Page 99 of The Charmer

"Georgie?" Julian asked.

I nearly choked when I looked at him. He was staring at me so intently, it made me wonder if he'd been doing that for a while.

"You’re hesitating. What?"

"How do you know?" I was miffed.

"You started to say something and then cut yourself off. And you've gone from relaxed to very jittery in a span of seconds."

Right. There was no more prolonging this. Maybe it was for the best.

I bit the inside of my cheek. "I was wondering what this all meant... this evening."

He tilted his head slightly, eyes still fixed in me. "I already told you it's a date, Georgie. "

"So, you and I are dating, as in actively?"

Chapter Twenty-Four

Georgie

I sounded ridiculous even to my own ears, but I needed to know.

He straightened up and flashed me a huge smile. "Yes, we are."

I felt as if someone had taken a huge weight off my chest. My shoulders seemed lighter too.

"Sorry for sounding so..."

"Georgie, tell me what's on your mind. Tell me what you're afraid of."

"I don't know. I'm not sure if I'm afraid of something per se," I replied slowly. But yet another knot in my chest unfurled. It was easy to talk to him. No need to keep my guard up.

"If you're ever ready, just tell me."

And he wasn't pressuring me to open up either.

"You said this isn't your MO”—I waved my hand between us—“that you never brought a date to any event. I surmised that means you just don't date."

Julian cleared his throat. "That's a very correct assessment."

Shit. My stomach constricted again.

"But that doesn't mean things can't change," he continued.

Having his blue eyes trained on me was truly unnerving. I wasn't used to having such open conversations with a man, let alone one where we held eye contact the entire time.

"How so?"

"Most people resist change. Not me. I've always been open to reconsidering my ideas and beliefs."

He reached both hands over the table, putting them palm up, and I knew what he meant. I sat on the edge of the chair and put my hands in his.

"I met you and decided some of my beliefs needed to be reconsidered."

"I can't believe you'd just openly say that."

He squeezed my hands, then let go because it was a bit awkward talking like this over the table. I immediately missed his touch.

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