at wherever he’d stayed (shoot me now).

He locked his bike and his mouth curved upward when he saw Chester and me approaching. “Hi, Ellen. Chester.”

“Hi.” I smiled back, so happy that he’d remembered my name that I momentarily forgot to be concerned about the sweats. Then I noticed dark circles under his eyes and my mouth went flat. Tired? Same outfit? He’d obviously stayed at his girlfriend’s place, had fun all night with her, and hadn’t had time to change outfits. My stomach sank, but I tried not to let it show. “Late night?”

May as well ask and take the dagger to my heart now.

He rubbed a hand over his face. “It shows, huh?”

“Hmm.” Frustrated that his response didn’t give me a clue what he’d been doing, I tried again. “Was it at least fun?”

He appeared deep in thought. “It was . . . intense.”

What did that mean? “But in a good way I hope.”

Kenzie peered between his legs and he patted her head. “Time will tell.”

“Huh.” The guy had a knack for vague. I loosened my grip on Chester’s leash so he could bump noses with Kenzie who had her jaw to the ground. She stared at his invasive snout suspiciously.

“Before I forget . . . ” Henry reached into his pocket and pulled out a bright red pen covered with bumpy hearts and handed it to me. “You left this here last night.”

My cheeks heated at the
Detailed Dating
inscription. “How’d you know it was mine?”

He opened the front door and gestured for us to go through first. “Abby gave it to me after class. Said you left it when you signed your credit card slip.”

Stunned by the knowledge that he’d been with Abby after class, I swallowed my dry throat. Was she the reason he’d had so little sleep? If so, why hadn’t she returned the pen to me herself? “Oh, uh, thanks.”

“No problem.” He followed us inside and took a seat in the chair next to me.

Trying to delete the disturbing mental image of Henry and our beautiful blonde obedience instructor together, I studied the people around the room. The boy from yesterday had his eyes focused on an electronic device as his thumbs worked the buttons furiously. His mom sat next to him, flipping the pages of a magazine. Then I caught the elderly lady with the poodle eyeing Henry and me knowingly.

Yeah. I wish, lady.

“How’s that working out for you, Ellen?”

Confused, I turned toward Henry’s inquisitive voice that Abby had probably gotten to hear intimately. “Huh?”

He gestured toward my purse. “The online dating.”

“Fine.” I cleared my throat, suddenly annoyed that he’d been so friendly to me in class yesterday when he’d really been interested in Abby Wilson. “Very well, actually. I have a date tonight that I’m really looking forward to.”

Okay, did my voice sound as defensive to him?

He opened his mouth to say something when Abby burst out of the back room clapping her hands. “Welcome to the second class of Simply Skilled, everyone!”

His mouth closed and he turned toward the beautiful woman who was wearing baby blue velour sweats that showed off her curves. Quite the opposite of my flower-print button-up blouse and khaki pants, which were flattering and pretty in a more understated way.

I wondered painfully what Henry’d been about to say. Did he care that I had a date with another man tonight? Had that made him as jealous as I felt over Abby Wilson?

I hoped so. But, it was impossible to tell his thoughts from the blank look on his face.

Chester’s tail thumped against my leg as everyone got up to follow Abby to the back room. I forced myself to stand and was surprised to find Henry waiting for me.

“Is your friend Rachel on another date tonight?”

I shrugged. “Not sure what her plans are.”

“Ah.” He nodded. “You’re volunteering on your own tonight, huh? Still going for that Auntie of the Year award?”

I took a step forward but my hand jerked backward when the leash resisted, so I checked behind me. Chester, it turned out, was smacking his mouth like he’d just licked something off the floor that had stuck to his tongue. Gross.

“Something like that.” I shook my head at the canine garbage disposal. Was there anything this mutt wouldn’t put in his mouth?

Henry waited for Chester and me to go through the doorway of the training arena. As he followed us inside, I purposefully picked the spot farthest from our bouncy instructor. To my surprise, Henry and Kenzie chose the spot to the right of us.

“Yesterday, you taught your dog how to sit.” Abby’s voice rang out enthusiastically, her facial expressions animated. “Today, you’re going to teach him or her to stay, and only to come when you ask. Let me demonstrate.”

She asked for a volunteer and a young guy with a bulldog offered right away. Probably had a crush on her, too. Admittedly, Abby was gorgeous—if you were into physical perfection, that is.

But was she organized? Because a man would be hard-pressed to find a woman more organized than me. I mean, my checking account is balanced to the penny, my glass shower door never has a streak, and my unmatched sock basket is practically non-existent (no, I won’t toss the loner socks because their mates will surely turn up the day after I do).

Any chance Henry considers Type-A to be the new sexy? Could be possible . . .

As Abby waxed poetic about well-mannered pooches, I leaned toward Henry, determined to get to the bottom of his mysterious nocturnal activities. “Abby looks exceptionally pretty today. Don’t you think?”

He looked uncomfortable at the question. “I guess.”

Okay, that confirmed nothing about his night. Or, maybe it did. If they’d hooked up, he would have agreed a bit more enthusiastically. Right? The curiosity was killing me. “She seems very nice, too.”

My stomach tightened as I braced for his answer because I only needed to know if he was into her, not any of the details.

“She does.” He continued to watch Abby as she made the bulldog stay with a flat hand signal. “Although, this is my first dog obedience class so I don’t really have another instructor to compare her to.”

The knot in my belly loosened. It was unlikely he’d talk that distantly about her if they’d been up all night doing, well, everything I’d fantasized doing with Henry if I had him all to myself.

