Page 30 of Take the Bait

Not to mention, it was incredibly confusing. A lifetime of barely any romantic attention aside from random hookups had trained Hanna to believe she was undateable. That, and the dating pool wasn’t exactly abundant with options in small town Alabama. She put herself out there on the dating apps, but after her last ill-fated date—the one where she’d met Tucker—she’d decided she was done trying.

And then she’d gone and met a hot chef with sexy forearms who liked her when she wasn’t even trying, and her resolve was crumbling.

She couldn’t stay in Orange Beach for aguy.No God-fearing feminist would do such a thing.

But…

Maybe?

Maybe he was different.

It all felt too good to be true, and Hanna was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Was he going to—as he put it—taste her, then bail? Was this just a hookup? If so, she wasn’t necessarily opposed, but just confused. Usually hookups didn’t involve cooking dinner together.

Should she Google it later? Maybe check some Reddit threads?

Dear God, she was hopeless.

“You look like you’re thinking really hard over there,” Tucker’s deep voice penetrated the silence, and Hanna felt flush with embarrassment realizing he’d been studying her as she agonized over the situation at hand.

“It’s just—” she cut herself off.

Hadn’t she said enough embarrassing things for one night?

Then again, hadn’t her lack of filter worked wonders so far?

Fuck it.

“Is this a hookup? Or do you, like…” she lowered her voice. “Like me?”

He grinned “God, you’re cute.”

She rolled her eyes. “So you’ve said. Still not helpful.”

“Hanna, I haven’t gone on a date in years. Haven’t cooked for a woman—at her house—ever. Not like this.”

“Technically, I cooked,” Hanna said under her breath.

“Love it when you’re sassy,” he said, then grew serious, holding eye contact with her. “I like you. A lot. This isn’t just a hookup for me. Is that what it is for you?”

She bristled under the intensity of his stare—and the straightforwardness of his question. People didn’t usually turn her bluntness back around on her.

“I like you, too,” she said quietly.

He beamed. “Now that that’s settled, why don’t you set upSex and the Citywhile I clean up and make the cookies?”

“No more cooking for me?” She twisted her lips. “I thought the shrimp were pretty good.”

“The shrimp were fucking amazing. I’m just letting you off the hook for the rest of the night.”

She blew out a breath. “Thank God. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of myself. And grateful you took the time to teach me. But, whew, I can only handle so much.”

After taking her plate to the sink, she went back to the living room—visible from her kitchen, thanks to the open floor plan—and turned on the TV, queuing upSex and the City: The Movie.She didn’t want to start him in season one, when the show was still kind of figuring out where it was.

Better to just show him the movie.

The only downside to her plan?

The movie was two and a half hours…

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