Page 28 of The Bitterroot Inn (Jamison Valley 5)
I shrugged. “I was, but he didn’t show.”
He pointed to the booth’s open space. “May I?”
“Um, sure.” I scrambled to pull my napkin to my side of the table and scoot my wine out of his space. As he slid into the booth, I wiped my sweaty hands on my pants underneath the table, then took a sip from my water.
His feet were inches away from mine. I could smell his cologne from across the table. Was Hunter going to eat with me? Or just keep me company for a bit? Oh, god. What if he was just biding his time with me until his own date arrived?
He was probably just sitting here out of pity, waiting for his supermodel date to come and claim him. “Is your date running late?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m here alone.”
Yes! I fist pumped under the table.
“I was craving a steak,” Hunter said. “Would you mind if I joined you tonight since we’re both alone?”
Woo-hoo! “Not at all.” I gave myself a mental pat on the back for not blurting out my immediate response.
Our waitress returned and handed Hunter a menu. “Here you go,” she said, glancing at him but then doing a double take. I smiled as she blushed, completely understanding her need to gawk.
Hunter was the type of man women looked at more than once.
After ordering himself a beer, we spent a few moments studying our menus. No matter how many times my eyes focused on the letters, I’d lost the ability to read. I’d never felt this kind of dumbing attraction to a man before, not even with Everett.
“You look beautiful,” Hunter said.
My eyes ran up the menu and landed on his. The intensity of his stare was so breathtaking all I could manage in response was a breathy thank-you.
He grinned just as our waitress returned to take our orders and deliver Hunter’s beer. I used the brief reprieve to cross my legs and shift in the bench, hoping to quench some of the throbbing between my thighs.
“Where’s Coby tonight?” Hunter asked after taking a swig from his beer.
“He’s with my brother Beau and his fiancée, Sabrina. They’re having a campout.”
“Isn’t it a little cold? There was frost on the ground this morning.”
I smiled. “Their campouts are in Beau’s basement. He’s got a special tent for Coby and everything.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“Yeah, they’ll have a good time. Beau and Sabrina are getting married next month and Beau is really close with Coby. Sabrina loves the campouts because they give her a chance to bond with Coby as an aunt.”
“And then you get a date night.”
I huffed and took another sip of my wine. “I am done with date nights.”
“Why is that?”
“I just haven’t had a lot of good dates lately.”
He nodded. “I know how that goes.”
“You do?” Hunter was gorgeous and could have any single woman he desired as a dinner companion. There should be no such thing as a bad date in his world. “Have you had a lot of bad dates lately?”
“Kind of.”
Kind of. I grimaced at the words. The one response I hated above all others was “kind of.”
It hadn’t used to be that way, but Everett had said “kind of” more times than I could count and he’d ruined me on the phrase. It wasn’t a yes. It wasn’t a no. It was the perfect answer to dodge any question.
