Page 25 of The One

He winked at her. “It was meant to be.”

For the next hour they prepared their meal together, talked about the area and they flirted a lot. It might be the best first date she’d had and was shocked by that.

“Thank you for this,” she said.

“I should thank you,” he said, diving into their food. “This is great. I was so wrong. I mean really wrong. I could eat like this every night and it’s healthy. I would have never thought you could make stuffed peppers like this.”

“I’m happy to hear that. It takes more work.”

“But worth it,” he said. “And it wasn’t that hard. I’ve got leftovers. I could do this a few times a week and eat it for a few meals.”

“That’s the idea.”

“Why did you thank me though?” he asked. “You did all the work. Or most of it.”

“Because I’ve had some really bad first dates and this isn’t one of them. I wonder if it’s because I was in my comfort zone here. I started to feel like I was at work and lecturing and felt bad. You didn’t make me feel that way though.”

“First off,” he said. “First dates have a way of sucking, but this one didn’t. Maybe there is too much pressure in a restaurant and watching clocks or wondering how to leave or cut it short if it’s not working.”

“You know that feeling too?” she asked, grinning.

“I think everyone does at some point. Not that I’ve dated much in the past two years.”

This was exactly the opening she was hoping for. “Have you been married or anything?”

“Only to my job,” he said. “Which is why I’m here now and most likely how I got into the high blood pressure crappy eating habit. That is all going to change now. How about you? Ever been married?”

“No. Not even engaged. Though I was with someone for ten years.”

“Wow,” he said. “I think the longest I was with someone was a year. Ten years and no engagement or anything?”

“Let’s say he was stuck and I grabbed a rope and pulled myself out of the mud to move on.”

“Then good for you,” he said. “Making a life change isn’t easy. Just like moving back here. But sometimes you need to look at the bigger picture of what is happening around you and say enough is enough.”

Damn it. She wanted to know what he meant by that but knew if she asked, he might want to know more about Mike and she wasn’t ready to admit the fool she’d been.

Not when things were going so well, as she’d said.

“Again, thank you for saying that.”

He reached his hand over. “I’m speaking the truth. No reason to thank me.”

10

The Way He Wanted

“Let me clean up,” Rick said. “You did most of the cooking. It’s the least I can do. Do you want another glass of wine?”

He’d been honest when he’d told Gillian dinner was great. He’d had no idea that chicken could taste this good.

“No thank you,” she said. “One glass is enough. Not for health reasons or anything. Red wine is good for you. But I’ve got to drive home.”

“How about some water or tea?”

“Water works,” she said.

“Help yourself if you want,” he said, picking up both of their plates and going to the garbage to clean them off. Not that there was much left on his plate. He’d all but licked it clean after eating two stuffed pepper halves with his chicken breast.

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