Page 32 of When You Least Expect It
“Oh, really?”I drawled out, noticing how he’d chosen to ignore everything else.“Because if you’re reading The Bible, there’s a shitload of violence in it.I mean, that whole Sodom and Gomorrah scene was rather brutal if you ask me.”I stepped to him a little closer.“In fact, the more that you talk, the more that I wonder if you’ve ever really read The Bible.Honestly, seems like you need to take a refresher course or something to me.”
“You mock me,” he accused, which he wasn’t necessarily wrong.“You mock me, and you mock that which you do not understand.”
“Oh, I understand you just fine,” I told him.“But that is neither here nor there, Patton.I just want to make sure that you understand what will happen if you ever bother Calista again.”
Bristling a bit, he said, “There’s no need for threats of violence, Myer.I have no problem leaving Calista alone until she sees the light for herself.”
“Which will be never, so you can be on your way now,” I said, going to stand directly in front of Calista.
“Very well,” he replied primly.“A good day to you both.”
Neither of us said anything as we watched Jury make his way back across the street and to Louise’s house, and if it wasn’t enough that he was a douchebag, he drove a car that announced it to the world.I mean, talk about a man that was trying to overcompensate for something.
When Jury was finally back inside Louise’s house, I turned to look at Calista in all her hornet fighting gear, and I really just couldn’t help myself at this point.“Do you want to go to dinner with me tonight?”
Her hazel gaze regarded me suspiciously.“Why?”
That threw me for a bit of a loop.“Uhm, why not?”
“Are you asking me out because you want to take me on a date or are you asking me out because you feel bad about being a shitty fake boyfriend?”she asked, and I couldn’t help but smile.“I mean, I was about to take down this hornets’ nest all by myself because you couldn’t anticipate my needs beforehand, making you a regrettable choice for a fake boyfriend.”
“First of all, there’s no electric fence surrounding my property, so you could have easily walked over, knocked on the door, then asked me kindly if I could remove the hornets’ nest on your garage,” I informed her.“Secondly, I’m a great fake boyfriend.I think that I’ve proven it enough time since we started fake dating.”
“That’s debatable,” she harrumphed.
“Thirdly, I don’t ask women to dinner unless it’s because I want to take them to dinner,” I clarified.“I mean, I’m almost forty.”
“So, you’re asking me out on a real date?”she asked, her voice still full of suspicion.“One where you might possibly kiss me at the end of the night?”
While the answer to both those questions was yes, I wasn’t sure if it was the right answer.Calista was still looking at me like she wasn’t buying my motives, and I didn’t know what to make of that.From her immediate suspicion, it was quite possible that I might be up against a recently broken heart, and if I was, then I was going to have to rethink my strategy.Though I was very much interested in Calista, I was not looking to be a rebound while she mended a broken heart.
“Have you never been asked on a date before?”I asked, eyeing her back.“You act like I’m trying to steal your virtue before properly asking for your hand in marriage.”
The woman planted her hands on her hips.“You know, being a dick isn’t the best way to go about getting me to say yes.”
That got my lips twitching.“Calista, would you like to go to dinner with me tonight?”
“If you are asking me out on a date, then the answer is yes,” she replied.“But if we’re going as just friends, then that’s too much effort for something that by definition is casual.If we’re going to be just friends, then we can order a pizza and eat in.”
Her candor was a combination of refreshing and hilarious.“It’s a real date, and I’m probably going to kiss you at the end of the night.”
She threw her finger up in the air.“Only if the date goes well.As we’re going to be getting to know one another, it’s quite possible that you might throw out a dealbreaker.”
“Wow, your faith in me is truly inspiring,” I drawled out.
“I can always say no,” she threatened, and that was something that I definitely did not want.
“Fine,” I conceded.“Only if the date goes well will I kiss you at the end of the evening.”
“Deal,” she said, and I wanted to laugh at how she didn’t seem thrilled in the least.
“I’ll pick you up at...?”
“Five,” she replied.“By the time that we get to wherever you’re taking me, get seated, and all that jazz, it’ll be close to six, and that’s perfect timing.”
Yeah, her candor was very refreshing.
