Page 71 of His Curvy Distraction

“I’ll give you a minute,” the server said, smiling before checking on another table.

“I’ve never been here,” Natalie said without looking up from her menu. “Do you come here a lot?”

I shook my head. “Jane mentioned it. Said she and her husband like to come here when they have a date night.”

“Everything looks good.”

“Get it all.”

She scoffed. “No. That’s a waste. I’d never eat it all.”

“Well, what are you thinking? Maybe we can share.”

She looked up at me, a hopefulness in her gaze that hit me square in the chest.

This woman had the ability to undo me. I couldn’t remember that ever happening before. The complete and total surrender to her and the way she made me feel. It was terrifying and exciting all at once.

“Okay,” she whispered.

We talked about the food options for a few minutes, and when the server returned, we ordered two dinners, two appetizers, and one extra side because Natalie couldn’t decide what she wanted.

“That’s too much,” she said when the server collected our menus and left.

I shook my head. “Worst case, you can take some home for dinner another night.”

She smiled and met my gaze. “Thank you for wanting to do this.”

My eyebrows shot up. “A date?”

She nodded, looking away from me. “I haven’t been… easy to deal with. Between walking out the first time, assaulting you before that, getting you caught in a storm, and then not knowing how to tell people about us… I don’t know why you wanted to go out, but?—”

“Because I like you, Natalie. A lot.”

She rolled her lips in and smiled.

I reached across the table and took her hand. She fidgeted, but turned her hand over so our palms slid together.

Her eyes closed, and her shoulders dropped just enough to tell me it helped. “I’m sorry I wasn’t very nice to you the last time we went out. When we met at O’Kelley’s.”

“You were surprised,” I said. “And we weren’t on the best of terms.”

“But we are now?” One brow rose in question.

I laughed. “We’re getting there.” I sipped my water. “If I’m being honest, I was fighting my attraction to you. I was pretty sure you hated me, so I was trying to keep my distance.”

“I never hated you,” she whispered. “I was intimidated by you. Still am.”

“Why?”

She raised an eyebrow.

I chuckled. “Okay, fine, but I’m just a man.”

She laughed. “There is nothing just about you.”

“What does that mean?”

She shook her head, then realized I was serious and sobered. “You’re the mayor of our town, which means you have power. People want to be close to you. But it’s not just because you’re the mayor. You have this way of making people feel like they’re safe around you. Like they can be honest and you won’t judge them.”

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