Page 32 of Already Home

“Have you decided?” the server asked.

“No,” Cliff told him. “I can’t take my eyes off her.”

“Understandable,” their waiter said. “I’ll give you a few moreminutes.”

Violet was flattered by the attention but a little confused byit, too. She knew she was pretty, if slightly off the center of conventionalbeauty, but Cliff seemed to think she was fascinating. Was this how normal guysacted? Maybe she wasn’t used to compliments because when a guy was paying forsex, he rarely bothered.

“Tell me about yourself,” she said before sipping her wine.“You said you were new to town.”

“Before here I lived in Chicago and before that, Boston.”

“Miss the snow?”

“Not even for a second. What about you?”

“I’ve been in the Austin area for a few years now. What do youlike to do for fun?”

He shrugged. “Pretty typical stuff.”

“Watch sports?”

“Football and baseball.”

“Good choices,” she told him.

“Thanks. I like to travel. I plan a big trip every couple ofyears. Next spring I want to go to Thailand. I hear it’s beautiful. And I likewine.” He nodded at her glass. “Have you been to Santa Barbara?”

“No.”

“It’s beautiful. I was there a couple of years ago. I drovefrom Chicago, saw a lot of the country, filled my trunk with wine and drovehome.”

“Sounds like a good time.”

“It was.”

He told her about other trips he’d taken. They spared a coupleof minutes to look at the menu and had their orders ready when their serverreturned, then resumed their conversation.

Violet found that she liked the sound of Cliff’s voice. He waswell-spoken without being stuffy. He laughed easily, never looked at otherwomen, and while he was obviously interested, he wasn’t touching her all thetime.

She found herself relaxing more than she would have expected,leaning in when he spoke. Partway through her meal, she realized she felt aflutter, low in her belly. Attraction, she thought happily. That was a goodsign.

“Have you been married before?” Cliff asked, passing her thebread.

She took a slice, then set it on her plate. “No.”

“Get close?”

“Not really.”

“I’m surprised,” he admitted. “A beautiful woman like you? Youmust have to beat guys off with a stick.”

She laughed. “Not as much as you’d think. I’ve worked in retailfor years, mostly in cookware. Not a lot of guys hang out there and I don’t goto bars very often.”

Picking up a strange man and taking him home wasn’t her idea ofa good time. She’d done that enough before—to make money. It had been a horriblelife, and she’d vowed she was never going back to it.

“What about you?” she asked.

He sighed. “Divorced.”

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