Page 10 of September's Kiss (Loving the Curvy Girl)

“I’m glad you did,” he said again.

I heard a loud smack and smiled as I imagined him slapping himself on the forehead. Okay, good. He was nervous, too.

“Are you hungry?” he asked suddenly.

“What?”

“Food. Dinner. Would you like, I mean, can I…” He sighed heavily into the receiver. “Ember, can I take you to dinner tonight?”

“I’d like that,” I said before I could talk myself out of it.

We agreed to meet at a small diner just a few miles from my house in an hour then hung up. I changed my shirt into something a little nicer than just a t-shirt but left my jeans on. After touching up my make-up and changing into a pair of heels to make myself appear a little taller, I stared at myself in the mirror.

“You will not embarrass yourself tonight,” I said to my reflection. “It’s dinner. You’ve eaten dinner thousands of times in your life. There is no reason to be nervous. He’s a nice guy who has asked you out on a date. For food. Not sex. Keep it together, Ember.”

I nodded at myself then grabbed my purse and headed out to the diner.

When I arrived, he was already seated. He stood when he saw me and his smile could have lit up the whole room if it had been pitch black. He pulled out my chair and helped me into it, then sat back across from me.

“Hi,” I said softly.

“Hi.”

We each picked up our menus and I assumed we were both using them as cover for our awkwardness. The waitress came and took our drink orders, then our food orders when she returned, and we still hadn’t said anything more.

Finally, the silence got to be too much for me and I just started rambling.

“I don’t date much. Ever. At all. I’m very nervous and the last time I saw you I was drunk and I kissed you and I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” he asked. “I’m not.”

“You’re not?” I stared at him incredulously.

“No,” he said, smiling again. “I very much liked you kissing me. If you hadn’t been…”

“Drunk?” I offered helpfully.

“In a compromised state of mind,” he finished. “I would have liked to kiss you again that night.”

“Oh.” I felt my cheeks heat at his confession.

“I also don’t date,” he said. “I was overseas for a long time in my youth, and when I came back, I threw myself into my work. There hasn’t been a lot of time to pursue outside interests.”

I started to relax. I’d just assumed, since he was the most gorgeous man on the planet, that women were constantly falling all over him. If he was being honest with me, which I believed he was, then maybe this was just as difficult for him as it was for me.

Our food came and we ate in a much more companionable silence for a while. It was kind of nice, being out with him. I was pretty sure this was a date, but even if it wasn’t, sharing a meal with someone wasn’t an experience I had very often.

“So,” he said after a while. “Tell me about yourself.”

“Well,” I said, wiping my mouth on my napkin and pushing my plate away. “There’s not much to tell, really. I live a very quiet life. Two sisters, both married now. No pets. Not many friends. Can’t handle my wine.” I shrugged. “Me in a nutshell.”

“Sounds nice,” he said. “I own a private security firm that I started when I left special forces. I’ve been trying to recruit Tommy, but he insists he’s happy working in computer systems.”

“Oh!” I said, realizing what Joshua was talking about. “Jen told me that one of Tommy’s friends wants him to go play special ops. That must be you.” I bit my lip. “She said your work is really dangerous.”

“It’s not at all dangerous,” he said. “Honestly. Ninety percent of our work is looking large and impressive, standing around rich people so they feel important.”

“And the other ten percent?” I asked.

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