Page 49 of Surprise Baby for Daddy's Best Friend

I shrugged, "Needed to get out there and give people a chance."

"Well, I for one am glad you did," she batted her eyelashes. "I think we could get along just fine."

"And why is that? We haven't exactly discussed anything that either of us agrees on."

Again, she gave a fake, exaggerated gasp, "But we do have so much in common! I mean, we've obviously grown up with similar childhoods. We're part of an amazing generation!"

I sighed and shook my head. Another person who wanted to act like they were better than others because of their age. At least the VFW didn't care what age you were. A soldier was a soldier, was a sailor, was a marine, was an airman. I wanted to laugh at how absurd it sounded in my head, but with how many branches there were, and how we were all cut from a similar cloth, it made sense to think about them too.

"Look, Danielle."

"Yes?"

"You seem like a decent woman and you're probably fun. But..."

"But?"

I tried to formulate how I was going to word what I wanted to say politely, but nothing came to mind, "But you're not a good fit for me. You're not my type, and you sound dumb when you talk. I need a woman with more substance."

"Substance?" she said the word loud enough so the tables nearby could hear us. "Are you kidding me? You've barely spoken to me, and you want to say I have no substance?"

I puffed my chest and glared daggers at her, "Yes, I do want to say that."

She deflated like a balloon, and turned to look at the people at the other tables as if they were going to come to support her. "What? But I..." tears welled in her eyes, and she collapsed into her hands sobbing. "I can't believe this. I spent a lot of money on this dress to impress you. How could you do this to me?" her eyeliner was already running down her face.

"Look, I'm sorry I guess, but you need to understand that--"

"I don't want to hear it," she slammed her hand on the table and stood back up. "This was a waste of time. All you men are trash! I should have known better. I'll make sure the papers all know about what a horrible person you are, you sexist pig!"

I flinched at the insult. It would cause problems later if a story like that got published. I needed to smooth things over.

"I'm sorry," I grabbed her wrist and rubbed my thumb across her skin. "Let's try this again. We'll eat dinner and talk. If things go well, we can see about future plans between us. If not, then no hard feelings?"

This was my only chance to get her to change her mind.

"I'm paying after all, and you can get dessert too."

Her eyes lit up at the word dessert and she sat back down. She cleared her throat and readjusted the front of her dress.

"I'm glad you changed your mind. You'll see there's substance to who I am," she snapped her fingers in the air. "Let's get some service so I can get a drink while we wait."

The waitress hurried over with my water and smiled at Danielle, "I'm so glad you could make it this evening. Are you interested in one of the wines?"

Danielle clicked her tongue and flipped through the wine list, "Yeah... let me get..." She clicked her tongue a few more times as if deep in thought. "Ah, here we are," she pointed to something on the red wines list. "Let's try this one. It sounds fancy."

"Of course!" the waitress clapped her hands together. "Shall I get you two an appetizer as well?"

"Mozzarella sticks."

The waitress' smile vanished, "Ma'am we don't have any mozzarella sticks here."

"What?" she huffed and turned back to the menu. "Alright, let's go with these escargot things."

"Right away. And for you, sir?"

I waved a hand, "Nothing for me. Thank you."

The waitress scurried back to the kitchen to grab the wine and put our order in for escargot. I almost wondered if Danielle knew what she had ordered. The way she said it made me think she had no idea what it was. Once the appetizer arrived, it would be an interesting experience to watch her reactions. At least I would have entertainment tonight with this failure of a blind date.

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