Slightly mollified, I stole another glance at the circles under Henry’s eyes. They hadn’t been there yesterday. Believe me, I’d studied every detail of his beautiful face and had gone over it a thousand times in my mind. The stubble hadn’t been there either. What had he been doing that he couldn’t shave or change his clothes? And that, in his own words, was intense?

Everyone around me suddenly started moving. Apparently Abby had instructed us to do something. I’d been paying zero attention, so I mimicked what other people were doing by commanding Chester to “sit” and then holding my hand up horizontally and telling him to “stay.”

It was an honest miracle that the mutt obeyed. For about two seconds anyway. Then he turned his head to the side, and started whining.

I stared at the pedigree pup, wondering what his problem was. Oh, great. He’d better not have to use the restroom. I’d seen the blue plastic bags attached to the handle of his leash, but I’d been hoping I’d never have to use them. “What, boy?”

He whined some more and then barked at me.

I cringed. Half an hour with the miniature male and already I wasn’t meeting his needs. If he weren’t attached to my leash, he’d probably ditch me. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“He’s waiting for a treat.” Henry sounded amused as he broke a brown, bone-shaped biscuit in half and held it out for me between his fingertips. “Here . . .”

When had they handed out dog treats? Oh, right. While I’d been tormenting myself on Henry’s whereabouts last night even though we were clearly not compatible. I mean, how many questions do I have to ask before the guy indicates if he’s single or not? Not that it mattered since I had a date scheduled with a compatible man who, I might add, is up front about who he is and not dark and mysterious, with unforgettable dark pooled eyes . . .

“Thanks.” I coached myself not to ask outright what he’d been doing all night long (without me) because it might show I was interested and how would that look after I’d bragged about my date tonight?

“No worries.” Henry smiled, seeming unaware of his affect on me. “This should be good for his size.”

When I took the treat from him, our fingers brushed and my skin sizzled where we’d touched. Was that static electricity or . . . what?

I realized I was still holding my hand in the air and, uh, gaping at him. Not exactly sly there, Ellen. My cheeks went up in flames. See, I never had these problems using
Detailed Dating
. It was all behind the computer and . . . safe. Quickly, I turned back to Chester who was stomping his foot and staring at my hand with a starved expression. So impatient! “Here, boy.”

I tossed the treat at him. Instead of catching it in his mouth like I’d expected, the cookie hit his nose and then bounced toward the black lab sitting next to him. When the bone landed by Kenzie’s foot, growling ensued.

“Kenzie, heel.” Henry used a firm voice but instead of listening, as man’s best friend should, she opened jaws twice the size of Chester’s and engulfed the cookie.

Grrrr. Grrrr.
Chester crouched—not a happy camper.

“Sorry.” I pulled Chester away from the treat-stealing dog since, let’s face it, if Kenzie grew a backbone she could easily pummel Rachel’s pup.

“I’m the one who should be sorry. My girl has no manners when it comes to dog biscuits.” He pulled out another treat and handed it to me. “I guess that’s why we’re here, right?”

Uh, no. I was here because I couldn’t stand the thought of leaving All Things Furry and never seeing this beautiful man again. When our fingers brushed, I had the urge to curl my hand into his. So
not
a good idea. “Thanks.”

This time I held the treat close to Chester’s mouth. He took it quickly and crunched it with a smug expression as his nemesis licked her lips and whined.

To avoid further embarrassment, I tried to pay attention the rest of class. My belly danced every time Henry made a joke or came close to me, and I found myself being playful back. I’d never felt comfortable enough to be silly in front of guys before, so why with Henry? Why did having fun with him feel so natural?

I had to keep reminding myself that I had a date tonight that I was supposed to be excited about.

****

When I dropped Chester off at Rachel’s apartment, she asked how class had gone. Even though I had the urge to tell my best friend everything, I stuck with, “Fine.”

What can I say? My unprompted feelings for Henry Holbrook III, who I still knew almost nothing about, were totally embarrassing. And my obsession over Henry’s unknown nocturnal activities? Pathetic. I couldn’t admit them to Rachel.

I received a raised eyebrow, but was grateful she left it at that.

So, I drove to Old Sacramento and parked on the third floor of the brick encased parking garage. As I walked into Wok N’ Roll at half-passed seven o’clock, I was determined to remember that compatibility (not uncertainty) was the key to a lasting relationship.

I immediately spotted Craig in the waiting area. He had a nice smile, looked as handsome as his online photo, and seemed genuinely happy to see me. All things to check off my list.

Standing, he greeted me with a handshake. “So good to finally meet you in person, Ellen.”

“Thanks. You, too

“Should we have the waiter seat us?” he said, politely.

“That sounds great.” I smiled, then watched appreciatively as he went up to the podium and had us escorted to a corner booth.

Craig was pleasant, polite, and a solid choice. Exactly what I was looking for. I breathed a sigh of relief. It felt good to be back in my comfort zone.

After browsing the menu, we ordered several dishes to split, and then I sat back in my seat. “I can’t wait to hear what you think of Chinese food. It’s hard to believe you’ve never tried it.”

He set his hands on the table, laced his fingers together, then met my gaze with a considerate expression. “I’m not as adventurous as I’d like to be when it comes to trying different cuisine. Which is not to say I’m close minded or not interested in other ethnicities.” He cleared his throat. “It’s just that I tend to go to the same restaurants and order dependable items on the menu. Not because something else might not be good or even better, but because I won’t be disappointed. Does that make sense?”