Page 5 of A Powerful Attraction
They stared at each other.
“No, you’re not wrong,” Sherry admitted. “You’re welcome to join me.”
Alex sat down, and she made a conscious effort to tamp down the excitement that shot through her arteries. He signaled for the waiter.
The young man hurried over. “Yes, sir.”
“I’ll have another Americano, please.”
“Anything to eat?”
He paused and looked across the table at Sherry. “I’ll have whatever she’s having.”
“You don’t know what I’m having. You might not like it,” Sherry said.
“You said this is your favorite restaurant, so I’m going to assume that’s because the food is excellent. I’m also going to assume you made a good decision and I’ll enjoy whatever you ordered.”
“That’s very trusting of you.”
“I have good instincts,” he said smoothly.
The waiter glanced knowingly between the two of them, the corners of his mouth tilting upward. He scribbled on his notepad. “Be right back.”
“So, your hot new man stood you up. What’s the name of this horrible person?” Alex asked.
“His name is Stan, and this was our first date,” Sherry said.
“Ahh, so he’s not your boyfriend?”
Sherry grimaced, kicking herself for accidentally contradicting what she’d told him at work.
“He’s not my boyfriend per se, but we’ve been talking for the past few months. I thought I knew him well, but…” She shrugged. “He got back together with his ex.” She picked at the white tablecloth. At least Stan didn’t turn out to be a serial killer.
“Word of advice,” Alex said, lowering his voice. “Never trust a man named Stan. Every Stan I know is a person of poor character.”
She laughed. “What? That’s not true.”
“No, it’s not. But it made you smile.”
Oh. Sherry didn’t know how to reply to that statement.
Alex’s gaze swept over her. “You look lovely tonight.”
“Better than at work?”
“You were lovely at work, too, but yes—this is better.”
“You’re not supposed to say that!”
She couldn’t blame him for the remark because she did look fantastic in her black dress and red shoes. Her hair looked great, and the red lipstick made her full lips appear even more prominent.
“Would you prefer that I lie to you?”
“No, actually.” Sherry sipped her drink and eyed him over the rim. “And what are you doing here?”
“Would you believe I was stood up, too?”
“No way.” A twinge of jealousy twisted in her stomach.
