Page 8 of His Alone

Chapter 4

After opening the passenger door of his Mercedes for me and making sure I was settled in, James walked around the car and slipped into the driver’s seat. He took a long moment to regard me with narrowed eyes before he slid the key in the ignition.

“You seem a little jittery,” he said as he started the engine. “How about we get something to eat instead of coffee?”

“Both sound good,” I said, warming my hands in front of the heater. “I’m not really jittery, by the way. Just chilly.”

His eyes locked onto my legs for a moment so brief that I would have missed it if I wasn’t staring at him so intently. He cleared his throat and reached over to mess with the dash controls, flooding the car with warmth a few moments later.

“Better?”

“Much better, thanks.”

“Not really the best weather for a dress, is it?” he asked as his fingers made a gesture to the lightly falling snow through the windshield. He glanced once more at my legs and grinned as he added, “Not that I mind the view.”

“Good to know.”

I was surprised I could be so smooth, even though my voice did waver a little after his flirtatious words. I was grateful that the darkness in his car hid my blush. We rode in companionable silence until we got close to the central part of town where most of the restaurants were.

“In the mood for anything in particular?”

“Not really. I’m not a picky eater though so whatever you pick will be fine.”

I was also new enough in town that I didn’t have a good feel on where the best places to eat were yet, but I was pretty sure James already knew that. Within five minutes, we were pulling into the parking lot of what appeared to be a diner. The lights were on inside, but the few cars in the lot and the not-so-great exterior gave me pause.

“I know it doesn’t look like much, but the food here is spectacular.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. I promise this isn’t me being a cheap date.”

I froze in the middle of reaching for the car door handle.

“So this is a date?”

James froze as well. I could tell he regretted his choice of words. My heart clenched as he carefully mulled over his response. The longer he took, the less hopeful I felt.

“It’s not that I don’t want it to be,” James said slowly, looking at me warily as he continued, “But it doesn’t really feel like one. I never officially asked you out, so it kind of feels like a cop-out to call this a date. That make sense?”

“Are you—I mean, have you… thought about it?” I asked, almost afraid to hear his answer.

“About asking you out?”

“Yeah.”

James ran a hand over his face and sighed. Something was going on in his head—something I felt had nothing to do with me—and it bugged me more than it should have that I wasn’t privy to whatever he was thinking. Which was insane for a whole lot of reasons.

“I’ve thought about it. Frequently.”

The admission itself made me happy, but the curt clip of his voice didn’t sit right. Before I could question it, James got out of the car. There wasn’t much else I could do but follow.

* * *

“Oh my—you were right. You were so right,” I practically moaned around a bite of the best steak I’d ever tasted. “How did you find out about this place?”

“I live nearby. I stopped in not long after I first moved here and it became my favorite. I’ve been a regular here for almost a decade now.”

That explained why the staff was so kind to him. It didn’t explain why he was glancing around the building with a sad, pensive expression on his face. Not for the first time, I got the feeling that something was seriously wrong.

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