Page 121 of The Vacation Mix-Up
Riles snatches up the menu and reads over it again, confused.
“Whiskey,” I insert.
He scans our lanyards and leaves.
“I was worried for a moment,” she says, setting down the menu. “I thought he meantmycocktail was the one with either bourbon or whiskey. Yuck. Thank God it was yours.” She winces.
I nod.
She smiles nervously.
I smirk.
“Sooo…” Her pretty eyes divert from mine to scan the room. “This bar is lovely.”
I rub my beard, enjoying that I’ve made her nervous… in a good way. “You said that already.”
“Did I?” She uncrosses her legs and then recrosses them.
I nod again.
“Well, it is.” She points up. “Look at that sunset.”
Arcing my head back, orange hues illuminate the sky beyond the glass-domed ceiling above, ornate pendant lights hanging from mirrored beams separating the many windows curving around us.
I have to agree with her; the bar is impressive—nineteenth-century décor with a modern twist. But I’m more concerned with the response she never gave me.
My eyes meet hers again. “You’re avoiding my question.”
“What question?”
“About how you think I’mnotold-fashioned.”
Her mouth quirks. “Oh yes, that.”
“Well?”
She twirls her hair again. “Well… you just seem not old-fashioned too.”
I chuckle. “Come on, Riles. You’re a publisher. You can do better with words than that.”
Huffing, she relents. “Fine. If you must know, you seem old-fashioned because you respect the simple things in life. And you’re kind, caring, mostly well-mannered?—”
“Mostly?” I interrupt, pretending to be offended.
“Yes, mostly. You’re… chivalrous, I guess, but you’re also unabashed, impudent, and… liberal.”
Regretting telling her to use her “publisher” vocabulary, I have no idea what she means, so I just go with it. “And that’s a bad thing?”
“No, I never said that. There’s nothingbadabout you.”
I grin like the Cheshire cat. “Nothing? Is that because youcareabout me more than you should?”
She squirms in her seat.
“What did you mean by that, exactly?” I ask, throwing her question back at her.
She straightens her shoulders. “What didyoumean by it? You said it too.”
