Page 24 of Unexpected Danger
“You look beautiful tonight,” Dustin said, interrupting her thoughts.
Londyn reached up and fiddled with one of her earrings. “Thank you.” She appreciated his compliment; however, with the best seat in the restaurant, now she wished she’d been able to go home first and change into something a little classier than jeans and a sweater.
The waiter arrived shortly after to take their drink order. The menu offered multiple palatable options, and Londyn ordered the chicken and broccoli pasta while Dustin ordered a ribeye steak. They carried on a pleasant conversation, first starting with work, and then Dustin asked her a few questions about her family.
“Not much to say. My mom is remarried to her most recent husband, Jason, and they just moved to Arizona. I have a brother named Logan, but I haven’t seen him in years.”
“That stinks. Jas mentioned you weren’t close to your family.”
Had Jasmine told him everything?
“Yeah. It doesn’t bother me too much.” Well, it did on occasion, but most of the time, Londyn didn’t give her dysfunctional family a second thought. Especially not since she considered the Brennemans her family.
A niggle of guilt stabbed her in the gut. If someone had treated her like family as the Brennemans had, why had she hurt them so much? Londyn blinked away the emotion. “What about you?” she asked Dustin.
“My family lives in New Mexico.”
“That’s quite a distance from here. Do you see them often?”
Dustin shrugged but said nothing, leaving her to believe he was probably not close to his family either. She completelyunderstood. He placed the napkin in his lap. Would he elaborate? Londyn had known him to be a rather private person, even more private than she was.
“What made you decide to move to Rowland?” she asked.
“I saw the job offer, and it paid better than where I was working before.”
“Have you lived in Rowland for a while?”
“Yes, several years. And you moved from where?” But before Londyn could answer, the waiter returned with their food. Londyn prayed over her meal and was glad to see that Dustin appeared to be praying over his food as well. She vacillated back and forth once again between giving Dustin a chance and foregoing the possibility.
Thoughts of being just like Mom entered her mind.
But it’s different,she argued with herself.
Was it? Could Londyn so easily forget about Brodie, just like Mom forgot about her ex-husbands? She’d initiated every divorce except the one with Dad. If Londyn and Dustin married, would Londyn stay with him until death parted them like Mr. and Mrs. Brenneman, or would she soon replace him?
They finished eating and talked a while longer before Dustin followed Londyn to her apartment in his truck. It had been an enjoyable evening; she would be sure to reiterate to Dustin how much she appreciated a reprieve from the thoughts that permeated her mind over her stalker. And what the stalker’s next actions could consist of.
She drove into her carport, and Dustin parked behind her. She grabbed her purse and exited the SUV, making sure she hit the lock button more than once. Dustin leaned against his truck, the slight breeze ruffling his blond hair.
“Thank you for the nice evening,” she said.
“My pleasure.”
They stood in silence as the seconds ticked by until Dustin spoke. “I can always come in, and maybe we can watch a movie or something?”
Londyn couldn’t really put a finger on why she’d decline, other than she didn’t want to give Dustin the wrong idea. She had wavered back and forth in her indecision so many times, but something she couldn’t determine stopped her from pursuing a relationship with him. If she did choose to date him, she endeavored to take it extremely slow. Her morals and convictions would allow for nothing else. “I’m really tired. But I do appreciate all you have done for me these past few days.”
Something akin to irritation flashed across Dustin’s face, and then it was gone. Had she even seen it at all? He reached for both of her hands and held them in his.
She waited for that jolt of electricity to rush through as it had with Brodie. But nothing came.
Of course, she couldn’t place a huge emphasis on feelings as they were oftentimes untrustworthy and faulty. Just because she didn’t experience heart-fluttering moments of being with him didn’t mean Dustin wasn’t worthy of a relationship.
“Londyn,” he said, his voice husky as he inclined slightly toward her. “I really like you and would like to take our friendship to the next level.”
Even though Londyn had given this some thought in the past few minutes, his comments still caught her off guard. “I’m not sure.”
“Not sure about what? It’s obvious we make a great pair.”
